Abstract
Objective
The adoption of a Mediterranean diet (MD) pattern of eating is often described as
a strategy to help prevent or manage hypertension. However, this dietary regimen has
not been reviewed systematically for its efficacy against hypertension. Therefore,
the purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of interventions of at least 1
year duration on blood pressure (BP) values through a systematic review and meta-analysis.
The focus was on interventions comparing an MD with a low-fat diet.
Design
The authors accessed and searched PubMed and Scopus databases up to March, 2015. Randomized
control trials comparing MD vs low-fat diet were included. The researchers assessed
the methodological quality, extracted the valid data, and conducted the meta-analysis
following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines.
Results
Six trials (more than 7,000 individuals) were identified. Meta-analysis showed that
interventions aiming at adopting an MD pattern for at least 1 year reduced both the
systolic BP and diastolic BP levels in individuals with normal BP or mild hypertension.
The effect was higher for the systolic BP (–1.44 mm Hg) but also consistent for the
diastolic BP (–0.70 mm Hg). However, the results have to be interpreted with caution
owing to the reduced number of studies eligible for inclusion in this meta-analysis.
This situation limited the statistical power of the analyses. Furthermore, in all
analyses, the pooled effect estimation showed a high evidence of heterogeneity, which
compromises the validity of the pooled estimates.
Conclusions and Implications
A positive and significant association was found between the MD and BP in adults.
However, in all cases the magnitude of the effect was small. Based on this limited
group of studies and their heterogeneity, the authors found insufficient convincing
evidence to suggest that the MD decreased BP. Further standardized research is urgently
needed to reach evidence-based conclusions to clarify the role of MD in BP management,
particularly in Europe and other societies where prevalence of cardiovascular diseases
is increasing.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 15, 2015
Accepted:
August 31,
2015
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: The authors' conflict of interest disclosures can be found online with this article on www.jneb.org.
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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- National Heart Health MonthJournal of Nutrition Education and BehaviorVol. 51Issue 2
- PreviewI realize that all of JNEB's readership knows that February is National Heart Healthmonth. Most of us have taught programs on lower saturated fat, lower sodium, or higher fruit and vegetable eating patterns. In 2015, JNEB published a systematic review and meta-analysis on the effects of the Mediterranean Diet on hypertension, reporting that a positive, significant effect was found between the Mediterranean Diet and blood pressure although the effect was small.1 At that time only 6 trials were available.
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