The Mediterranean diet is not one specific diet, but an eating style that focuses on specific types of foods that are considered healthier than others. Seafood, poultry, fresh fruits and vegetables, grains, beans, nuts, seeds and healthy fats like olive oil are highlighted in the Mediterranean diet. Red meat and most processed foods, snacks and desserts are downplayed. Some dairy products are also featured in the Mediterranean diet.
Seafood
The Mediterranean diet is not a low-fat diet. Instead, it emphasizes healthy fats such as omega-3 fatty acids found in abundance in oily-fleshed fish such as anchovies, herring, mackerel, salmon, sardines and tuna. Choosing fish as an entree not only ensures a supply of omega-3 fatty acids in the diet, but also helps keep less healthful saturated fats found in red meat to a minimum.
Grains and Legumes
Grain food, including minimally processed wheat, oat, barley, rye, rice and corn, are at the foundation of the Mediterranean diet along with all other plant foods. The diet includes whole-grain products such as cereals, breads, pastas and side dishes at most meals.
Legumes are an important source of vegetable protein and fiber in the Mediterranean diet. The legume family of plant foods include all edible seeds that grow in pods, such as lentils, split peas cannellini beans, navy beans, red kidney beans, navy beans, fava beans, soy beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and other beans. Legumes also include green peas, cow peas and pigeon peas. Peanuts are legumes that grow under the ground.
Fruits and Vegetables
The Mediterranean diet includes an abundance of fresh, seasonal and locally grown fruits and vegetables, prepared with minimal processing. Fresh fruit desserts are served often to help keep sugar-sweetened and fat-laden desserts down to a minimum. The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, introduced in 1993 by the Oldways Preservation organization, Harvard School of Public Health and the European office of the World Health Organization, features avocado, dates, figs, pomegranates, celeriac, fennel and kale as well as more common fruits and vegetables such as apples, strawberries, tomatoes, carrots and onions.
Dairy Products
Small but regular servings of yogurt and cheeses are included in the Mediterranean diet. In the traditional diet, Greek-style yogurt, and cheeses such as brie, chevre, parmigiano, ricottta, manchego, haloumi and feta, are all included.
Olive Oil
Olive oil replaces most other fats and oils used for cooking and baking in the Mediterranean diet, including butter and margarine. Total fat in the Mediterranean diet can comprise more than 35 percent of total calories, but the use of olive oil helps keep the amount of saturated fat down to what is considered a healthful level of seven or eight percent of total calories.
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