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1 Sphera Foundation 340 Second Street Los Altos, CA 94023 E-mail: spiller{at}sphera.org
2 Division of Immunology and Rheumatology School of Medicine Stanford University Palo Alto, CA 94301
After the publication of Keys's A Multivariate Analysis of Death and Coronary Heart Disease in 1980 (1), the Mediterranean diet typical of Greece, southern Italy, and other regions of southern Europe became the focus of extensive research. The Mediterranean diet has become universally associated with its positive effects on longevity and rates of heart disease, cancer, and other chronic conditions. Interest in this eating pattern has generated much research, and over the past 5 decades both clinical and population-based scientific studies have supported the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet.
Because many scientific and nonscientific books about the Mediterranean diet have already been published, any new book contributing importantly to this topic would have to be well organized and encompass all facets of diets in the Mediterranean region, which has a history that dates back thousands of years. The Mediterranean Diet: Constituents and Health Promotion is undoubtedly such a book. The book is divided into 3 major parts and is well organized chronologically and scientifically, beginning with the history of the Mediterranean diet. Historical chapters are crucial when we describe the diet of a region in relation to health, a fact overlooked by some book editors.
Part 1 provides background information on the diets of ancient Greece and Rome (chapter 1), the pre–World War II diet in Greece (chapter 2), and the epidemiologic aspects of the Mediterranean diet (chapter 3). Chapter 3 includes a discussion of the difference in the dietary patterns of the various Mediterranean regions and introduces 2 Mediterranean diet pyramids.
Chapters 4–8 in part 2 of the book cover various aspects of some key Mediterranean foods. Many of the basic foods of this diet—large amounts of grains, legumes, fruit and vegetables, olive oil; moderate amounts of dairy products and alcohol; and small amounts of red meat—are well covered, including valuable data on consumption. The discussion of olive oil, a unique oil in many ways that has values that far exceed the beneficial properties of its monounsaturated fat content, is properly placed at the beginning of this part of the book. The only weak chapter in this part of the book is the one on meat and meat products (chapter 7), which contradicts the basic concept that the typical Mediterranean diet is low in meat (see chapter 3) by stressing the value of meat in the diet rather than emphasizing its extremely moderate use in the diets of the Mediterranean region.
Part 3 is devoted to the disease-prevention and health aspects of the Mediterranean diet and is extremely useful for researchers and writers. Current data and background information from epidemiologic and clinical studies are presented in chapters covering longevity, diabetes and obesity, heart disease, cancer, and the Cyprus experience. The final chapter discusses the issues surrounding nutrition policy, such as nutrient supply, food supply, and risk factors.
The book is well developed, well written, and extensively referenced. It is extremely valuable for anyone interested in nutrition, medicine, food science, or epidemiology, and contributes to a better understanding of healthful diets beyond individual foods or nutrients.
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