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There has been a huge buzz in recent years about the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet. The Mediterranean diet has been shown to prevent obesity, osteoporosis and a whole host of other ailments. How do you sift through all the claims related to the Mediterranean Diet to find out the facts? Where do all of these claims come from and are they in fact true? These are the questions that we explore in the following article.
What is the Mediterranean Diet?
The Mediterranean Diet describes a way of eating that is typically followed by those that live in the region of the Mediterranean basin. It is not a regimented diet or particularly rigid however it is the natural, mostly plant-based diet that has developed for centuries in the region, due to the foods that are naturally available there. The Mediterranean Diet consists in large part of plant foods, nuts, legumes, occasionally meat (as little as 3 times per month) , as well as olive oil and Omega-3 fatty acids as the main sources of fat, and the consumption of wine.
Protection from Heart Disease
 According to the American Heart Association, the ingredients typically found in the Mediterranean diet consumed as part of a regular diet provides protection from heart disease and other related illnesses. Although the diet includes the consumption of fat, this is usually in form of olive oil which serves to lower cholesterol.
Source: American Heart Association, Jackson Gastroenterology, and Oldways
Alzheimer’s disease Prevention
 Alzheimer’s disease is a very sad illness that hits complete families when one of their members suffers from it. It is in many parts a mystery illness, in that doctors still do not know all of the things that cause this sickness. Research carried out in New York of elderly people that showed no signs of having Alzheimer’s, indicated that diet could very well be a factor. The foods that they ate were examined and it was discovered that those that followed the Mediterranean Diet had a 40% lower incidence of Alzheimer’s compared to their counterparts.
Source: Scarmeas, et al. (June 2006). Mediterranean diet and risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Annals of Neurology, 59:912-921.
Weight Loss with Protection
 Dr. Sharon Orrange, MD wrote an informative article recently which explored the Mediterranean diet as a 3 dimensional weight loss solution. Not only do people lose weight on the Mediterranean Diet, but it also seems to protect the heart and the brain. The Mediterranean Diet offers a very healthy way to lose weight when you compare it to many of the other weight loss trends available. Dr. Orrange not only addressed the “dos” of the Mediterranean Diet, but also the ‘”don’ts”. For additional clarification, she created a list of the things that you don’t do on the Mediterranean Diet:
- Don’t use margarine or butter at all but instead extra virgin olive oil
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Never eat a meat-only meal
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Never eat junk food or fast food
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Never drink processed drinks like sodas and pops
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Never eat foods that have been processed.
Source: Dr. Sharon Orrange, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of South Carolina and private practitioner in General Internal Medicine. Written for the Daily Strength blog.
Reduction of Allergy Symptoms
 In an attempt to assess other unexplored benefits of the Mediterranean Diet, Dr. Paul Cullinan of the Royal Brompton Hospital in the UK, did a study of children from Crete; one of the Greek islands. 690 children between the ages of 7 and 18 participated in the study. The most interesting finding of this study was that like children in the UK, 30% of the children on Crete suffered from allergies, however almost none of them showed any allergy symptoms. Although they should have been suffering from allergy symptoms, they appeared to have no symptoms. Doctors felt that it was their Mediterranean diet that offered a protective factor and it prevented typical allergy symptoms.
Source: Thorax Journal and Dr. Paul Cullinan of Britain’s Royal Brompton Hospital and National Heart and Lung Institute.
Osteoporosis and Diet
 T. Colin Campbell, Professor of nutritional biochemistry and director of the Cornell-China-Oxford Project, conducted extensive research on the Mediterranean Diet and along with several others. He discovered those who practise a Mediterranean diet for extensive periods will most often have lower rates of osteoporosis than those indulging in the calcium-rich diet eaten by most cultures in the west. The high antioxidant levels found in the Mediterranean Diet appears to help prevent the onset of osteoporosis.
Source: Cornell-China-Oxford Project on Nutrition, Health and Environment based at Cornell University; the Harvard School of Public Health; and the Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust, which issued the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid approximately three years ago at the time of writing.
Cancer Reduction
 A study conducted by V. Benetou and colleagues from the Department of Hygiene, University of Athens Medical School, Greece; the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France; Hellenic Health Foundation, Athens, Greece; and Harvard School of Public Health, US, attempted to identify a link between cancer and diet. Their systematic research proved that those individuals that follow a Mediterranean diet have significantly lower incidences of cancer.
Source: Benetou V, Trichopoulou A (photo), Orfanos P, et al. Conformity to traditional Mediterranean diet and cancer incidence: the Greek EPIC cohort. Br J Cancer 2008; 99:191–195
Harvard
 The Mediterranean Diet was first presented academically by Dr. Walter Willett of the School of Public Health at Harvard University. In the mid-1990s, Willett examined the diet and food patterns of people living in Crete, Greece and Southern Italy and laid out the common aspects of those diets along with the apparent benefits of the diet.
Source: Willett WC (01 June 1995). "Mediterranean diet pyramid: a cultural model for healthy eating". American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 61 (6): 1402S–6S. PMID 7754995
British Medical Journal
 The British Medical Journal has published several studies related to the Mediterranean Diet. A long-term study on Type II Diabetes has shown that the Mediterranean Diet and similar plant-based diets offers significant protection against Diabetes.
Source: Martínez-González MA, de la Fuente-Arrillaga C, Nunez-Cordoba JM, et al. (June 2008). "Adherence to Mediterranean diet and risk of developing diabetes: prospective cohort study". BMJ 336 (7657): 1348–51. doi:10.1136/bmj.39561.501007.BE. PMID 18511765
This is just some of the research and study results. There appears to be an overwhelming amount of researched evidence that the Mediterranean Diet has multiple health benefits. This appears to be true regardless as to the age group of the person that eats this way. Young people can benefit from a reduction in allergy symptoms as well maintaining normal weight levels, while adults can benefit from a protection from heart disease. The elderly can find protection from the typical illness that age brings on such as Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis. Although the Mediterranean is starkly different to the typical northern European diet, the benefits appear to be indisputable. In fact, its hard to find the negatives of eating that way. The health-conscious can clearly benefit from taking on as many aspects of the Mediterranean Diet as possible in their daily lives
We probably already know that research adds more weight to most arguments (academic) and decisions we make in life. That's why I compiled this page for you. Even though there's extensive research supporting the Mediterranean diet, I thought I would include a few extra bonuses for you when you get my eBook. So I've explained them in plain English at the link below...
If the page is empty when you get there then the offer is closed.
...keep well,
Ray Darken
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