TURNS OUT ALL the answers to our diet questions have been right beneath the surface of the sea. The Mediterranean, specifically.

Well, maybe not all the answers. But definitely some!

The Mediterranean diet has been popular for some time now, and has even pushed its way to the top of the diet charts according to U.S. News and World Report Diet Rankings. The ranking pulls research and the opinions of 27 health experts to label the best diets, and the Mediterranean's plant-oriented plan has ranked number 1 for several years in a row, and in several categories. It's been awarded the best diet plan for diabetes and heart health, and the easiest diet to follow. The ranking site deems the Mediterranean diet "eminently sensible".

Pulled from major components of diets native to Italy, Greece, and Spain, the eating plan emphasizes removal of highly processed foods. Promoting an abundance of whole wheat grains, healthy fats, and protein stemming mostly from fish, the plan has been proven to better everything from heart health to blood sugar levels. And it's benefits don't stop there.

Sean Heffron, M.D., preventive cardiologist at NYU Langone Health, says that "any shift away from a nutrient-poor, refined-food heavy diet toward a Mediterranean-type diet is likely to be beneficial."

But, does it really live up to its hype? That's up for debate. In recent years, some of these claims have come under scrutiny.

In June 2018, the New England Journal of Medicine retracted a major 2013 study that claimed the Mediterranean Diet reduced your risk of heart attack and stroke. It wasn’t a reflection of the diet itself, but rather the methodology of the researchers. The 2013 research did not meet the standards of a randomized, control trial, there wasn't enough evidence to support the study, the retraction stated.

If you’re wondering what it is that makes the Mediterranean Diet so dang healthy, or if you’d like to learn more about its benefits and potential pitfalls, here’s what experts and the evidence say about it.

What Can I Eat On The Mediterranean Diet?

The Mediterranean Diet emphasizes heart-healthy foods like nuts, fish, and olive oil, and limits intake of red meat, butter, and added sugar. For this reason, it might be difficult to adapt the Mediterranean diet if you typically subsist on Seamless or frozen dinners.

fillet of salmon with vegetable
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Luckily, you don’t need to go all-in on the Mediterranean diet to reap benefits. You can start small by increasing your veggie intake or switching from refined grains to whole grains.

Here’s a look at the most common Mediterranean Diet staples, according to the Mediterranean Diet pyramid.

Grains

One to two servings of whole grain bread, pasta, rice and couscous are eaten at every meal.

Vegetables

Include two servings of vegetables in a variety of colors at both lunch and dinner. (For reference, one serving is roughly a half cup of raw or cooked veggies.) Traditional Mediterranean choices include kale, eggplant, artichoke, beets and sweet potatoes.

Fruit

Fruit is eaten as a dessert, with one to two servings recommended after lunch and dinner. Opt for fruits like apples, apricots, dates, figs and pomegranates, which are common in the Mediterranean region.

Fats

Instead of eating chips or processed snacks, get your fats from heart-healthy sources like olive oil and nuts. Limit your olive oil intake to between one and four tablespoons a day. (That includes oil used for cooking.)

Meat and fish

You should be getting your protein from omega-3-rich sources like salmon, tuna mackerel, and anchovies. Limit your red meat intake to only a few times per month.

Dairy

Under the Mediterranean Diet, you can eat three servings of low-fat yogurt, cheese, or milk per week.

What Are The Benefits?

Improved heart health

Time and time again, studies show that the Mediterranean diet protects your heart. That's an important perk, since heart disease is the leading killer of men in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

watermelon  goat cheese and cucumber salad
Carlo A//Getty Images

One preliminary study from the American College of Cardiology sheds light on that statistic even further: After following more than 2,500 Greek adults aged 18 to 89 for 11 years, researchers found that nearly 20 percent of men who participated in the study either developed or died from heart disease.

