The Mediterranean diet revisited. Focus on fruit and vegetables

Abstract

The interest of nutritionists and epidemiologists in Mediterranean dietary profiles derives from a large body of evidence relating them to a substantially reduced risk of cancer and of ischaemic heart disease. The aim of this paper is to describe the current composition of the Mediterranean diet and its unique aspects, through the analysis of geographical trends in European dietary profiles. Analyses of updated data from national ‘food balance sheets’ show differences in availability of some plant foods between northern and southern Europe. More appropriate data from dietary surveys on representative population samples allow the diet currently consumed in southern Italy to be compared in detail with that of northern Italy and of the UK. The analyses portray olive oil, wine and fruit-vegetables as being still the key foods characterising the Mediterranean diet as opposed to other European diets. These plant foods appear to be particularly rich in nutrient and non-nutrient antioxidants and may contribute to the persistence of health protective attributes of the current Mediterranean diet.