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The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid continues to be a well-known guide to what is now universally recognized as the “gold standard” eating pattern that promotes lifelong good health. It has been widely used for years by consumers, educators, and health professionals alike to implement healthier eating habits.
It represents the optimal, traditional Mediterranean diet, is based on the dietary traditions of Crete and southern Italy in the 1960s at a time when the rates of chronic disease among populations there were among the lowest in the world, and adult life expectancy was among the highest even though medical services were limited.
The key to this longevity is a diet that successfully resisted the last 50 years of “modernizing” foods and drinks in industrialized countries. These "modern" trends led to more meat (mostly beef) and other animal products, fewer fresh fruits and vegetables, and more processed convenience foods. Ironically, this recent diet of “prosperity and modernization” was responsible for burgeoning rates of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. So The “poor” diet of the people of the southern Mediterranean is clearly a healthier option, consisting mainly of fruits and vegetables, beans and nuts, healthy grains, fish, olive oil, small amounts of dairy, and red wine, proved to be much more likely to lead to lifelong good health.
The diet pyramid is structured in the light of nutrition research carried out in 1993 and presented by Professor Walter Willet during the 1993 International Conference on the Diets of the Mediterranean, held in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
It underlines the importance of the foods making up the principal food groups. Each of these individual food groups offers some, but not all, of the nutrients one needs. Food from one group cannot replace that of another group. All the groups are necessary for a healthy diet.
The basic products of the Mediterranean diet, in descending order of recommended quantity and frequency, are:
GRAINS
These form the base of the majority of meals in Mediterranean countries - bread (wholemeal or otherwise), pasta, couscous and rice.
FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
Meals are more flavoursome when in-season products are selected and they are cooked very simply. In the Mediterranean countries the dessert is generally fruit.
LEGUMES AND NUTS
A wide variety of legumes and nuts, such as chickpeas, lentils, haricot beans, pine kernels, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, etc. are used in cooking.
OLIVE OIL AND OLIVES
"Olive oil" and "Virgin olive oil" are used throughout the Mediterranean. The former is normally used for cooking. The latter, which is appropriate for all uses, is excellent when consumed raw to best appreciate its aroma and flavour and to benefit fully from all its natural components.
The proportion of fats in the traditional diet of Crete observed by Professor Ancel Keys, was >40% kcal/day of which 8% were saturated fats, 3% polyunsaturated and 29% monounsaturated (olive oil).
DAIRY PRODUCTS
Cheese, yoghurt and other dairy products, with no special mention of milk. FISH Offered as a first class protein, before eggs and poultry.
The highest point of the Pyramid, meaning that its consumption is least advised, is occupied by red meat and just slightly below, but also of little importance, are sweets and pastries.
Regular physical activity and proper hydration are vital to maintaining good health and optimal weight.Wine can be consumed in moderation, primarily with meals (1-2 glasses/day). It is optional and should be avoided whenever it puts the individuals or others at risk.