Diet and cardiovascular disease: The mediterranean diet

Diet, lifestyle, and behavior are key modifiable risk factors for the primordial and primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Dietary guidelines and recommendations have positively moved from single-nutrient and food-based approaches and their impact on chronic disease to a whole of diet approach, recognizing that diet is the most modifiable risk factor for disease prevention. A Western dietary pattern, characterized by a high intake of red and processed meats, refined grains, processed and fried foods in unhealthy oils, sweets and desserts, etc., can influences an individual’s lipid profile and related biomarkers, blood pressure, body weight, weight distribution, glucose-insulin homeostasis, oxidative stress, and inflammatory status. On the other hand, since the Seven Countries Study, several dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean diet have been recognized as major factors for lower incidences of CVD in specific populations and cultures. A significant number of studies have positively influenced guidelines that now recommend the adoption of dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean diet because of the abundance of reported beneficial outcomes in a plethora of several chronic diseases that are either directly or indirectly related to CVD risk factors (inflammation, lipid profile, BP, etc.). It is fast becoming the most globally researched and so far the healthiest dietary pattern promoted for reducing chronic diseases and promoting longevity. Within this chapter, the overall preventive and therapeutic benefits from acquiring such healthy dietary patterns will be addressed.