Table of Contents

Section A: The Mediterranean diet: Concepts and overviews

1. The Mediterranean diet: History, concepts and elements

Jordi Salas-Salvadó and Christopher Papandreou

2. Mediterranean diet: A long journey toward intangible cultural and sustainability

Lluís Serra-Majem and F. Xavier Medina

3. Mediterranean diet in children and adolescents

Emmanuella Magriplis and Antonis Zampelas

4. The Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular disease: An overview

Emmanuella Magriplis and Antonis Zampelas

5. Socioeconomic factors for the adherence to the Mediterranean diet in North Africa: The shift from 1990 to 2019

Karima El Rhazi, Khaoula El Kinany, and Vanessa Garcia-Larsen

6. Mediterranean lifestyle: Linking social life and behaviors, residential environment, and cardiovascular disease prevention

Ekavi N. Georgousopoulou, Elena S. George, Duane D. Mellor, and Demosthenes B. Panagiotakos

7. Orthodox religious fasting: A vital subset of the Mediterranean diet

Theocharis Koufakis, Spyridon N. Karras, Pantelis Zebekakis, and Kalliopi Kotsa

8. Food security and adherence to the Mediterranean diet: An interplay of socio-demographic characteristics

Maria G. Grammatikopoulou, Konstantinos Gkiouras, Antigoni Tranidou, and Dimitrios G. Goulis

9. Mediterranean diet, nutrition transition, and cardiovascular risk factor in children and adolescents

Roberta Ricotti, Marina Caputo, and Flavia Prodam

10. Precision nutrition: Mediterranean diet and genetic susceptibility

Mahmut Cerkez Ergoren and Gulten Tuncel

11. Mediterranean food and environmental impacts

Youssef Aboussaleh, Hamid El Bilali, Francesco Bottalico, Gianluigi Cardone, Giovanni Ottomano Palmisano, and Roberto Capone

12. Mediterranean adequacy index: Features and applications

Alessandro Menotti and Paolo Emilio Puddu

13. Nutritional adequacy of the Mediterranean diet

Itandehui Castro Quezada, Blanca Román Viñas, and Lluís Serra-Majem

14. Toward a Mediterranean-style diet outside the Mediterranean region: Evidence of implementation and adherence

Fotini Tsofliou, Eirini-Iro Arvanitidou, and Xenophon Theodoridis

Section B: Components of the Mediterranean diet

15. Contribution of nuts to the Mediterranean diet

Emilio Ros

16. The Mediterranean diet and mineral composition

Marta Mesías, Isabel Seiquer, and Cristina Delgado-Andrade

17. Hydroxytyrosol as a component in the Mediterranean diet and its role in disease prevention

Carmen Ramírez-Tortosa, Cristina Ramirez-Perez, José J. Gaforio, José L. Quiles, Juan A. Moreno, and Cesar L. Ramirez-Tortosa

18. Light, regular red wine consumption at main meals: A key cardioprotective element of traditional Mediterranean diet

Marcello Iriti, Elena Maria Varoni, and Sara Vitalini

19. Frying a cultural way of cooking in the Mediterranean diet and how to obtain improved fried foods

Alba Garcimartín, Adrián Macho-González, Giulia Caso, Juana Benedí, Sara Bastida, and Francisco J. Sánchez-Muniz

20. Wild greens used in the Mediterranean diet

Rúbia C.G. Corrêa, Francesco Di Gioia, Isabel C.F.R. Ferreira, and Spyridon A. Petropoulos

21. Raisins and the other dried fruits: Chemical profile and health benefits

Magdalena Jeszka-Skowron and Beata Czarczyńska-Goślińska

22. Date palm fruit (Phoenix dactylifera): Nutritional values and potential benefits on health

Najla Bentrad and Asma Hamida-Ferhat

23. Dietary fiber intake and the Mediterranean population

Ligia J. Dominguez and Mario Barbagallo

24. Oleic acid and implications for the Mediterranean diet

Aleksandra Arsic

25. Fish in the Mediterranean diet

María Molina-Vega, Ana María Gómez Pérez, and Francisco J. Tinahones

26. The Mediterranean diet and its individual components: Linking with obesity in Italy

Silvio Buscemi, Davide Corleo, Fabio Galvano, and Antonino De Lorenzo

27. Bioactive compounds in oranges from the Mediterranean climate area

Laura Cebadera-Miranda, Patricia Morales, and Montaña Cámara

Section C

Medical, health, and nutritional

aspects of the Mediterranean diet

28. Gestational diabetes mellitus and Mediterranean diet principles

Carla Assaf-Balut, Nuria García de la Torre, Laura del Valle, Johanna Valerio, Alejandra Durán, Elena Bordiú, Ana Barabash, Miguel Rubio, and Alfonso Luis Calle-Pascual

29. The Mediterranean diet and asthma

Despina Koumpagioti, Barbara Boutopoulou, and Konstantinos Douros

30. The Mediterranean diet, dietary inflammatory index, and adiposity

Cristina Galarregui, M. Angeles Zulet, J. Alfredo Martínez, and Itziar Abete

31. Microglia-mediated neuroinflammation and Mediterranean diet

Ruth Hornedo-Ortega, Rocío M. de Pablos, Ana B. Cerezo, Tristan Richard, M. Carmen Garcia-Parrilla, and Ana M. Troncoso

