Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 May 7:2:15.
doi: 10.3389/fnut.2015.00015. eCollection 2015.

Mediterranean Diet: From a Healthy Diet to a Sustainable Dietary Pattern

Sandro Dernini  1 , Elliot M Berry  2
Affiliations
Review

Mediterranean Diet: From a Healthy Diet to a Sustainable Dietary Pattern

Sandro Dernini et al. Front Nutr. .

Abstract

The notion of the Mediterranean diet has undergone a progressive evolution over the past 60 years, from a healthy dietary pattern to a sustainable dietary pattern, in which nutrition, food, cultures, people, environment, and sustainability all interact into a new model of a sustainable diet. An overview of the historical antecedents and recent increased interest in the Mediterranean diet is presented and challenges related to how to improve the sustainability of the Mediterranean diet are identified. Despite its increasing popularity worldwide, adherence to the Mediterranean diet model is decreasing for multifactorial influences - life styles changes, food globalization, economic, and socio-cultural factors. These changes pose serious threats to the preservation and transmission of the Mediterranean diet heritage to present and future generations. Today's challenge is to reverse such trends. A greater focus on the Mediterranean diet's potential as a sustainable dietary pattern, instead than just on its well-documented healthy benefits, can contribute to its enhancement. More cross-disciplinary studies on environmental, economic and socio-cultural, and sustainability dimensions of the Mediterranean diet are foreseen as a critical need.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; food consumption; food cultures; intangible cultural heritage; sustainable diets; sustainable food systems.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mediterranean diet pyramid: a lifestyle for today (5).
Figure 2
Figure 2
The evolution of concepts surrounding the Mediterranean diet (2).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Berry E, Arnoni Y, Aviram M. The middle eastern & biblical origins of the Mediterranean diet. Public Health Nutr (2011) 14(12A):2288–95.10.1017/S1368980011002539 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dernini S, Berry EM. Historical and behavioral perspectives of the Mediterranean diet. In: Romagnolo DF, editor. Mediterranean Diet in Health and Disease. London: Springer Press; (2015). (in press).
    1. Willett W, Sacks F, Trichopoulou A, Drescher G, Ferro-Luzzi A, Helsing E, et al. Mediterranean diet pyramid: a cultural model for healthy eating. Am J Clin Nutr (1995) 61:1402S–6S. - PubMed
    1. Trichopoulou A, Lagiou P. Healthy traditional Mediterranean diet: an expression of culture, history and lifestyle. Nutr Rev (1997) 55:383–9.10.1111/j.1753-4887.1997.tb01578.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bach-Faig A, Berry EM, Lairon D, Reguant J, Trichopoulou A, Dernini S, et al. Mediterranean diet pyramid today. Science and cultural updates. Public Health Nutr (2011) 14(12A):2274–84.10.1017/S1368980011002515 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources