Published in:
01-09-2017 | Cardiovascular Disease (JHY Wu, Section Editor)
Inflammation: a New Player in the Link Between Mediterranean Diet and Diabetes Mellitus: a Review
Published in: Current Nutrition Reports | Issue 3/2017
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Purpose of Review
Mediterranean diet (MD) has been inversely linked with insulin resistance and diabetes, while inflammation is recognized as a common denominator in cardiometabolic disorders. Here, we review the synergistic effect between MD and inflammation, the anti-inflammatory properties of core MD components, and the possible biological mechanisms linking nutrients with inflammation.
Recent Findings
MD is abundant in anti-inflammatory foods, like whole grains, fruits and vegetables, wine, olive oil, nuts, and fish. This results in a high intake of various polyphenols, as well as high unsaturated/saturated and n3/n6 fatty acid ratios, leading through different mechanisms, such as oxidative stress reduction, alteration of NF-κB, PPAR-γ pathways, prebiotic function on gut microbiota, and others, to an attenuation of inflammation state.
Summary
MD is comprised by a plethora of foods, with anti-inflammatory potential, so its observed anti-diabetic effect could, at least partially, be ascribed to an attenuation of inflammation state.