Plus, the diet emphasizes canola oil, walnuts, and fatty fish, all of which contain omega-3 fatty acids, a type of fat that can help lower your triglycerides (a type of fat in your blood), keep your blood pressure stable and your blood vessels healthy, all of which benefit your heart in the long run, according to the Mayo Clinic.

You can last longer in bed

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common symptom of heart disease, because once plaque starts to form and build up in your blood vessels, the super small blood vessels in your penis are some of the first to get blocked up, says Jamin Brahmbhatt, M.D., a urologist at Orlando Health.

Research supports this idea: In one study, Italian scientists asked 35 men diagnosed with ED and metabolic syndrome—a term used to describe a cluster of risk factors associated with heart problems—to eat lots of Mediterranean staples, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, and fish. Another 30 men with just metabolic syndrome followed a control diet instead.

After two years, one third of men who ate the Mediterranean diet regained normal sexual functioning, the study found. The researchers aren’t sure why this is, but they hypothesized that foods full of fiber and antioxidants work to reduce inflammation in your body, which helps promote healthy blood flow, the study authors say.

bowl of spaghetti with basil, tomatoes and olives on white, wooden background
Claudia Totir//Getty Images

Improved brain function

Brain food is a real thing, according to a review published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition. Australian researchers looked at 18 different studies examining the Mediterranean diet’s impact on brain functioning and found that people who stuck to the diet experienced slower rates of age-related cognitive decline and had a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, eating Mediterranean foods was associated with better working memory and attention.

Many Mediterranean diet foods reduce inflammation in your body, and scientists believe this protects nerve cells in your brain from deteriorating, research from Spain suggests.

Better vision

Antioxidants in Mediterranean-approved foods like dark leafy greens, oranges, peppers, and sweet potatoes are great for your vision, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Plus, people who eat just one serving of fish per week have a 31% lower risk of developing early age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a type of eye damage that’s the leading cause of vision loss for people 50 and older, a study published in JAMA Ophthalmology suggests.

The reason? Eating more omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in both fish and nuts, may protect your retinas from cell damage.

Reduced risk of colon cancer

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. But eating certain foods may reduce your odds of developing the disease in the first place, according to preliminary research from the European Society for Medical Oncology.

After surveying 800 people being screened for the disease or undergoing colonoscopies, scientists found that those with advanced colon polyps — a clump of precancerous cells that form on the lining of your colon or rectum — reported eating fewer Mediterranean diet foods and more red meat.

In fact, eating at least 90 grams of whole grains per day can slash your colon cancer risk by 17 percent, according to a report from the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research. The reason: fiber in whole grains keep you regular, which may minimize the chances of developing cancer-causing mutations in your digestive tract, the report authors note.

That said, your diet can only take you so far. Colonoscopies can save your life, so the best way to catch colon cancer early is by getting screened for it regularly.

Better kidney function

Your kidneys don’t get enough credit: they’re constantly working to filter out extra water and waste from your blood, while producing hormones that keep your blood pressure in check and your bones strong.

Yet chronic kidney disease, or long-term kidney damage, affects more than 30 million Americans.

The good news is that those who closely followed the Mediterranean diet reduced their risk of developing chronic kidney disease by 50%, according to a study of 900 people in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. This may be because fruits, vegetables, nuts, olive oil and fish have been proven to lower inflammation in your body, a known contributor to chronic kidney disease.

Weight loss

Most doctors tout the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, so it’s no surprise that the Mediterranean Diet can help you drop a few pounds. A study of more than 7,000 adults published in The Lancet found that people lost more weight on the Mediterranean diet without counting calories compared to those on lower fat diets.

That said, weight loss isn’t a guarantee. While the Mediterranean diet is an extremely healthy way to eat, it’s not necessarily meant for weight loss, says Toby Smithson, R.D, founder of DiabetesEveryDay.com and author of Diabetes Meal Planning and Nutrition for Dummies.

“The bottom line is that weight loss depends on your personal caloric intake and exercise choices,” Smithson says.