32. Mediterranean diet, inflammation, and telomere length maintenance

Sergio Davinelli and Giovanni Scapagnini

33. Olive oil nutraceuticals and chronic disease prevention: More than an offshoot of the Mediterranean diet

Ahmad Alkhatib

34. The Mediterranean diet and metabolic syndrome

E. Gouveri, G. Marakomichelakis, and E.J. Diamantopoulos

35. The Mediterranean diet and breast cancer risk

Christiana A. Demetriou, Maria G. Kakkoura, Andreas Hadjisavvas, Maria A. Loizidou, Carlotta Sacerdote, Paolo Vineis, and Kyriacos Kyriacou

36. The Mediterranean diet and arthritis

Francesca Oliviero, Paolo Sfriso, Paola Galozzi, Leonardo Punzi, and Paolo Spinella

37. Mediterranean diet and pregnancy

E. Gesteiro, Francisco J. Sánchez-Muniz, and Sara Bastida

38. Laryngopharyngeal reflux and the Mediterranean diet

Craig H. Zalvan, Jan Geliebter, and Raj Tiwari

39. The Mediterranean style diet and cognition

Roy J. Hardman and Melissa Formica

40. Mediterranean diet and mental well-being in the young

J.J. Muros and E. Knox

41. Mediterranean diet and female fertility: Cross-talk of an evidence-based approach

Maria G. Grammatikopoulou, Maria Lampropoulou, and Dimitrios G. Goulis

42. Mediterranean diet and the postprandial state: A focus on inflammation, endothelial dysfunction, and hemostasis

Paraskevi Detopoulou, Elizabeth Fragopoulou, Tzortzis Nomikos, and Smaragdi Antonopoulou

43. Socioeconomic determinants of the adherence to the Mediterranean diet

Marialaura Bonaccio, Americo Bonanni, Maria Benedetta Donati, Giovanni de Gaetano, and Licia Iacoviello

44. Fungal species and toxins in wines and grapes in the Mediterranean area

Francesco Tini, Giovanni Beccari, and Lorenzo Covarelli

45. Metabolomics and the Mediterranean diet

M. Isabel Ruiz-Moreno, Alberto Vilches-Perez, Cristina Gallardo-Escribano, Maria Garces-Martin, and M. Rosa Bernal-Lopez46. Antiinflammatory activity exerted by minor compounds found in virgin olive oilsCristina Sánchez-Quesada, Carmen Rodríguez-García, and José J. Gaforio

 

Section D: Novel nutraceuticals and edible plants used in the Mediterranean region

47. Effects of nutraceuticals of Mediterranean diet on aging and longevity

Anna Aiello, Giulia Accardi, Calogero Caruso, and Giuseppina Candore

48. Essential oils from Mediterranean aromatic plants

Filomena Nazzaro, Laura De Martino, Florinda, Fratianni, and Vincenzo De Feo

49. Apoptotic activities of Mediterranean plants

José-Luis Ríos and Isabel Andújar

50. Red wine and atherosclerosis: Implications for the Mediterranean diet

Bianca Scolaro

About the Author

Victor R. Preedy BSc, PhD, DSc, FRSB, FRSPH, FRSC, FRCPath graduated with an Honours Degree in Biology and Physiology with Pharmacology. After gaining his University of London PhD, he received his Membership of the Royal College of Pathologists. He was later awarded his second doctorate (DSc), for his contribution to protein metabolism in health and disease. He is Professor of Clinical Biochemistry (Hon) at King’s College Hospital and Emeritus Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry at King’s College London. He has Honorary Professorships at the University of Hull, and the University of Suffolk. Professor Preedy was the Founding Director and then long-term Director of the Genomics Centre at King’s College London from 2006 to 2020. Professor Preedy has been awarded fellowships of the Royal Society of Biology, the Royal College of Pathologists, the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, the Royal Institute of Public Health, the Royal Society for Public Health, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Society of Medicine. He carried out research when attached to the National Heart Hospital (part of Imperial College London), The School of Pharmacy (now part of University College London) and the MRC Centre at Northwick Park Hospital. He has collaborated with international research groups in Finland, Japan, Australia, USA, and Germany. To his credit, Professor Preedy has published over 750 articles, which includes peer-reviewed manuscripts based on original research, abstracts and symposium presentations, reviews and edited books. Ronald Ross Watson, PhD, is Professor of Health Promotion Sciences at the University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. Dr. Watson began his research in public health at the Harvard School of Public Health as a Fellow in 1971 doing field work on vaccines in Saudi Arabia. He has done clinical studies in Colombia, Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United States which provides a broad international view of public health. He has served in the military reserve hospital for 17 years with extensive training in medical responses to disasters as the chief biochemistry officer of a general hospital, retiring as a Lt. Colonel. He is a distinguished member of several national and international nutrition, immunology, and cancer societies. Dr. Watson’s career has involved studying many lifestyle aspects for their uses in health promotion. He has edited over 100 biomedical reference books and 450 papers and chapters. His teaching and research focuses on alcohol, tobacco, and drugs of abuse in heart function and disease in mouse models.