A Brief Review of the Mediterranean Diet's Role in Mediating Inflammation and in Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis

The Mediterranean diet (MD) is a dietary pattern for which the health benefits in prevention of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and metabolic disorders have been well-substantiated. However, emerging clinical literature has shown its promise in reducing risk and disease activity in many autoimmune diseases. This review focuses on literature about components of the MD and their role in modulating inflammatory pathways implicated in autoimmune disease. This review also focuses on literature assessing the MD's associations with clinical outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a systemic autoimmune condition primarily affecting one's joints. The core components of the MD (such as whole grains, fish, olive oil, yogurt, cheese, and moderate red wine consumption) have been seen to reduce laboratory and clinical markers of inflammation through a number of mechanisms. Recent population-based cohort studies and randomized clinical trials have been more equivocal in their findings. This suggests that although the MD may have statistically significant impacts on RA risk and symptom severity, these effects are of uncertain clinical significance. This highlights the ongoing need for high-quality clinical research on lifestyle interventions in RA and other autoimmune diseases, along with the continued importance of emphasizing lifestyle-based interventions in the management of chronic disease.