Updated on February 23, 2017

Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, the best in the world

The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid reflects the dietary pattern found by Dr. Ancel Keys in the island of Crete during his “Study of the Seven Countries”

In 1993, Oldways, in association with the WHO and the Harvard School of Public Health – created the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid. It was an alternative to the original food pyramid of the United States Department of Agriculture , that was being questioned. The USDA had released its pyramid just one year before, in 1992. It did not reflect all the authorized opinions and scientific research.

Oldways is a nonprofit food and nutrition educational organization.

The truth is that the US Government amended the original USDA pyramid, succumbing to industry interests. This was reported by Luise Light, one architect of the original version of the controverted Pyramid, that never was published. The missing version was much higher in fruit and vegetables than the corrected one. Finished in the earliest eighties, it was released ten years later.

In the meantime, it had been brought forth the Swedish food pyramid. Anna-Britt Agnsäter, gave birth to this first food pyramid in 1974. But the US Government did not considered it relevant. It was part due to its design, and part to the high heart disease death rate of the Swedish population.

The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid

In 1993, as I said, the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid came as a scientific but unofficial answer to the USDA one.

So, the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid is the third food pyramid in the world and the second in USA. It tried to recreate the nutrition patterns found in Crete by Dr. Ancel Keys, considered the healthier in the world.

Anyway, the USDA Food activities began much earlier, with investigations in agricultural chemistry at the end of nineteenth century. Dr. Wilbur Olin Atwater, Ph.D, wrote the first dietary guideline. He was an agronomic chemist, founder and first managing director the Office of Experiment Stations (OES).

In 1902, Mr. Atwater published a Farmer’s Bulletin which highlighted the importance of diversity, balance and control in the diets of American males. He pointed out the calorie was a mean to prove the efficacy of a diet. He defined the roles of the different types of food. Finally, he tried to reduce the intake of sugar, starchy carbohydrates and fat.

In 1917, USDA published the first USDA food guide. Its title was How to Select Foods, written by Caroline Hunt, that ignored Dr. Atwater’s advice about fat and sugar intake. She focused on the new discovered groups of nutrients: the vitamins and minerals.

In 1940 took place other important landmark in the US nutrition history. The National Academy of Sciences released the first edition of the “Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA). The USDA corrected it as well.

In 1977, the influence of Dr. Keys unleashed a different attitude over fat and cholesterol consumption by the US Government.

Food Pyramid Explanation

• Cereals. 70-80 gr per meal, ff possible, true whole grain.
• Vegetables. Every day at lunch and dinner. A minimum of two servings,  one of them raw.
• Fruits. One or two pieces per meal. O better, between meals. Fruit should be the most frequent dessert.
• 2 liter of water per day
• Dairy products. Milk, yogurt and cheese. Nowadays, low fat.
• Olive oil is the king of the pyramid. It is the principal source of lipids.
• Spices, aromatic plants, garlic and onions to introduce flavors and tastiness to dishes. They contribute to limit the salt addition.
• Nuts, seeds. 50 grams per day.
• A glass of wine or beer during meals.

Weekly:

• Fish (two or more portions), red meat (no more than two) and eggs (two to four).
• Red meat (less than two servings, if possible lean) and a small quantity of processed meats (about one serving)
• Combination of legumes (three servings or more) and cereals. Potatoes, three or four servings, alone or as part of many traditional recipes with meat and fish.

Not very often:

On the top of the Mediterranean Diet pyramid are the unhealthy sugary and fat rich foods (sweets). Limit or ban the intake of sugar and sodas, sweetened fruit juices and soft drinks.

This Mediterranean Diet Pyramid is also known as

Food Triangle

Ingredients for homemade muesli

I remember eating oats since I was a child. A sort of gruel, oatmeal, sometimes a more distinguished porridge, many kinds of mueslis and other mixes containing this cereal.  I always have at home non-added sugar muesli, but I prefer to make my own homemade muesli, to know well what it contains.

After a few years of experience, I have developed a quick muesli, that is really an enriched “porridge”.

I like the oats and the bran soaked in hot water. So I mix it and place in the microwave for two minutes.

Step 2 of the homemade muesli. I added the water to the oats and heated in the microwave for two minutes

You must be careful not to leave the bowl in the microwave too long. It may boil and mess the kitchen up. And you want less work, no more.

Step 3 of the homemade muesli. Add the nuts and the pumpkin seeds

Step 4 of the homemade muesli. Add the yogurt

Afterwords,  I add walnut, pumpkin seeds, wood fruit, yogurt 0% fat, and 0% skimmed milk.

Step 5 for homemade muesli. Add the skimmed milk.

And finish with the skimmed milk!

The amount of ingredients I use varies according to the day and to my activities. I don’t need to control my weight, but I have used a small kitchen scale to know the total calories of the dish.

Dr. Ancel Keys, who discovered the Mediterranean Diet

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

You may want to go directly to the Mediterranean Diet Weight Loss Plan

Or

To FAQ 1. ¿Who invented the Mediterranean Diet?

