Abbey Stone, writing for GQ magazine, notes in a recent article that the Mediterranean diet has been ranked #1 by U.S. News & World Report for seven consecutive years, and discusses why it is considered so effective. According to the report, the diet’s staying power comes from being easy to follow long-term and from supporting heart, bone, and joint health while helping prevent diseases like diabetes.
More of a Lifestyle Than a Diet
According to Stone, the experts she spoke with do not consider it a typical diet. Maya Feller, RD, author of Eating From Our Roots and a member of U.S. News’s Best Diets panel, says it’s more of a lifestyle or eating pattern that can fit individual tastes, cultural traditions, religious practices, and food availability. Maggie Berghoff, a functional medicine nurse practitioner and author of Eat to Treat, echoes this, noting that it’s a long-term approach focused on healthy fats, oils, and plant-based foods, not on counting calories or cutting out entire food groups.
What Is the Mediterranean Diet?
Stone traces the Mediterranean diet’s popularity to the 1950s, when University of Minnesota scientist Ancel Keys, PhD, linked eating habits and lifestyle to heart health. Feller told that people following Mediterranean-style patterns often had lower cholesterol and better cardiovascular health. While Keys did not create the diet, he helped popularize this centuries-old approach, centered on seafood, beans, nuts, seeds, whole grains, fermented dairy, fruit, and moderate alcohol.
Feller adds that the Mediterranean diet goes beyond Greece, Italy, and France, encompassing all 22 Mediterranean countries, including North Africa and the Middle East, where legume-, grain-, and seed-based food traditions are often overlooked.
Mediterranean Diet Foods
Stone describes a flexible approach that still leans on a few core groups:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables: At least one serving of vegetables per meal, per Cleveland Clinic.
- Seafood: A centerpiece protein, with fish a good source of omega-3s.
- Healthy fats and oils: Extra-virgin olive oil is the hero, though Berghoff notes walnut and pecan oils are also rich in polyphenols.
- Legumes: Lentils, beans, chickpeas, and peas several times a week.
- Nuts, seeds, and whole grains: As snacks, toppers, or grain bowls.
- Fermented dairy: Smaller amounts, but yogurt and goat cheese offer gut benefits.
Foods to Limit
Stone recommends moderate alcohol, often just a glass of wine with meals, which may benefit adults over 35 by lowering cardiovascular risk, while stressing that wine isn’t a health food. Berghoff and Feller add that ultra-processed foods, refined carbohydrates, and high-sugar items should be limited, though fruit is fine.
Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet
Much of the benefit, Berghoff explains, comes from reducing inflammation. Stone summarizes the evidence as follows:
- Heart health: A 2013 Spanish trial of about 7,500 high-risk adults found that the Mediterranean diet reduced cardiovascular risk by roughly 30%. The American Heart Association also recommends it for lowering the risk of heart disease and stroke.
- Blood sugar and diabetes: Feller says plant-forward eating supports blood sugar health. Stone cites a 2017 meta-analysis of nearly 1.5 million people and 2020 research linking the diet to diabetes prevention and lower blood glucose levels.
- Bone and joint health: Studies link the diet to better bone density, muscle mass, and mobility, which may help slow age-related decline.
- Cancer protection: Research suggests the Mediterranean diet may lower cancer-related deaths and help reduce the risk of certain cancers, though Feller notes it is not a cure.
- Longevity: Two of the world’s original Blue Zones, Ikaria and Sardinia, are located in the Mediterranean region.
A Way of Life, Not Just a Menu
Stone says the Mediterranean approach goes beyond diet, highlighting seasonal foods, relaxed meals, communal eating, and everyday movement rather than formal exercise.
How to Start Mindfully
Berghoff encourages paying attention to how foods affect the body and adjusting if something causes discomfort, such as certain grains. Stone notes that Feller keeps it simple: start with the vegetables, grains, and seafood you like.
Acknowledgement: This summary was generated using AI writing tools as part of my AI Explorations process. For more information, please refer to the original article linked below.