The Mediterranean diet is a dietary pattern based on the eating habits and traditional foods from the olive-growing regions of the Mediterranean basin before the mid-1960s.¹

While there is no single Mediterranean diet, it is broadly described as a plant-based dietary pattern that is rich in healthy fats, dietary fibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and low in saturated fat and sodium.²

The Mediterranean diet was first noticed by US physiologist Professor Ancel Keys while on sabbatical leave in Italy. He noticed the distinctly different dietary pattern, and the very low rates of CVD.

From these observations, he commenced the famous Seven Countries Study, which explored the impact of diet and lifestyle on CVD risk in almost 12,000 healthy men, aged 40-59 from seven countries: US, Japan, Finland, Italy, Netherlands, Yugoslavia, and Greece (Crete).³