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Nowadays there is wide evidence supporting the beneficial effects of the Mediterranean Diet (MD) on health. The MD emphasizes plant-based foods and includes olive oil as its primary source of fat. Despite all the available evidence in its favor, the implementation of the MD can sometimes be scarce in clinical practice. In this context, different tools have been developed to analyze patient data and to help identify subjects at risk and susceptible to dietary intervention. A recent clinical trial evaluated the implementation of a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) software to increase adherence to the MD in a group of pregnant women, and compared it to a control group, in which the tool was not used. It was observed that the CDSS group increased their adherence to the MD and showed lower levels of anxiety and depression at the end of the trial. In line with these results suggesting positive effects of the MD on mental health, another study, based on the HELIAD cohort study, concluded that adherence to the MD was negatively associated with depression in older adults, above and beyond cognitive status. However, despite its benefits, patients can sometimes experience difficulties adhering to the MD. A cross-sectional study on young men suffering from depression, consisting of a 12-week MD intervention, examined the experiences of the participants to further understand the challenges in its implementation. Notably, the participants perceived an improvement in their depressive symptoms, and highlighted as positive the high palatability of the MD. Their main challenges were the increased cost and time commitment, as well as negative attitudes from their peers towards the diet.
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