Get a Free Sample Menu of the New Mediterranean Diet Meal Plan

If you need to find detailed info and tips to start eating like a real Mediterranean, then read this simple guide to learn how to follow this diet step by step and start a living healthier life

The Mediterranean diet pyramid

The Mediterranean diet (or Mediteranian diet) can be represented through this food chart.



The proportions are: 20% proteins, 30% Fats and 50% Carbohydrates

You should eat 5 times a day: Breakfast, lunch and dinner and 2 snacks (11:00 and 18:00).

The Mediterranean diet is not only a weight loss and maintenance diet, it’s also one of the healthiest ways of eating in the world.

It’s better to use the term: “Mediterranean cuisine” as it is the traditional eating lifestyle of the Mediterranean people.

By following the Mediterranean Diet you will be able to avoid the frequent hunger pangs and increase your metabolism.

The common principles are:

• The use of “Unique plates” (Plates that combine carbs and meat)
• Intensive use of olive oil
• Consumption of fresh fruits, vegetables and legumes
• Moderate consumption of red meat
• Consumption of fish or white meats restricted to once a week
• Moderate use of cheese and yogurt
• 1 glass of red wine to accompany the main meals
• Consumption of honey instead of sugar
• Drink at least 6 glasses of water a day

Bonus Tip: You can maximize the benefits of this diet by  including constant physical activity (30 Min. a day of walks, bicycle, etc…)

Characteristics and benefits

• Rich in anti-oxidants
• Prevents heart and cardiovascular diseases
• Reduces the risk of cancer  (especially breast and colon)
• Reduces the risk of diabetes
• Reduces Hypertension and infarct risk
• Protects from Alzheimer’s disease
• Reduces the risk of chronic bronchitis and emphysema
• Has anti-inflammatory properties
• Reduces blood pressure
• Improves life span and the quality of life
• It’s convenient (It’s based on easy to find and cheap foods)
• It’s tasty
• Ideal for sport lovers (balanced, rich of vitamins and minerals)
• It’s amusing!

As compared to the other diets, the Mediterranean diet has a higher calorie count, due to the use of Olive oil.

This anti aging food has fantastic health benefits because it’s does not contain bad fats but is rich in the good ones (poli-saturated and monounsaturated).

It’s very good for your heart and useful in reducing cholesterol, and blood pressure.

Olive oil contains also:

• Anti oxidants
• Oleic acid that reduces the risk of breast cancer
• Vitamins A, B1, B2, C, D, and K,
• Iron
• Poli-phenols

Mediterranean diet food list

Things to eat every day

• Cereals: bread and pasta, rice, maize, oats, luff, grain, potatoes.
• Beans, peas, lupins.
• Fruits: apples, pears, oranges, Mandarin, apricots, peaches, grape, fichi, water-melons, melons, raspberries, strawberries, chestnuts, walnuts, nuts, almonds, pistachio nuts.
• Vegetables: turnips, carrots, salads, spinach, broccoli, cabbages, tomatoes, eggplants, capsicum, zucchini, onions.
• Olive oil
• Aromatic grass: basil, thymus, oregano, garlic.
• Milk and cheeses
• Wine

Nourishing: Glucidi (starch), vegetal proteins, vitamins B, fiber. vitamin and provitamin C, minerals and anti-oxidants, water, fibre, Animals Proteins, phosphorus.

Functions: Energetic, plastic, Regulative, protective.

Useful tips:

• Use cereals for breakfast, lunch and limit its use for dinner
• Moderate the peak consumption (2-3 times to week)
• Consume 3-4 portions of the various aliments of this group
• Moderate the consumption of grape, bananas, fichi, fruit juices
• Avoid the consumption of fruits with the main meals
• Prefer milk and yogurt foamed or partially foamed, fresh and lean cheeses
• Avoid cream and butter
• Consume cheeses with moderation

To eat 1-3 times a week

• Meat: mostly white, chicken and turkey, rabbit, pig and veal
• Fish: anchovies, sardines, herrings, aguglie, clear, spato
• Eggs

Nourishing: Animals Proteins, minerals (zinc, branch, iron, vitamins of the complex B. vegetables proteins, acid fats)

Functions: Plastic, energetic.

Useful tips:

• Prefer lean meats and fish. Moreover blue fish (anchovies, sardine, herrings, aguglie, clears, spato them, etc)
• Consume fish at least two times a week
• Avoid the consumption of conserved meats, fat meats and fishes
• Limit the fat of animal and fried origin
• Prefer vegetable oils, particularly extra virgin olive oil

To eat at smaller frequency: Honey and cakes

Mediterranean diet meal plan

The base concept is to try and always eat fresh fruits and vegetables that are dark green, red or orange in colour.

