The Mediterranean diet was first publicized in 1945 by Ancel Keys, an American doctor who was stationed in Salerno, Italy. However, it didn’t receive too much attention until the 1990s.

Middle Ages men ate more calories, but they consumed them faster. They did not eat refined sugar and their heart diseases and diabetes were less compared to our times.

A Fundamental Guide to Using the Mediterranean Diet for Improved Health, Weight Loss, Reducing the Risk of Heart Disease, Blood Pressure & Common Allergies.   Includes many tasty recipes & it's a life time diet! If you're seriously interested in losing weight.

Extra virgin olive oil, heart of the Mediterranean Diet has a new role in helping to prevent and treat Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infections, causing millions of cases of peptic ulcer death each year, researchers in Spain report. Sunstroke author, David Kagan detailed this marvel in Medscan on his trip to Madrid.

The next cancer drug might come straight from the grocery store, according to new research published in the November 2007 issue of The FASEB Journal. In the study, French scientists describe how high and low doses of polyphenols have different effects. Most notably, they found that very high doses of antioxidant polyphenols shut down and prevent...

The Mediterranean diet is a modern nutritional model originally inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of some of the countries of the Mediterranean Basin, particularly Greece and Southern Italy.Common to the traditional diets of these regions are a high consumption of fruit and vegetables, bread, wheat and other cereals, olive oil, olive leaf, fish, and red wine. The diet is often cited as beneficial for being low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fat and dietary fiber.Although it was first publicized in 1945 by the American doctor Ancel Keys stationed in Salerno, Italy, the Mediterranean diet failed to gain widespread recognition until the 1990s. It is based on what from the point of view of mainstream nutrition is considered a paradox: that although the people living in Mediterranean countries tend to consume relatively high amounts of fat, they have far lower rates of cardiovascular disease than in countries like the United States, where similar levels of fat consumption are found.One of the main explanations is thought to be the large amount of olive oil used in the Mediterranean diet. Unlike the high amount of animal fats typical to the American diet, olive oil lowers cholesterol levels in the blood. It is also known to lower blood sugar levels and blood pressure. Research indicates olive oil prevents peptic ulcers and is effective in treatment of peptic ulcer disease, and may be a factor in preventing cancer. In addition, the consumption of red wine is considered a possible factor, as it contains flavonoids with powerful antioxidant properties.Dietary factors may be only part of the reason for the health benefits enjoyed by these cultures. Genetics, lifestyle (notably heavy physical labor), and environment may also be involved.Concerns remain whether the diet provides adequate amounts of all nutrients, particularly calcium and iron. Nonetheless, green vegetables, a good source of calcium and iron, are used in the Mediterranean diet as well as goat cheese, a good source of calcium.