The history of the MEDITERRANEAN DIET

The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest dietary patterns in the world thanks to a combination of nutrient-rich foods and antioxidant and anti-inflammatory molecules. Many studies have demonstrated a strong and inverse relationship between a high level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet and some chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer.

This nutritional model was born and developed over the years, inspired by the traditional eating styles of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea.

How was it born?

One of the first to be interested in this diet was the American biologist and physiologist Ancel Keys, also defined as the father of this dietary style, who thanks to his studies on the eating habits of the populations of southern Italy gave scientific dignity and exported the term throughout the world. Mediterranean Diet, taking it beyond the Italian borders and making it one of the best known diets in the world. In 1962 Keys moved to Pioppi, a hamlet of Pollica (SA), where he studied and deepened the ideas he had developed while observing the Allied armies during the Second World War.

The pivotal study that laid the foundations for the Mediterranean diet was conducted by Keys between 1956 and 1978, the "Seven Countries Study", a large epidemiological investigation of eating habits and the incidence of diseases in Italy, United States America, Holland, Yugoslavia, Finland, Japan and Greece. This study allowed him to document the relationship between nutrition and cardiovascular diseases, studying the protective role of the Mediterranean diet on human health.

The principles of the Mediterranean diet

The principles on which this diet is based arise from the habit of consuming a large quantity of foods of plant origin, such as seasonal fruit and vegetables, legumes, unrefined cereals and extra virgin olive oil (EVO), all deriving exclusively from agricultural crops present in these areas.

Furthermore, these regions, overlooking the sea, practiced both livestock farming and fishing, being able to combine the occasional consumption of meat with a moderate consumption of fish with particular preference for blue fish; and traditionally, alcohol consumption occurred only through wine and was always associated with the meal.

Another peculiarity noted by Keys was that the Mediterranean diet was not just a dietary regime, but represented a real lifestyle for the populations. In fact, in the countries of the Mediterranean area, foods were consumed daily following precise and traditional habits: olive oil was added to dishes (vegetables and legumes) to enhance their flavour, fresh fruit was consumed at the end of main meals or as a snack mid-morning or mid-afternoon, the cheese was accompanied by a salad or stewed vegetables and finally the red meat was consumed as the main course and only on special occasions.

The Mediterranean diet today

Promoting a healthy lifestyle, respect for the environment, food and the traditions linked to it, in November 2010 the Mediterranean diet was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage of Spain, Greece, Italy and Morocco and since November 2013 of Cyprus, Croatia and Portugal.

In addition, in addition to being healthy and complete from a nutritional point of view, recent studies have shown that the Mediterranean diet is also sustainable and ecological, proving to be one of the best diets also from the point of view of the environmental impact deriving from production and food consumption.

However, to date, as a result of globalization and the influence of other cultures, the lifestyle and therefore also the dietary regime of the people of the Mediterranean basin have changed, moving away in some way from the basic principles of this diet.

Given all the benefits for men's health, it is therefore very important to reverse this trend and try to reapproach this eating style!

How to do? By consulting the Food Pyramid which we will talk about in the next article!!