The Mediterranean diet is the typical diet of the areas that delimit the Mediterranean basin and it is commonly found in areas like Central and Southern Italy, Greece, Central and Southern Spain, Southern France, part of Croatia, coastal Bosnia, Albania, Montenegro, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Malta and Cyprus.
Its essence is contained in the word itself. The term “diet”, in fact, derives from the Greek “δίαιτα” (dìaita) which means “lifestyle” and tells a story of men, cultures, knowledge, expressions, skills and traditions that arrived on our tables crossing different landscapes and methods of food production and preservation. More than a real diet program aimed at slimming, it is therefore a “food style” made up of rules and habits inspired by the rich Mediterranean tradition.
In reality, the Mediterranean diet was not really invented but revealed by the American research nutritionist Ancel Keys. Through the first studies conducted in the United States, Keys understood the relationship between diet and cardiovascular disease and decided to analyze the lifestyle of the populations that seemed to suffer less from these disorders.
In the mid-40s, during a brief military experience lived in Pioppi, a small fishing village in the province of Salerno, Southern Italy characterized by an extreme longevity of the population, Ancel Keys realized that the secret of that “iron health” could be their diet associated with an active lifestyle. Starting in the early 50s, Keys developed what is still considered one the largest studies produced on nutrition, the “Seven Countries Study”.
The Seven Countries Study is a comparative study of the diets of 14 sample subjects, aged between 40 and 59 years, for a total of 12,000 cases in 7 countries and 3 continents: Finland, Japan, Greece, Italy, Holland, United States United and former Yugoslavia. Thanks to a twenty-year-long clinical observation, the scientist realized that ethnic groups colonizing the Mediterranean basin, thanks to a healthier diet than the American one, had a lower incidence of those pathologies that can be defined as “diseases of wellbeing. “: obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc …
In the 70s, the outcome of the experiment was then disclosed in the United States with the publication of the book “Eat well and stay well, the Mediterranean way”, attempting to promote the eating habits responsible for the greater longevity of Mediterranean populations. The data collected, in fact, spoke clearly. Among the population of the Mediterranean basin who ate mainly pasta, fish, fruit and vegetables and who used exclusively olive oil as a condiment, the mortality rate caused by ischemic heart disease was much lower than in subjects from countries like Finland, where the daily diet included a lot of saturated fats such as butter, lard, milk and red meat.
The food pyramid is the graphic key to visualize the simple rules of the Mediterranean diet.
It is divided into 3 parts:
- The basic foods are those which are recommended to be consumed very frequently, during each meal
- The foods located in the central part should be consumed daily, but less frequently
- Those that are at the top must be consumed on a weekly basis and in great moderation.
Some suggestions complete the pyramid:
1. Do daily physical activity
2. Prefer seasonal products
3. Drink plenty of water
4. Alternate colors and varieties of vegetables and fruit
5. Use herbs and spices to reduce the addition of salt
6. Limit the consumption of alcohol
Repeating the Keys study today, however, we would not have the same results. It is true that Mediterranean countries are still less affected by overweight and metabolic diseases than Americans, but with globalization the gap between the two cultures has slowly faded. Even the populations living in the Mediterranean now make abundant and immoderate use of junk foods such as hamburgers, French fries/chips, giant pizzas, super-stuffed sandwiches, ice creams, sugary drinks, spirits, giving up the much healthier raw cereals, legumes, seasonal vegetables, seasonal fruit, fish and white meats. It is therefore important to always remember the principles that have accompanied these cultures over the centuries and that have made them an example to follow all over the world.
Moreover, the Mediterranean diet is also an ally of the environment. The foods for which a higher consumption is recommended are generally those that have a lower environmental impact. This model invites us to always vary the foods consumed, to respect their seasonality, to observe the times of nature, enriching and diversifying crops and to prefer organic farming practices. As Keys has shown, choosing the Mediterranean diet as a lifestyle and diet guarantees immense benefits for health and the environment, keeping alive an extraordinary cultural heritage of humanity. The Mediterranean diet comes from the past but will also be our future.