What is meant by the Mediterranean diet? The food pyramid of the Mediterranean diet

What is meant by the Mediterranean diet?

 The authorship of the Mediterranean diet is attributable to Dr. Lorenzo Piroddi, a nutritionist, who in 1939 elaborated a first version of the Mediterranean diet by limiting the consumption of animal fats and favoring vegetables on the basis of a hypothetical correlation between eating habits and the onset of metabolic diseases.

The first scholar who turned the scientific world's attention to the concept of the Mediterranean diet was Dr. Anciel Keys, an epidemiologist and nutritionist at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, who happened to observe the health benefits of this style of eating during World War II. In particular, he was struck by the eating habits of the Cilento population and convinced himself of the fact that the low incidence of cardiovascular pathologies of this population was due to their diet, typical of Southern Italy and other Mediterranean countries; a diet low in animal fats but rich in "poor" foods that are easily available for the poor population, such as pasta, bread, legumes, fruit, vegetables, olive oil, and wine.

The term diet has its origins in ancient Greece and means "way of life". So the Mediterranean diet has nothing to do with the many famous diets so followed in the endless search and pursuit of the "healthy weight" but on the contrary, it indicates the education to a correct diet based on the consumption of foods that are easily available because they are seasonal and of the place of belonging, as well as rich in nutrients despite their simplicity. And it is precisely these nutrients that exert a preventive and/or health-promoting action. A very "holistic" concept of nutrition, with numerous points in common with the concept of physiological nutraceuticals regulation aimed at correctly integrating different nutritional elements in the event of food shortages or increased food needs.

Today it makes more and more sense to speak of the Mediterranean diet as the "elixir of life". Confirming this is a study conducted by the University of Gothenburg and known as "StudioH70", in which Gianluca Tognon, scientist at the University of Pavia and collaborator of the Swedish university also took part. The study began in the 1950s and for more than 40 years studied thousands of septuagenarians in the Gothenburg region who followed a Mediterranean diet, comparing them with a group of peers who followed a diet rich in animal fats. The results show that those who eat a Mediterranean diet are 20% more likely to live longer.

So the Mediterranean diet is a food and lifestyle style useful for counteracting the body's aging processes, a modern elixir of life. On the other hand, it is a fact that among the populations of the Mediterranean basin who feed mainly on pasta, fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, fish, olive oil, and wine, the percentage of mortality due to ischemic heart disease is much lower than in countries like Finland and the United States, where the daily diet includes a lot of saturated fats, and is low in Omega 3 fatty acids or polyphenols, typical for example of oil and wine.

The food pyramid of the Mediterranean diet.

Surely everyone has seen the image of the Food Pyramid in its various versions. It quantitatively defines the food composition of the Mediterranean diet, it is an image that at a glance clarifies what we should eat, how often, and in what quantities. In the Food Pyramid we find the different types of food: at the top are those to be eaten more rarely (once a month); as we go down we find foods to be taken with increasing frequency (daily), to direct people towards a balanced diet.

Over time, various versions of the Pyramid have been produced, the result of continuous research and updates. The most representatives are American and Greek, the work of Dr. Walter Willet, a doctor at the Harvard School of Public Health, in collaboration with Antonia Trichopolou 2  and her husband Dimitrios, respective professor in Athens and professor of epidemiology at Harvard.

Despite the age of the Mediterranean diet, the food pyramid dedicated to it has changed over time based on changes in eating habits and due to new discoveries on the subject of food. In particular, fats have been questioned, distinguishing between saturated and polyunsaturated fats.

Today the daily consumption of “ good fats ” or polyunsaturated fats, such as those contained in extra virgin olive oil, walnuts, unsalted almonds, and other vegetables, is considered excellent. Even with regard to carbohydrates, a distinction has been made between, for example, potato vegetables rich in complex carbohydrates and sweets instead rich in simple sugars, which favor an increase in the glycemic index, and therefore to be consumed in moderation. In summary, whole grain cereals, vegetables, fruit (fresh and dried in moderation), extra virgin olive oil, milk, yogurt, soy milk, and derivatives remain to be preferred every day. In more moderation meat, fish, and eggs. At the base water in large quantities, practicing regular physical activity.