The Mediterranean Diet

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To illustrate the traditional diet clearly, researchers developed the Mediterranean diet pyramid. On this pyramid, breads, pasta, grains, and potatoes are the largest food group to choose from. Fruits and vegetables are emphasized in the next two food groups.... with the addition of a third group: beans, other legumes, and nuts. The pyramid then takes a drastic turn from North American patterns by adding in olive oil as the next major food group, followed by cheese and yogurt, fish, poultry, eggs, sweets, and lastly red meat. The Mediterranean diet delivers as much as 35% of total daily calories from fat, yet the number of cardiovascular diseases is significantly decreased. As a monounsaturated fatty acid, olive oil does not have the same cholesterol-raising effect of saturated fats. Olive oil is also a good source of antioxidants. Eating fish a few times per week benefits the Mediterraneans by increasing the amount of omega-3 fatty acids - something that we know western cultures don't get enough of. Eating red meat sparingly seems to also increase health.... as seen in many other studies.

Now that we know it may be beneficial, what exactly is the Mediterranean diet? The Mediterranean diet is not a diet per se, but rather a loose term that describes the eating practices of the people in this region. Below are some of its highlights.

Olive oil, high in monounsaturated fat is a good source of antioxidants and is the area's principle source of fat. Evidence suggests the traditional diets were composed of 35% fat. However the diet was very low in saturated and polyunsaturated fat.

For many years, researchers have known that a high intake of fat in the form of olive oil in the traditional Mediterranean diet did not have any apparent negative health consequences. Researches believe that olive oil was neutral with respect to effects of serum cholesterol. However current research has found olive oil and its high monounsaturated fat may actually increase HDL (good) cholesterol, but has little effect on LDL (bad) cholesterol.

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