Systematic review of mediterranean diet interventions in menopausal women

Carla Gonçalves; Helena Moreira; Ricardo Santos; Carla Gonçalves; Helena Moreira; Ricardo Santos

doi:10.3934/publichealth.2024005

AIMS Public Health

2024, Volume 11, Issue 1: 110-129. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2024005

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Systematic review of mediterranean diet interventions in menopausal women

1.
CITAB - Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences, Institute for Innovation, Capacity Building and Sustainability of Agri-food Production (Inov4Agro), Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
2.
EPIUnit - Instituto de Saúde Pública - Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional em Saúde Populacional (ITR), Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
3.
CISAS - Center for Research and Development in Agrifood Systems and Sustainability, Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, 4900-347 Viana do Castelo, Portugal
4.
CIDESD - Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, Laboratory of Biomechanics, Body Composition and Health (LaB2Health), Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal
5.
CIFI2D - Centre of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, Faculdade de Desporto, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

Received: 20 September 2023 Revised: 21 December 2023 Accepted: 25 December 2023 Published: 10 January 2024

The increasing lifespan of women and their extended time spent in menopause pose significant challenges for health care systems, primarily due to the impacts of postmenopausal estrogen deficiency and aging on health. Menopause's onset is linked to a heightened prevalence of obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis. Diet is particularly relevant during menopause given its impact on quality of life and longevity and its modifiability. Because the Mediterranean diet is currently regarded as one of the healthiest dietary models in the world, the aim of this systematic review was to assess current evidence regarding the effectiveness of studies on the Mediterranean diet as an intervention for menopausal women. A systematic review of intervention-based studies involving the Mediterranean diet among menopausal women was performed in Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science. The results of seven that met the inclusion criteria suggests that adherence to the Mediterranean diet can have beneficial impacts on menopausal women's health, including reductions in weight, blood pressure, blood ω6: ω3 ratio, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL levels. Those results seem to be relevant for public health interventions aimed at improving menopausal women's quality of life.
- mediterranean diet,
- menopause,
- women's health,
- interventional studies
Citation: Carla Gonçalves, Helena Moreira, Ricardo Santos. Systematic review of mediterranean diet interventions in menopausal women[J]. AIMS Public Health, 2024, 11(1): 110-129. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2024005

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Abstract

The increasing lifespan of women and their extended time spent in menopause pose significant challenges for health care systems, primarily due to the impacts of postmenopausal estrogen deficiency and aging on health. Menopause's onset is linked to a heightened prevalence of obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis. Diet is particularly relevant during menopause given its impact on quality of life and longevity and its modifiability. Because the Mediterranean diet is currently regarded as one of the healthiest dietary models in the world, the aim of this systematic review was to assess current evidence regarding the effectiveness of studies on the Mediterranean diet as an intervention for menopausal women. A systematic review of intervention-based studies involving the Mediterranean diet among menopausal women was performed in Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science. The results of seven that met the inclusion criteria suggests that adherence to the Mediterranean diet can have beneficial impacts on menopausal women's health, including reductions in weight, blood pressure, blood ω6: ω3 ratio, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL levels. Those results seem to be relevant for public health interventions aimed at improving menopausal women's quality of life.

Acknowledgments

This study is not funded by any agency and is being conducted by the authors independently. The authors CG and HM are researchers in CITAB, that is supported by FCT/UIDB/04033/2020. The author CG is researcher in EPIUnit, that is supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P. through the projects with references UIDB/04750/2020 and LA/P/0064/2020 and DOI identifiers https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/04750/2020 and https://doi.org/10.54499/LA/P/0064/2020.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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