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FAQ 2. Who discovered the Mediterranean Diet?

Dr. Ancel Keys was who discovered the Mediterranean Diet. He worked at the School of Public Health of the University of Minnesota, and published in 1970 the results of an important study developed in seven countries in which he analyzed the role 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, their cholesterol levels and its percentage of death from 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 from cardiovascular diseases. On the contrary, the Mediterranean countries and Japan were in the opposite pole.

Dr. Keys, who discovered the Mediterranean Diet, in Madrid.

Before that, in 1952, invited by Dr. Carlos Jiménez Díaz, 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).

The citizens of these districts 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.

The Seven Countries Study.

Coming back to the famous” The Seven Countries Study”, one of the most important discoveries was that the inhabitants of Crete, which obtained more from 40% of his calories from fat consumption, displayed the lowest cholesterol index and associated diseases.  In the Greek island, the percentage of deaths for this reason was 57 times smaller than in Finland. That is what would give later name to the Mediterranean Diet.

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 derivatives. 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.

Japan was the second country with lower index of deaths from cardiovascular diseases, due to a large extent to a diet with great amounts of fish,  Anyway, the negative aspect was that they had a high rate of deaths by cerebral hemorrhage. The same phenomenon presented some ethnic groups, like the Eskimos.

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. Its most important feature is all plant foods are grouped together 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.

Recently has been discovered some other benefits of The Mediterranean Diet in other diseases as cancer, Alzheimer, asthma, hyperglycemia, etc.  It is also an excellent source of anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory products.

The Spanish NAOS Pyramid shows the different food groups, classified for recommended frequency of consumption. In the same level – what means same frequency – you can see diverse types of physical activities as walking, cycling, swimming, playing, climbing stairs, walking dogs, etc.

It is the first Pyramid to include such recommendations frequencies, both for nutrition and for physical activity, merging them in a single picture to encourage food habits and lifestyle in line with the Mediterranean Diet.  The objectives are to foster physical activity to improve health and prevent obesity.

The Spanish Food Safety Agency has created the NAOS pyramid, a easy understandable version of the  Mediterranean Diet Pyramid in which includes the exercise and the sports. It is has been displayed at schools, restaurants, homes, etc.

The translations of the Spanish words are:

In the red part:

Ocasionalmente= occasionally

In the orange part:

Cada semana= Every week
Varias veces= Several times
All together: Several times a week

In the green part:

Cada día= Daily
Varias veces= Several times
All together: Several times a day

In the blue part:

Bebe + Agua= Drink more water (Around 2 liters. This is found in a separate recommendation)
Estilo de Vida Saludable= Healthy Life Style

At the right side of the pyramid, you can see the physical activities frequencies:

Occasionally = Dedicate little time to sedentary activities like watching TV, playing with video games or using the computer.

Several times a week= practice a sport or activity several times a week,  such as gymnastics, swimming, tennis, athletics or team sports.

Daily= Perform every day for at least 30 minutes some moderate physical activity. It can be walking, going to work or school, taking the dog for a walk or climbing the stairs instead of using the elevator or using the mechanic stairs.

The Spanish authorities are worried about the progressive abandon of the Mediterranean Diet by the youth . Children has been found in a recent survey as the third more obese in the World, after USA and UK ones. New food habits as junk food, TV massive advertised candies, sweets and refreshments, and a lack of exercise and sports are ruining the millenarian Mediterranean Diet.




To fight against this problem and preserve the Mediterranean Diet, several measures are been taken:

1) Parents information campaign about the advantages of the Mediterranean Diet
2) Parents information about nutrition and food label understanding.
3) Teacher’s instructions to teach children how to follow the mediterranean diet
4) Intensify the sports
5) Control the schools menus to make them follow a well balance Mediterranean Diet
6) Teach the children to eat more vegetables, salads and fruits. Five pieces or servings of fruits a day is recommended by the Mediterranean Diet.
7) Make the children forget candies and sweets desserts except in special occasions (birthdays, etc)
8) Ban all trans fat (hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats). They are Mediterranean Diet “terrorist”
9) Use virgin olive oil as much as possible. It is the base of the mmediterranean diet
10) Do not reuse the oil to fry more than two or three times. Trans fats are created in this process.
11) Control of the publicity to ban harmful products for children
12) Stop to the artificial drinks and not natural fruit juices. Better have the fruit piece instead that the juice.
13) Reduce the meat and meat products consumption and increase the fish intake, specially the fat ones (sardines, anchovies, mackerel, tuna, salmon, etc). They are rich in omega 3 and 6 fatty acids.
14) Try to make the Spanish population conscious of the importance of the Mediterranean Diet. If the Unesco considers it Patrimony of Mankind, many people will become aware of a Diet tested during thousands of years.

Explanation of the picture in the-naos-pyramid

Dont forget:

mediterranean diet

helps people live longer, healthier and without any doubt, happier lives.