The Mediterranean Diet has become a World Heritage treasure

The Mediterranean Diet has won over Unesco and entered its intangible cultural heritage list, with the organisation recognising the eating style based on tomatoes, olive oil, pasta, fruit, vegetables and wine.

Agriculture Minister Giancarlo Galan commented on the result, stating "this prestigious success fills me with pride and satisfaction and represents a historic milestone for our food tradition and for the culture of the entire country''. Coldiretti also applauded. ''The merits of the Mediterranean Diet and the lifestyles associated with it belong above all to our farmers, who therefore have the right to celebrate their good work, and no one can presume to deny them that'', declared president Sergio Marini, while the Italian Confederation of Farmers (Cia) spoke of ''a victory for made in Italy''.
The Diet's candidacy had already been put forward four years earlier by Italy, Spain, Greece and Morocco, but for Unesco it did not meet the requirements set out in the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, so the 4 countries decided to withdraw it. The bid that passed the test was instead submitted on 30 August 2009.

The Mediterranean Diet is a nutritional model inspired by the traditional eating patterns of the European countries of the Mediterranean basin, such as Italy, Greece, Spain and Morocco.

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS: its basic ingredients are seasonal vegetables and fruit; cereals; fish; little meat and animal fat; olive oil, preferably extra virgin; wine in moderate quantities; legumes, fresh and dried.
FOOD PYRAMID: It is a sort of 'food pyramid', with the most frequently consumed products at the base, such as bread, pasta, rice, polenta and fruit and vegetables, followed by the consumption of fish, white and red meat, eggs and cheese, along with a moderate consumption of wine. The nutrients are divided as follows: 55-60% carbohydrates, up to 30% fats and 10-15% proteins.
LIFESTYLE: the Mediterranean Diet is a set of eating habits, the expression of an entire cultural system built around healthfulness, food quality and territorial distinctiveness. It involves three main meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and two supporting snacks mid-morning and mid-afternoon. From this perspective too, the table is often re-appreciated as a place of meeting and gathering.
BENEFITS: According to numerous medical studies, this dietary regime has beneficial effects on health. Recent studies published in the British Medical Journal, analysed by the team of Francesco Sofi, a nutritionist at the University of Florence, show that the Mediterranean Diet reduces the incidence of, or mortality from, cardiovascular diseases and cancers, as well as the onset of conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's syndrome.

THE ORIGIN: This dietary regime, whose name was coined in the 1950s by the American nutritionist Ancel Keys, was abandoned during the economic boom of the Sixties and Seventies because it was considered too poor and unappealing compared with other eating styles, particularly those coming from wealthy America. From the Nineties onwards, however, it came back into favour, increasingly establishing itself as a true lifestyle, not only in the Mediterranean but also on the American continent.

Article SOURCE: Ansa