Metabolomics and the Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) is considered a healthy pattern of nutrition due to its cardiovascular properties. Recently, there exists an increased effort in studying how different types of diet affect metabolism through their main components. Metabolites are studied to analyze the impact of each dietary pattern to health/disease processes. These components are studied by metabolomic techniques (nuclear magnetic resonance and chromatography-mass spectrometry) identifying metabolites involved in different metabolic pathways (catabolic and anabolic pathways). Metabolites are classified according to the main components of MedDiet (virgin olive oil, red wine, fruits and vegetables, nuts, fish, and whole grains). This chapter summarizes what metabolome and metabolites are, what metabolites and metabolic pathways are affected in MedDiet nutrition pattern, and what techniques can be run to identify them.