The Mediterranean Diet is based on a high consumption of cereals and derivative products, fruit, vegetables and legumes. The main source of lipids is olive oil.
Fish and dairy products such as yogurt are some of the most frequently consumed animal foodstuffs. Several international scientific studies (e.g., Healthy Food Pyramid) have demonstrated that the Mediterranean Diet contributes to the prevention of numerous diseases omnipresent in developed countries.
In the fifties, Ancel Keys, a medical-scientist from the University of Minnesota College of Food, came to Italy during the second War World and became aware of something that, at the time, seemed very strange. The less affl uent (the so-called poor) in the small towns of Southern Italy, who survived prevalently on bread, onions and tomatoes were much healthier not only than the citizens of New York, but also than their own relations who had emigrated to the United States in the previous years.
The nutritional value of the Mediterranean diet has been scientifically demonstrated by the famous “seven countries study” directed by Keys. In this study, the diets adopted by the populations in seven Countries were compared in order to determine their benefi ts and critical points.
From the results obtained from the “seven countries study” the associations between type of food diet and risk of onset of chronic disease were discovered. As emerged from the results, the high level of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol in the blood represents a factor capable not only of explaining the diff erences in mortality rates, but also of predicting the future rates of coronary disease in the populations analyzed.
The final result of the “seven countries study” indicated that the best dietary regime was that practiced by the inhabitants of Nicotera, in Calabria, who adopted the “Mediterranean” dietary regimen. The population of Nicotera (Calabria), of Montegiorgio (Marches) and the inhabitants of Campania had a very low level of cholesterol in the blood and a minimum percentage of coronary diseases thanks to the dietary regimen adopted, based on olive oil, bread and pasta, garlic, red onions, aromatic herbs, vegetables and very little meat.
From the first “seven countries study” till today, many otherstudies have analyzed the characteristics and the associations between dietary habits adopted and the onset of chronic disease. Since the mid-nineties, moreover, a current of thought has been developed, investigating the association between dietary habits and longevity.
In general, what emerges is that the adoption of a Mediterranean, or similar, diet, provides a protective factor against the most widespread chronic diseases. In the studies conducted, the concept of the Mediterranean diet was translated, in concrete terms, into a dietary regimen characterized by: a high consumption of vegetables, pulses, fruit and nuts, olive oil and cereals (which in the past were prevalently wholemeal); a moderate consumption of fi sh and dairy products (especially cheese and yogurt) and wine; a low consumption of red meat, white meat and saturated fatty acids.