Table 2.

Population-based energy-adjusted sex-specific median values of each Mediterranean diet score component, and ranking based on their contribution to energy intake¹

	Median cutoff for Mediterranean diet score
Dietary components	Men	Women	Top 5 foods contributing to energy intake within the food or nutrient group	Contribution to energy to the food or nutrient group, %
Vegetables, servings/d	4.47	3.93	French fries or hash browns; Sweet potatoes, yams; Coleslaw; Baked potato; Root crops (e.g., cassava, ñame, yautia)	41.8
Fruits, servings/d	1.67	1.66	Grape juice; Orange juice; Avocado; Apple juice; and Other 100% fruit juices and/or blends	47.6
Whole grains, g/d	0.47	0.44	Sliced or baked bread; Cereal or granola bars; Oatmeal (plain or flavored); Popcorn; Whole grain pasta (e.g., spaghetti, macaroni, linguini)	82.6
Nuts and legumes, servings/d	0.70	0.77	Pinto beans; White beans; Kidney beans; Black beans; Lima beans	52.7
Meat, servings/d	1.57	1.4	Chicken sandwich; Spam; Ground turkey; Ham; Breast chicken	26.2
Fish, servings/d	0.23	0.26	Fish sandwich; Clams; Tuna salad; Scallops; Shrimp	63.6
Dairy, servings/d	1.53	1.57	2% reduced-fat milk; 1% reduced-fat milk; skim milk; flavored skim milk; flavored 1% reduced-fat milk	93.5
MUFA:SFA ratio	1.12	1.14	Cheddar cheese; Eggs; French fries; Chocolate; Mayonnaise	8.9
Alcohol, drinks/d	≤2	≤1	Beer; Light beer; Rum; Vodka; Whiskey	70.4

PRADLAD: Puerto Rico Assessment of Diet, Lifestyle and Diseases; MUFA: Monounsaturated fatty acids; SFA: Saturated fatty acids

¹The definition used to create the Mediterranean diet score was based on Ye et. al. (2013).(29) Except for alcohol that used pre-defined cutoffs, a score of 0 was assigned to participants consuming below the median for healthful components (or above the median for meat and dairy), and 1 point was assigned for the opposite. The added components equaled a range of 0–9; higher values indicate greater observance of a Mediterranean pattern.