Good examples are oranges and tomatoes, rich of anti oxidants and useful to fight cancer and free radicals.

Other useful aliments of this diet are fishes, rich of hearty Omega-3 fatty acids, red wine, rich of flavonoids and polyphenols (useful to clean up the arteries), and the oil of olive.

Mediterranean diet recipes

All the Mediterranean recipes are simple and easy to prepare. They are derived from the ancient peasant culture.

The recipe that best synthesizes the Mediterranean style is the “pasta e fagioli” (Pasta with beans)

Here is how you can prepare it

1. Take 250 grams of beans and put them in water for 1 night.
2. Then cook them in water for approximately 2 hours.
3. Fry some carrots, sedano, onions and chilli pepper in olive oil.
4. Then boil the beans with the pasta water and cook them in the same pot.
5. Use the olive oil to give a better taste to the plate.

You can watch the dish being prepared in this video.

Understand what works and what doesn’t

There are many Mediterranean diet cookbooks available in the market. However a lot of plans don’t offer the benefits of the real Mediterranean diet weight loss, simple because the food recommendations are not authentic. Here is a cheat sheet that will help you to understand what works and what doesn’t

This is a long list of products which are sold on the pretext of being Mediterranean but they are laced with harmful chemicals. Unsuspecting consumers will do themselves more harm than good by consuming them

Orange without orange juice – Drinks that are supposedly food based but which contain artificial flavour, colour and sweeteners are commonly available in the market. These additives which are included to improve the taste of the product can prove to be detrimental for your health

Cheeses with casein - Using casein and caseinates in partial substitution of milk for cheeses sold as imitations of mozzarella.

Wine without grapes – Obtained from the fermentation of fruit, from raspberries to black currant. Red wines made from grapes contain anti-oxidants which cannot be found in these faux preparations.

Chocolate without cacao – Chocolate obtained with the addition of vegetable fats instead of cocoa butter.

Wine under mixtures rosè – becomes possible to produce rosé wine simply by mixing red and white wine instead of producing it with the natural method which uses the traditional white wine of red grapes.

Wine with sugar – This is a practice used in the countries of Northern Europe, designed to increase the alcohol content of wine by adding sugar.

Wine with no alcohol - Is it possible to eliminate the course of alcohol content in wine through wine-making practices.

Wine under swarf - In 2007 this process was given the green light artificial aging of wine with sawdust (called chips) instead of using the traditional barrels but this must be clearly indicated on the label.

Practical tips to get better results

• Use fruits instead of sweets
• Reduce the consumption of cheeses and butter
• Consumes at least 4 eggs a week
• Replace butter with olive oil
• Use the honey instead of sugar
• Only eat red meat once a month
• Drink 1 glass of red wine (or grape juice) a day
• Put in 30 min. of moderate physical activity each day
• Drastic weight loss will do more harm than good, so choose a healthy diet

My personal experience

I was born with the Mediterranean diet principles (I’m Sicilian)…I eat 5 times a day and I spend 1 and a half hour in the gym 3 times the week.

1. Breakfast Milk and cereals
2. 11:30 Fruit
3. Lunch pasta, meat or cheese, salad and fruit
4. 18:00 Fruit
5. Dinner bread, meat, salad and fruits

Actually I’m 24 years (2007), I’m 1,80 meters and weight 80kg.

The modified Mediterranean diet

The modified version of the Mediterranean diet replaces the typical Mediterranean foods, with other nutriments of equal health value: fruits and vegetables.

What the experts say

Here some answers and interviews about the heath effects of the Mediterranean diet

• Mediterranean Diet Answers to the most common questions
• Interview with Emilia Klapp Author of the Best Seller “Your heart needs the Mediterranean diet”
• Interview with Nicki Heverling Manager of the project “Mediterranean Mark”

History of the Mediterranean diet

The history of the Mediterranean diet has millenarian origins. Its principles were already in use from the 4th century under the roman empire.

The diet attracted international interest after a study conduced by Dr. Ancel keys at the end of the Second world war. Dr. Keys noticed how the population in the Cilento (southern Italy), was characterized by greater longevity, minor incidence of heart problems and cancer.

The Doctor understood that it was due to the alimentary regimen they followed. Then he decided to undertake a study “Study of the seven countries” in order to verify the health similarities of several Mediterranean populations.

Ancel Keys lived in a small village of fishermen (Poplars) in the common of Pollica in province of Salerno,Italy for 40 years. It is passed away in November 2004 at 100 years age.