Adherence to Mediterranean diet assessed using various a priori scores is associated with reduced 6‐y risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in French adults

Few prospective studies in Spain and US have linked a Mediterranean (Med) dietary pattern with reduced MetS risk. We evaluated the prospective association of Med diet pattern, based on various diet scores, with 6‐y incident risk of MetS in 3,232 middleaged adults, free from diabetes and CVD at baseline, who participated in the French SU.VI.MAX study. Three different Med diet scores were computed from repeated (>=3) 24‐hr records over two years: the original Med diet score (MDS) and its recent revisions namely rev‐MDS (incorporating cereal/grain quality and sugared‐beverage consumption) and Med‐style diet pattern score (MSDPS) relating adherence to Med diet pyramid. MetS was defined by the 2009 Joint Interim Societies definition. In logistic regression models adjusted for confounders including traditional CVD risk factors, a lower risk of MetS was observed with increasing rev‐MDS score and MDS (P for trend: 0.001 and 0.03, respectively) but not with MSDPS. Relative risk (95% CI) for MetS risk comparing the 3rd to the 1st tertile were 0.47 (0.32–0.69) and 0.50 (0.32–0.77) for rev‐MDS score and MDS, respectively. These findings highlight the importance of following Med diet in MetS prevention.