Mediterranean Diet

By Mislav Scukanec Reznicek

Despite its name it is not typical of all Mediterranean cuisine, although this diet was a very popular recommendation in the 1990s. Lard, butter and olive oil are commonly used in Northern Italy for cooking, but in North Africa, besides olive oil, sheeps tail fat and rendered fat (samna) are traditional staple fats, while wine is, for instance, avoided by Muslims. 

This diet includes high consumption of olive oil, legumes, fruits, unrefined cereals and vegetables, wine, fish, moderate consumption of dairy products and low consumption of meat products. But the best representative of this diet is olive oil. It is very nutritious and contains high levels of monounsaturated fats, like oleic acid, which reduces the risk of coronary heart disease. Antioxidants in olive oil also help for cholesterol regulation and lowering the LDL cholesterol. 

Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard University said this diet is based on "food patterns typical of Crete, much of the rest of Greece, and southern Italy in the early 1960s", and along regular physical activity, stresses out "abundant plant foods, fresh fruit as the typical daily dessert, olive oil as the principal source of fat, dairy products (principally cheese and yogurt), and fish and poultry consumed in low to moderate amounts, zero to four eggs consumed weekly, red meat consumed in low amounts, and wine consumed in low to moderate amounts".