But even without weight loss, the Mediterranean diet’s many other health benefits make it worth trying. A 2020 review published in The BMJ analyzed at data from 121 previously conducted clinical trials on various diet patterns, including the Mediterranean Diet. The authors found that while all the diets led to weight loss in the first six months, the vast majority of participants in these studies were not able to maintain that weight loss for a full year, no matter what diet they were on. But what set the Mediterranean Diet apart from the others were the health benefits. As lots of other research has indicated, Mediterranean Dieters saw improvements in heart health at the one-year mark, despite no significant weight loss, while those on other diets did not.

What Are The Disadvantages?

When it comes to physical health, following the basic tenets of the Mediterranean Diet is a slam dunk.

But that doesn’t mean that the diet is without its detractors.

In an analysis published in 2021 in the Journal of Critical Dietetics, scholar and dietitian Kate Gardner Burt, R.D., Ph.D., looks at the foundational research on which the Mediterranean diet is based. Much of it comes from the 1950s Seven Countries Study by researcher Ancel Keys, which looked primarily at European countries with predominantly white populations. Even now, the Mediterranean Diet highlights foods from European Mediterranean countries, ignoring the cuisines of Asian and African countries in the region.

“The Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) is widely accepted as a gold standard diet, yet its adoption and promotion as the healthiest cultural diet reflects systemic racism and inherently biased research rather than evidence-based science,” Gardner writes.

Critics also point out that the Mediterranean Diet is too costly for many. A 2018 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that greater adherence to a Mediterranean Diet led to slightly higher food costs.

If your hesitant to try the Mediterranean Diet because it’s costly or because it doesn’t include the cultural foods that are relevant to you, focus on the basic tenets of the diet (more plant-based foods, less red meat, less processed food) instead of getting hung up on specific food recommendations.

“The Mediterranean Diet is easy to stick with because there are no bans on any food groups,” Smithson says.

Can I Follow It If I Have Diet Restrictions?

This diet is already vegetarian and vegan friendly for those who stray away from animal-based proteins. Since this diet focuses heavily on vegetables, fruits, and grains, it's perfect for herbivores alike.

Those with a lactose intolerance can also breathe easy with this diet. The dairy recommendation is limited to three servings per week, and can be replaced with plant-based yogurts and cheeses if desired.

Grains fill a large portion of this diet, but can be swapped out for gluten-friendly options for those with celiac disease or a gluten intolerance. Overall, the Mediterranean diet is very flexible and thus food allergy friendly.

How Can I Get Started?

There's no need to throw out everything in your pantry. With any diet, jumping from zero to a hundred can mean disaster. Go slow, and make sure your body feels fueled through this new way of eating before diving into the Mediterranean head first.

Start with one meal a day that follows Mediterranean guidelines. Once that feels comfortable, make it two. Then eventually take it to all three. As you start to clear your kitchen of the foods that are not included in the diet, grocery shop mindfully as you restock. Load up on the healthy fats, veggies, and whole grains. Keep them at the ready to make Mediterranean-friendly meals whenever.

preview for Healthiest Foods: Mediterranean Orzo Salad


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Cori Ritchey

Cori Ritchey, NASM-CPT is an Associate Health & Fitness Editor at Men's Health and a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor. You can find more of her work in HealthCentral, Livestrong, Self, and others.

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Health Writer
Melissa Matthews is the Health Writer at Men's Health, covering the latest in food, nutrition, and health.
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Christine Byrne, MPH, RD, LDN, is a registered dietitian and the owner of Christine Byrne Nutrition, a private practice serving clients in Raleigh, NC, and virtually across the country. She specializes in eating disorders and disordered eating, and takes a weight-inclusive approach to health. A longtime journalist, she has worked as a food editor at BuzzFeed and Self, and her writing has appeared in dozens of national media outlets, including Outside, HuffPost, EatingWell, Food Network, Glamour, Bon Appetit, Health, and more.