Adherence to Mediterranean diet in athletes: a narrative review

Abstract

Athletes’ diet should be adequate both in quality and quantity, to avoid deficiencies and limit fatigue. In recent years, several nutritional recommendations have been published and a multitude of diets based on empirical approaches have been employed in the sport setting. In the last decades, the Mediterranean diet (MD) has been extensively studied for its beneficial effects on health but its adoption in athletes has never been critically analyzed. This review was aimed to assess the current literature about the athletes’ adherence to the MD pattern, also in comparison with the general population. The majority of the studies show that athletes reach a mean level of MD adherence, higher than that of the general population. However, the current evidence is still limited and based on studies using different methods. Further research is needed to better characterize this habit among athletes.