SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
Mediterranean Diet and its Benefits on Health and Mental Health: A Literature Review
Antonio Ventriglio1, *
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2020Volume: 16
Issue: Suppl-1, M11
First Page: 156
Last Page: 164
Publisher ID: CPEMH-16-156
DOI: 10.2174/1745017902016010156
Article History:
Received Date: 4/4/2020Revision Received Date: 4/6/2020
Acceptance Date: 6/6/2020
Electronic publication date: 30/07/2020
Collection year: 2020

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Mediterranean Diet (MD) is currently considered one of the most healthy dietary models worldwide. It is generally based on the daily intake of fruit and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, fish, white meats, and olive oil. It may also include moderate consumption of fermented dairy products, a low intake of red meat, and red/white wine during the main course. Even if the effect of MD on cancer prevention as well as on human metabolic and cardiovascular balance has been discussed, including the quality of life of the exposed population, the putative effects on mental health are still not properly investigated. This narrative review reports on some emerging pieces of evidence on the possible impact of MD on general health and the outcome of psychiatric disorders (e.g., major depression, anxiety) and encourages further studies to test the benefits of healthy food selection on the health of the general population.