**Health Effects**:
– A 2017 review links the Mediterranean diet to reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, and early death.
– Practicing the Mediterranean diet may improve overall health status and reduce total costs of living.
– The Mediterranean diet shows similar weight loss results as other diets.
– Uncertainty remains regarding the effects of Mediterranean-style diet advice on cardiovascular disease occurrence.
– US national guidelines include a Healthy Mediterranean-Style Eating Pattern due to positive health outcomes.
**Dietary Components**:
– High intake of olive oil.
– Plant-based diet.
– Moderate intake of fish, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, and red wine.
– Low intake of red meat, processed meat, refined carbohydrates, and sweets.
– Fat content accounts for 25-35% of total calorie intake, with saturated fat at most 8%.
**Disease Prevention**:
– Mediterranean diet associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.
– Adherence to the Mediterranean diet correlates with decreased cancer mortality.
– Reviews suggest the Mediterranean diet may reduce diabetes risk.
– Mediterranean diet may help obese individuals lower food intake quantity and improve nutritional quality.
**Environmental Impact**:
– Mediterranean or plant-based diet may improve environmental and agricultural sustainability.
– Lower use of dairy products, ruminant meat, and ultra-processed foods.
– Lifecycle analysis shows Mediterranean-like diet may reduce food production emissions by 30%.
– Consumption of the Mediterranean diet may reduce greenhouse gas emissions below those of an omnivorous diet.
**History and Research**:
– The Mediterranean diet concept introduced in 1975 by Ancel and Margaret Keys.
– Origins of the diet’s health benefits from epidemiological studies.
– Mediterranean diet paradox: high fat consumption but low cardiovascular disease rates.
– Recommended by health organizations for reducing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes risk.
– Despite global dietary homogenization, clinical research shows positive outcomes for various diseases.
The Mediterranean diet is a diet inspired by the eating habits and traditional food typical of southern Spain, southern Italy, and Crete, and formulated in the early 1960s. It is distinct from Mediterranean cuisine, which covers the actual cuisines of the Mediterranean countries, and from the Atlantic diet of northwestern Spain and Portugal. While inspired by a specific time and place, the "Mediterranean diet" was later refined based on the results of multiple scientific studies.
This approach emphasizes a plant-based diet, focusing on unprocessed cereals, legumes, vegetables, and fruits. It also includes moderate consumption of fish, dairy products (mostly cheese and yogurt), and a low amount of red meat. Olive oil has been studied as a potential health factor for reducing all-cause mortality and the risk of chronic diseases.
The Mediterranean diet is associated with a reduction in all-cause mortality in observational studies. A 2017 review provided evidence that the Mediterranean diet lowers the risk of heart disease and early death. The Mediterranean diet may help with weight loss in obese people. The Mediterranean diet is one of three healthy diets recommended in the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, along with the DASH diet and vegetarian diet.
As a nutritional recommendation, the Mediterranean diet is different from the cultural practices identified by UNESCO in 2010 under the heading "Mediterranean diet" on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which defined the diet as "a set of skills, knowledge, rituals, symbols and traditions concerning crops, harvesting, fishing, animal husbandry, conservation, processing, cooking, and particularly the sharing and consumption of food".