Mediterranean Diet

(Photo: Front Page of Times: Dr. Ancel Keys, father of the Mediterranean Diet)

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To FAQ 1. ¿Who invented the Mediterranean Diet?

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FAQ 2. Who discovered the Mediterranean Diet?

The benefits of the Mediterranean Diet were discovered by Dr. Ancel Keys, from the School of Public Health of the University of Minnesota, who published in 1970 the results of an important study realized in seven countries in which analyzed the roll of the diet in the cardiovascular diseases, establishing the bases of what would be later the Mediterranean Diet.

The research was carried out with more than 12,000 men of Finland, Greece, Italy, Japan, Holland, the United States and Yugoslavia. There were high correlations between the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in the diet of the people, the cholesterol levels in their blood and its percentage of death by cardiovascular diseases. Of these seven nations, the United States and Finland had the highest animal product consumption, the highest saturated fat intake, the highest cholesterol consumption and the highest percentage of death by cardiovascular diseases. On the contrary, the Mediterranean countries and Japan were in the opposite pole.

Before that, in 1952 and invited by Dr. Carlos Jiménez Diaz, Dr. Keys had spent some time in Madrid. In that one occasion was lodged in the Residence of Students and, with some important collaborators, among which was Grande Covián, developed a first study relating the diet (still was not known as Mediterranean Diet) and the values of cholesterol in the blood. It carried out an analysis between the inhabitants of Vallecas and Cuatro Caminos (two Madrid districts). These citizens almost did not drink milk nor consumed meat or butter, and they had the lowest values of cholesterol in the area, presenting - in addition - very low incidences of coronary cardiopathies. The inhabitants of the district of Salamanca, nevertheless, with a much more rich diet in saturated fat, had much higher values of cholesterol. And among them, the cases of myocardium infarct were much more frequent. In Naples he carried out observations with similar results.

Coming back to which soon universally would be known as ” The Seven Countries Study”, one of the most important discoveries of this study and that would give later name to the Mediterranean Diet, was that the inhabitants of Crete, which they obtained more from 40% of his calories of the fat consumption, displayed the lowest cholesterol index and associate diseases (in the Greek island, the percentage of deaths for this reason was 57 times smaller than in Finland). Most of the Greek fat intakes proceed from olive oil and olives and, the rest, from cereals, vegetables and generally “blue fish”, with something of meat and derivates. In addition, they drank wine every day. This is the genuine Mediterranean Diet, almost identical to the diet of many others Mediterranean countries at that time. With respect to Japan, the second country with lower index of deaths by cardiovascular diseases, due to a large extent to a diet with great amounts of fish, was observed that as negative aspect presented/displayed a high index of deaths by cerebral hemorrhage. The same phenomenon was observed ethnic groups among others, like the Eskimos. Later, in Japan, when their diet, has been divesified a diminution of the percentage of deaths has been observed.

FAQ 3. Who gave name to the Mediterranean Diet?

In 1993, the Oldways organization, the Harvard School of Public Health and the World Health Organization introduced the concept of Mediterranean Diet , in a conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts and defined it as “a delicious, pleasurable, and very healthful way to eat” (Oldways). Olways leaded the project and created as well the famous and wide world know Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, that this year will be updated. Its most important chage will be that all plant foods will be grouped together in order to highlight the health benefits that they grant.

Later and the in the same decade (about 1950), Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard University’s School of Public Health promoted the Mediterranean Diet explaining it in a very understandable way.

Hereafter, the Mediterranean Diet became world-wide known as a heart protector and long life dietary pattern.

More recently has been discovered some other benefits of The Mediterranean Diet in other diseases as cancer, Alzheimer, asthma, hyperglycemia, etc. as well as the fact of being an excellent source of anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory products.