Mediterranean Diet and Nutrition for the Primary Prevention of Allergy and Asthma

There has been an increase in the incidence and prevalence of allergic diseases, and diet may have epigenetic and regulatory effects that modulate development of the immune system along with other pre- and postnatal influences and immune stimuli. Studies suggest both association and a lack of association of prenatal, postnatal, and infant nutrient intake and diet on the development of childhood allergy and asthma. Some associations of diet with allergy prevention are better documented, and the Mediterranean diet appears to have beneficial effects. Strategies for the primary prevention of diseases, by definition, involve intervening in healthy individuals and should therefore be based on robust evidence from clinical trials. The available evidence supportive of a link between a Mediterranean diet and the prevention of allergy and asthma would suggest a need for a large-scale intervention in a cohort of pregnant women with follow-up of the newborn infants, which should help to clarify whether the Mediterranean diet is a primary preventive measure for allergy and asthma.