Ten years ago, on 16 November 2010, the Mediterranean diet was inscribed on Unesco's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. It was the recognition that this is not simply a list of foods or a nutritional table, but "a way of life that encompasses a set of skills, knowledge, rituals, symbols and traditions relating to crops, harvests, fishing, animal husbandry, conservation, culinary preparations and, in particular, the sharing and consumption of food, which is the basis of cultural identity and the continuity of communities throughout the Mediterranean basin, where values of hospitality, neighbourliness, intercultural dialogue and creativity are combined with respect for territory and biodiversity".

A diet with ancient roots, yet always relevant

The term Mediterranean diet was coined in the 1970s by American scientists Ancel and Margaret Keys, whose studies on cardiovascular disease, conducted from the 1950s onwards in the Mediterranean, had revealed for the first time in the history of medicine that the longevity of populations in southern Italy was linked to dietary habits, social customs and local produce. A legacy of an ancient past, the Mediterranean diet has never ceased to be relevant. And today it is more so than ever, because, as recognised by the Fao, it represents an important contribution towards achieving the sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

Mediterranean diet, a necessary contribution towards sustainability

On this very subject, just in recent days the "Sustainable development in the Mediterranean – transformations to achieve the sustainable development goals (Sdgs)" was presented, the fruit of joint work between the Santa Chiara Lab – Università di Siena, the Sustainable development solutions network for the Mediterranean (Sdsn Med) and the United Nations Sustainable development solutions network (Sdsn). The report analysed the level of progress towards the sustainable development goals for 24 Mediterranean countries, concluding that no country is yet on the right track. Among the critical points highlighted is the fact that 26 per cent (approximately 95 million people) of the Mediterranean population is obese, with a general and progressive abandonment of the Mediterranean diet in favour of protein-rich foods and meat-based diets, particularly in Europe.

"The findings of the study confirm the great challenges and enormous opportunities that characterise the Mediterranean area," comments Angelo Riccaboni, Chair of Sdsn Med and President of the Santa Chiara Lab – Università di Siena. "We need a collective effort to bring about a real transition towards sustainability. And consumers must be aware of this: the health emergency linked to coronavirus has reminded us how much our health and that of the environment also depend on what we eat."

A dietary model to export

To discuss the need for an effort to restore the traditional model of the Mediterranean diet to centre stage — with the help of new scientific studies and technological innovation, but also through policies aimed at reducing socio-economic and cultural inequalities within the population — Sinu, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, and the Federation of european nutrition societies have organised the international virtual conference entitled "Emerging topics on mediterranean diet" (other initiatives promoted on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Unesco recognition can be found here). Scheduled for 16 November, starting at 10.30, the conference will address various topics including the Mediterranean diet and the immune system, sustainable food systems, and the impact of Covid-19 on dietary patterns.

"The Mediterranean diet is built on concepts that are more relevant than ever," explains Pasquale Strazzullo, president of Sinu and full professor in the university department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery at the University of Naples Federico II. "It is a diet balanced in its components that, as a great many studies have shown, helps prevent numerous chronic diseases; it is a predominantly plant-based diet, and therefore one that can reduce the environmental impact of meat production; it is a diet grounded in concepts such as the seasonality of produce, variety and biodiversity of foods. These are principles belonging to the Mediterranean basin, but ones that can be applied anywhere in the world, in keeping with local traditions, for a sustainable global future from the perspective of both human and environmental health."

How to apply the Mediterranean diet

But what are the fundamental principles of the Mediterranean diet? Knowing them — at least for us Italians — might seem obvious, but that is not always the case. Martina Donegani, nutritional biologist and expert in food education, helps us out: "The Mediterranean diet traditionally involves the consumption of wholegrains, daily portions of fruit and vegetables, olive oil as a condiment, pulses, and in lesser quantities dairy products and eggs, oily fish and little meat, predominantly white. Unlike many other diets that follow trends, it is a nutritionally balanced diet: in general, in a single meal, as regards macronutrients, 45–60 per cent of calories should come from carbohydrates, 20–35 per cent from lipids (healthy fats derived, for example, from extra virgin olive oil, salmon, oily fish and dried fruit and nuts) and 10–15 per cent from proteins (favouring plant proteins such as pulses)."

Variety is the other key characteristic of the Mediterranean diet: "It is important to draw on food biodiversity in order to benefit from the different properties of various foods. Often out of laziness or lack of time we tend to bring the same things to the table, perhaps even ready meals. In this sense, proper nutritional education is needed to allow us to rediscover raw ingredients, to know how to handle and cook them. There is no need to spend all day at the stove — it is enough to acquire a few essential pieces of information that nonetheless help us to put together a plate correctly, to read product labels and to filter the wealth of information that reaches us from the web. And then, against the frenzy of daily life, organisation and planning in the kitchen are needed, with the help perhaps of technology too, from frozen foods to systems that allow us to shorten cooking times. This way we can preserve the principles of the Mediterranean diet while adapting them to the rhythms of contemporary life."