The Mediterranean Diet: What Is It Really?
The Mediterranean diet "is characterized by abundant plant foods (fruit, vegetables, breads, other forms of cereals, beans, nuts and seeds), 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, normally with meals. This diet is low in saturated fat (less than or equal to 7-8% of energy) with total fat ranging from less than 25% to greater than 35% of energy throughout the region."
ANCEL KEYS - ARCHITECT OF THE LIPID HYPOTHESIS
This, according to the Diet Dictocrats, is the diet that we should adopt to protect ourselves from chronic disease, especially heart disease. The author of this theory, and the first to describe the Mediterranean diet in these terms, was Ancel Keys, architect of the lipid hypothesis, namely that heart disease is caused by "the major dietary villain," saturated fat from meat and dairy products.2 According to Keys, his introduction to the Mediterranean diet began in the early 1950s when he was a visiting professor at Oxford. In 1951, he chaired the first conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations at their headquarters in Rome. "The conference talked only about nutritional deficiencies. When I asked about the diet and the new epidemic of coronary heart disease, Gino Bergami, Professor of Physiology at the University of Naples, said coronary heart disease was no problem in Naples."
KEY'S FALSE DATA
Dr. Keys returned to Oxford where, as an underpaid visiting professor, he and his wife endured an unheated house and got by on food rations. He then had the brilliant idea of visiting sunny Naples to check out Professor Bergami's claim. Once there, he discovered the trotterias and dined on "simple pasta and plain pizza." Keys says he discovered that heart attacks were indeed rare in Naples, "except among the small class of rich people whose diet differed from that of the general population-they ate meat every day instead of very week or two." His wife amused herself by measuring serum cholesterol concentrations "and found them to be very low except among members of the Rotary Club." After this exacting research, Keys was able to conclude that "there seemed to be an association between the diet, serum cholesterol and coronary heart disease." "The heart of what we now consider the Mediterranean diet is mainly vegetarian," he reports. "Pasta in many forms, leaves sprinkled with olive oil, all kinds of vegetables in season, and often cheese, all finished off with fruit and frequently washed down with wine."
At first, Dr. Keys' found little support for his revolutionary theories. But he encountered a sympathetic listener in 1952 when he presented his views to a small audience in New York at Mt. Sinai Hospital. Fred Epstein was convinced by Keys' data and began spreading the message "with great effect over Europe and America."
ANCEL KEYS - ARCHITECT OF THE LIPID HYPOTHESIS
This, according to the Diet Dictocrats, is the diet that we should adopt to protect ourselves from chronic disease, especially heart disease. The author of this theory, and the first to describe the Mediterranean diet in these terms, was Ancel Keys, architect of the lipid hypothesis, namely that heart disease is caused by "the major dietary villain," saturated fat from meat and dairy products.2 According to Keys, his introduction to the Mediterranean diet began in the early 1950s when he was a visiting professor at Oxford. In 1951, he chaired the first conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations at their headquarters in Rome. "The conference talked only about nutritional deficiencies. When I asked about the diet and the new epidemic of coronary heart disease, Gino Bergami, Professor of Physiology at the University of Naples, said coronary heart disease was no problem in Naples."
KEY'S FALSE DATA
Dr. Keys returned to Oxford where, as an underpaid visiting professor, he and his wife endured an unheated house and got by on food rations. He then had the brilliant idea of visiting sunny Naples to check out Professor Bergami's claim. Once there, he discovered the trotterias and dined on "simple pasta and plain pizza." Keys says he discovered that heart attacks were indeed rare in Naples, "except among the small class of rich people whose diet differed from that of the general population-they ate meat every day instead of very week or two." His wife amused herself by measuring serum cholesterol concentrations "and found them to be very low except among members of the Rotary Club." After this exacting research, Keys was able to conclude that "there seemed to be an association between the diet, serum cholesterol and coronary heart disease." "The heart of what we now consider the Mediterranean diet is mainly vegetarian," he reports. "Pasta in many forms, leaves sprinkled with olive oil, all kinds of vegetables in season, and often cheese, all finished off with fruit and frequently washed down with wine."
At first, Dr. Keys' found little support for his revolutionary theories. But he encountered a sympathetic listener in 1952 when he presented his views to a small audience in New York at Mt. Sinai Hospital. Fred Epstein was convinced by Keys' data and began spreading the message "with great effect over Europe and America."