Science Supports Mediterranean Eating & Living

by | Aug 5, 2024

If you’ve read my previous blog posts (here and here), you’ll know that I‘m an ardent advocate of Mediterranean living – and I’m not alone. 

Nearly 32,000 papers published in peer-reviewed medical journals have confirmed the benefits of this way of eating. That’s why it’s enthusiastically supported by the World Health Organization, the U.S. Government, the American Heart Association, and the American Institute for Cancer Research. Many leading research hospitals, including Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Johns Hopkins, recommend going Mediterranean. 

Journalists, too, can’t stop raving about this dietary model, including the U.S. News & World Report, which in January anointed the Mediterranean diet the “best overall diet” (out of the 30 diets they compared) for the 7th year running. (The Mediterranean diet won in other sub-categories, too, including Best Diets for Diabetes, Best Heart-Healthy Diets, Easiest Diets to Follow, Best Diets for Bone and Joint Health, Best Family-Friendly Diets, and Best Diets for Healthy Eating.) 

Let’s look at some of the ways the Mediterranean diet & lifestyle can support your health. 

Cardiometabolic health 

Let me start by explaining what “cardio-metabolic” means and why it matters. 

How efficiently your body converts food into fuel (your metabolism) directly affects how well your cardiovascular system works. (Cardiovascular + Metabolism = Cardio-Metabolic.) 

Cardiometabolic health is measured by several factors, such as blood pressure, blood sugar (glucose), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, and more. When three or more of these markers are outside the recommended ranges, a person may be diagnosed with “metabolic syndrome” – a cluster of biochemical and physiological abnormalities associated with the development of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancer, cognitive decline, and other metabolic diseases. 

Cardiometabolic disease is the leading cause of death globally, accounting for 32% of all deaths worldwide. The good news is that the Mediterranean diet & lifestyle can significantly improve cardiometabolic health in adults, children, and adolescents. Mediterranean living is associated with a reduced risk of heart attack and stroke of up to 29% (and in people who do have strokes, those eating the Mediterranean way are reported to have less severe outcomes), a 25% reduced risk of cardiovascular disease in women, a 52% reduced risk of type-2 diabetes (without weight loss or increased exercise!), and improved health markers in people with metabolic syndrome

Research indicates that the Mediterranean way of eating supports cardiometabolic health in a variety of ways – for instance, by:  

Reduced cancer risk 

As a long-term cancer survivor, the Mediterranean diet is particularly dear to my heart. Indeed, scientists estimate that up to 25% of colorectal cancers, 15% of breast cancers, and 10% of prostate, pancreatic, and endometrial cancers could be prevented if people did nothing more than eat a Mediterranean diet. 

The more elements of Mediterranean living that are incorporated, the greater the protection. A large-scale European study conducted over 12 years showed that when the Mediterranean diet was combined with other healthy lifestyle habits—for instance, regular exercise and not smoking—people were 65% more likely to outlive those who had none of these healthy habits, and were 60% less likely to die of cancer. 

The only controlled dietary investigation to date into the health effects of the Mediterranean diet yielded similar results. The Lyon Diet Heart Study indicated that eating a Mediterranean diet not only protected its 605 participants from cardiovascular disease but also from cancer. After four years, Mediterranean eaters were 61% less likely to develop cancer than members of the control group — this even though the control group members were eating the American Heart Association’s “prudent diet”! 

Thus, the Mediterranean diet is linked to a lower risk of developing: 

Brain function, mood support

Research indicates that Mediterranean eating patterns also support mood and brain function. Among others, studies have linked this way of eating to: 

Further, eating and living like a Mediterranean may:

The list goes on. And on.

Is there a “magic ingredient” in the Mediterranean dietary pattern? Actually, no; it’s simply the combination of a wide variety of nutrient-dense foods – vegetables and fruits, olive oil and fatty fish, eggs, yogurt and poultry, nuts and beans, whole grains, herbs, and spices – that nourishes our bodies optimally. The vital nutrients they contain interact synergistically, reinforcing each other’s health effects in ways that nutritional supplements cannot mimic. 

The other reason why this way of eating is so healthy is its emphasis on the guilt-free enjoyment of simple, delicious foods – ideally in the company of people we love. Allowing ourselves the time and mental space to obtain, prepare, and savor natural, fresh foods, simply prepared, is one of the most relaxing, life-affirming pleasures we can bestow upon ourselves and others, and this simple act of love nourishes body and soul.

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