Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2014, 15, 11678-11699; doi:10.3390/ijms150711678 OPEN ACCESS International Journal of Molecular Sciences ISSN 1422-0067 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms Review Mediterranean Diet and Health: Food Effects on Gut Microbiota and Disease Control Federica Del Chierico 1,†, Pamela Vernocchi 1,2,†, Bruno Dallapiccola 3 and Lorenza Putignani 4,* 1 Unit of Metagenomics, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Piazza Sant’Onofrio, Rome 400165, Italy; E-Mails:
[email protected] (F.D.C.);
[email protected] (P.V.) 2 Interdepartmental Centre for Industrial Research-CIRI-AGRIFOOD, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Piazza Goidanich, Cesena-FC 47521, Italy 3 Scientific Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Piazza Sant’Onofrio, Rome 400165, Italy; E-Mail:
[email protected] 4 Unit of Parasitology, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, IRCCS, Piazza Sant’Onofrio, Rome 400165, Italy † These authors contributed equally to this work. * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail:
[email protected]; Tel.: +39-06-6859-2598; Fax: +39-06-6859-2218. Received: 28 April 2014; in revised form: 4 June 2014 / Accepted: 11 June 2014 / Published: 1 July 2014 Abstract: The Mediterranean diet (MD) is considered one of the healthiest dietary models. Many of the characteristic components of the MD have functional features with positive effects on health and wellness. The MD adherence, calculated through various computational scores, can lead to a reduction of the incidence of major diseases (e.g., cancers, metabolic and cardiovascular syndromes, neurodegenerative diseases, type 2 diabetes and allergy). Furthermore, eating habits are the main significant determinants of the microbial multiplicity of the gut, and dietary components influence both microbial populations and their metabolic activities from the early stages of life.