The Mediterranean Diet and Cerebrovascular Risk Factors: A Lifeline for Vascular Health-Narrative Review

Ischemic stroke and its chronic cerebrovascular complications represent significant public health challenges with considerable societal impact. Consequently, healthcare initiatives worldwide are placing greater emphasis on preventing and lowering cerebrovascular risk. Alongside medical therapies, it is now widely recognized that modifying risk factors-many of which are controllable-can substantially reduce the probability of acute cerebrovascular events, up to 33% according to data from trials such as PREDIMED. This modification is often achievable through dietary interventions such as the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet), which positively influences vascular health. The MedDiet, long established as the traditional eating pattern in Mediterranean regions, is an effective means of counteracting factors that jeopardize vascular health and elevate the risk of acute events. To date, there are no narrative reviews that have addressed the impact of the Mediterranean diet on cerebrovascular risk and the consequences of acute cerebrovascular events in terms of disability and neurological functional recovery, focusing on how individual components of the MedDiet, at the molecular level, contribute to the prevention of acute vascular episodes, paving the way for new approaches in the treatment of cerebrovascular patients.