Mediterranean Diet and Minimizing Neurodegeneration

Neurodegenerative diseases, a complex of diseases that ranges from cognitive decline, dementia, to Alzheimer’s disease represent, to date, a public health priority all over the world. Recently, an increasing interest for a possible relationship between diet and cognitive health has been reported. Several models of diet have been proposed but, until now, the highest attention of researchers, clinicians, and institutions has been focused on the Mediterranean diet. Mediterranean diet is a model of diet characterized by a high consumption of complex carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, legumes, with olive oil as the principal source of fats. Mediterranean diet has been extensively reported to be associated with a favorable health outcome and a better quality of life, but inconsistencies on the possible association with neurodegenerative diseases have been reported. The purpose of this review was to examine the most updated evidence of the beneficial effects of Mediterranean diet on the occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases.