Abstract
The Mediterranean diet represents the heritage of millennia of exchange of people and their cultures throughout the Mediterranean basin. The work of Ancel Keys in the 1950s established the Mediterranean diet as the original prototype for current dietary guidelines. Keys conducted the “Seven Countries Study” (with centers in Finland, Holland, Italy, United States, Greece, Japan and Yugoslavia), in order to document the relationship between lifestyles, nutrition and cardiovascular disease in different populations, to prove scientifically the nutritional value of the Mediterranean diet and its contribution to the health of the populations that adopted it. Since then, it has been demontrated that it can improve the health, well-being, lifestyle and quality of life in the general population, at any age. Growing evidence demonstrates that the Mediterranean diet is beneficial to health; the evidence is stronger for coronary heart disease, but it also applies to cancer and, more recently, also to cognitive decline. Results from recent studies, not only observational, but also interventional (eg. PREDIMED trial) provide a strong biomedical foundation for its beneficial effects. The main components of the Mediterranean diet are: high monounsaturated/saturated fat ratio (extra-virgin olive oil as the main source of fat); ethanol consumption at moderate levels and mainly in the form of wine during meals; high consumption of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and grains; moderate consumption of milk and dairy products, mostly in the form of cheese; and low consumption of meat and meat products. Physical exercise and active social interaction are also considered key components.