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Loading...Mediterraneans Abandon Their Traditionally Healthy Diet
Southern Italians, Greeks, and other residents of the Mediterranean seem to have the perfect diet: fish, fresh vegetables, and olive oil, washed down with red wine. It’s delicious but also healthy, a claim that was proven in the 1940′s by Dr. Ancel Keys, a Minnesota physiologist who was the first proponent of the Mediterranean diet’s ability to protect against heart disease, despite the fact that the diet derived more than 35% of its calories from fat.
Now, according to a report from NPR, Mediterraneans (in particular, Italians) are abandoning the Mediterranean diet in favor of the “global industrial diet” – in other words, they’re eating more junk food. The result is a soaring increase in Italy’s obesity rates.
There are a variety of explanations for why Italians, in particular, are changing their diet so drastically. Some, like Dr. Angelo Pietrobelli, associate professor of pediatrics and nutrition at the University of Verona, contend that youth in particular are emulating American diets, to their detriment. But food historian Zachary Nowak has a different take. He explains that the people whom Keys studied in the 1940′s were eating a “Mediterranean diet” because they were poor, not because it was traditional or healthy.
“These aren’t people in Crete in 1948 saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I love this diet. It keeps me very healthy. It’s fantastic,’ ” Nowak told NPR. “They would love to add more meat if they had more money. And indeed, as soon as people have more money, they add more meat to their diet.”
In Greece and Italy, people are eating four times as much meat as they did fifty years ago, a result of rising incomes. So prosperity could also be fueling the shift toward unhealthy eating. Pietrobelli also pointed out that lifestyles were changing, and that children in particular were becoming more sedentary. This, he said, had much to do with the obesity epidemic among Italy’s youth.
Ironically, one often-lodged critique against the Mediterranean diet is how expensive it is for people who live in non-Mediterranean countries. So although decades ago, impoverished citizens of Italy and Greece ate fish, vegetables and olive oil because they couldn’t afford meat, the inexpensive options are now sugary, salty processed foods, and fast-food hamburgers.
It’s strange to think that now, only the most affluent citizens can aspire to eat like a Mediterranean peasant. But it seems that, for the most part, Mediterranean citizens’ diets, past and present, are not organized around choice, but necessity.
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Read more: dr. ancel keys, fish, fresh vegetables, greece, italy, mediterranean diet, mediterranean food, obesity, olive oil
Photo from Signe Karin via flickr.
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61 comments
+ add your ownwhat a shame
They should at least eat junk food in moderation & also stick to the healthy life style they once had.
I wonder whether each nation should cap the total amount of meat allowed to be sold in that nation. The cap could be reduced gradually with time. Perhaps this might help save people and the planet.
Fish has become a lot more expensive, perhaps related to overfishing and collapse of fish populations.
sad....I always liked to think it was because they liked to eat that way, not because they were too poor to eat any other way...
so saddddd
I live in Spain and I see daily the results of this same trend away from the traditional "Mediterranean" diet when I receive clients in my natural health practice - overweight, diabetic, with high blood pressure, cholesterol and uric acid. It's true that the foods that would help them be healthier are seen as "peasant" food. They all had enough of the deprivations of the Civil War and the years of dictatorship. They have embraced with great enthusiasm the possibilities of eating greater variety and what they perceive as "better" food items. If I can persuade them to return to former habits - with a few minor modifications - then they get better.
Other important elements in the health of the Mediterranean peoples were: the amount of exercise they did - no cars so they walked a lot; greater connection with the rhythms of Nature - no electricity so they slept more regular hours; no TV also meant less pressure and bombardment from media about all the disasters, crimes and horrors of the world so they were more peaceful in their minds; a greater sense of community with neighbours knowing each other well could give greater sense of belonging and security. In spite of poverty and hardship there were great benefits for health (as well, of course, as some hazards) which seem to be fading with the onset of so-called progress and increased wealth.
When we find the balance we can all live more joyfully and more healthily.
noted with thanks
Thanks for the article.
Love eating like this but yes...it is not cheap!
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