The End of the Mediterranean Diet? (Part 1)

The nutrition world breathed a sigh of relief when it seemed they had finally arrived at the ultimate diet. The one that would work for everyone. The one that was hard to dispute. The one that satisfied *almost* everyone, from vegetarians to Paleos.

For nutritionists, it pretty much backed up what they’d been saying for decades. For doctors and other healthcare providers, it wasn’t a huge shift away from what they’d been recommending all along.

And then it turns out the study that ‘proved’ it was based on flawed data. Because they didn’t randomise the diet enough.

Urgh. Back to the drawing board.

Except focusing on diet alone completely misses the point. Those who follow the Mediterranean diet are doing more than simply focusing on eating mostly plants, some fish and lovely olive oil. There’s so much more to it.

There’s the conditions their food is grown in — small scale, organic, seasonal, local. Soil, sun, air that are ideal for those specific plants.

Then there’s quality of life — slow pace of life, friendship, small communities, daily social interaction. It’s knowing every single thing about your neighbour.

There’s enjoying a glass of wine every evening in your back garden while watching the sun sink slowly down.

Is it real?

Do these communities actually exist? Are they a true reality? Or is it some realized, romanticized assumption made by those of us who will always think the grass is greener?

I don’t know, I don’t live there, I’m not a scientist studying these cultures and their food.

(Although I do believe the last point about enjoying a glass of wine at sunset is true — I’ve been on holiday in Greece and I can’t imagine not wanting to do that every day in summer. It’s wonderful.)

But what I do know is that humans are designed to be social creatures. We’re designed to be part of a tribe. We like rules and rules exist because of societal norms borne out of millennia existing as a single society. Biologically we become depressed and anxious when left in isolation for too long.

I also know that humans are animals, and just like animals we are designed to eat what is naturally available in the real world, not a factory. Whether it’s fruit or vegetables, fish or meat, butter or olive oil is moot — what’s more important is ‘Do I know where it came from?’ ‘Was this growing/breathing/living not that long ago?’ ‘Could I pick this/catch this myself?’ ‘If I were to make this myself, would I use the ingredients listed on the packaging?’ (Hint: if there are presearvatives the answer is probably no.)

Overcomplication

In the nutrition world we try so hard to find that perfect diet, the one that works for everyone. And it always just ends up being so complicated. Flawed data is so common in nutrition that it’s not even a surprise to see the retraction.

Science is important, evidence for efficacy and safety is vital for drugs. But do we really need that sort of robustness when it comes to diet? Do we really need science to tell us that a daily diet of deep fried Mac ‘n’ cheese is unhealthy?

Context is key. It works in the Mediterranean, because that’s where olives are grown. That’s not to saw we can’t eat olive oil in abundance because it doesn’t grow here (we should, it’s delicious), but we should think about all the other aspects that makes the whole lifestyle work for them.

To be continued…

This post originally appeared on medium.com

Image credit: Photo by photo-nic.co.uk nic on Unsplash