Alimentation méditerranéenne et maladies cardiovasculaires: analyse des études d'intervention

The recent traditional Mediterranean diet, as studied in 1950-60s in the South of Europe is characterized by moderate energy intake, low animal fat, high olive oil, high cereals, high legumes, nuts and vegetables, regular and moderate wine. The Seven country study and several more recent studies conducted in Greece and Spain have established the concept that traditional Mediterranean diet is beneficial for health and particularly protects against cardiovascular disease. For primary prevention in subjects at risk as well as for secondary prevention in patients with cardiovascular disease, mediterraean-type diets have shown beneficial protective effects as reviewed in details in this paper. Nevertheless, during the last decades, dietary habits have markedly evolved in the Mediterranean area, leading to a progressive and marked drop in observance to the traditional Mediterranean diet. Thus, important efforts have to be made to counteract this detrimental trend and to update and popularize the use of Mediterranean diet for health benefit.