What is the Mediterranean diet?

The diet is based on traditional eating in countries such as Greece, southern Italy and Spain, as studied by American scientist Ancel Keys in the 1950s and 1960s. It emphasises plant foods, olive oil as the main fat, moderate fish, poultry and dairy, and little red meat or sweets. The large PREDIMED trial in Spain found that a Mediterranean diet supplemented with olive oil or nuts reduced major cardiovascular events by about 30 percent. It regularly ranks at or near the top of US News & World Report’s best diets list. UNESCO recognised it as intangible cultural heritage in 2010.