Mediterranean diet adherence
What this marker measures
Thedegree to which the patient's diet suggests high adherence to a Mediterraneandiet pattern. The result is based on seven questions prioritised from the validated Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS).1
Health categories/Interpretations informed by this marker
Microbiome balance
● Putrefactive microbiome: adherenceto a Mediterranean diet may limit production of harmful putrefactive compounds,such as BCAAs.2–4
Clinical features
● Dietary gaps: Mediterranean diet adherence is a dietary feature that can affect nutritional adequacy.
Interpreting the result
Tips for patients discussion
"Your questionnaire responses suggest your eating pattern doesn't yet closely followa Mediterranean-style diet. Eating this way may help limit some of the harmfulby-products your gut microbes make when they break down protein. Let's look at a few simple changes, such as more vegetables, fruit, legumes, nuts, fish and olive oil, and less red and processed meat."
Source references for all clinical associations, interpretation definitions, and patient management insights on this card.
1. Papadaki, A. et al. Validation of the English version of the 14-item Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener of the PREDIMED study, in people at high cardiovascular risk in theUK. Nutrients 10, 138 (2018).
2. Ruiz-Canela, M. et al. Plasma branched chain/aromatic amino acids, enriched Mediterranean diet and risk of type 2 diabetes: case-cohort study within the PREDIMED Trial. Diabetologia 61, 1560–1571 (2018).
3. Rinott, E. et al. The effects of the Green-Mediterranean diet on cardiometabolic health are linked togut microbiome modifications: a randomized controlled trial. Genome Med 14,29 (2022).
4. Meslier, V. et al. Mediterranean diet intervention in overweight and obese subjects lowers plasma cholesterol and causes changes in the gut microbiome and metabolome independently of energy intake. Gut 69, 1258–1268 (2020).