The classic Mediterranean diet is famous around the world but health experts here are now calling for a campaign to woo straying Italians back to the fold of traditional cooking.
The renowned Italian diet of pasta, fresh vegetables, fish and olive oil, is increasingly a thing of the past, a
conference here warned on Thursday. Although most Italians claim to love mamma's recipes, only 10% still use traditional ingredients and methods.
Lifestyle changes mean a growing number are resorting to fast food and ready-made meals, with a worrying impact on health.
The Mediterranean diet has long been considered effective in helping prevent a variety of problems, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer. "The value of the Mediterranean diet was scientifically proven back in the 1950s with the famous Seven Countries Study," said Antonio De Lorenzo, Professor of Nutrition and Food at Rome's Tor Vergata University.
"Researchers compared the diets of seven towns in different countries in order to assess the benefits and
problems. The results showed that the healthiest subjects were those in the Calabrian town of Nicotera, where they faithfully followed the Mediterranean diet".
Together with subjects in Greece, who followed an extremely similar diet, they were the nationality least
likely to develop coronary heart disease. Likewise, Italian and Greek men were 90% less likely to die prematurely from heart attack than their US counterparts. They also enjoyed the longest life expectancy.
A more recent, four-year study of 11,000 patients in Italian hospitals reached similar conclusions, showing that the Mediterranean diet cut the risk of heart disease by half. The low-fat, high-fibre Mediterranean diet and some of its tastiest specialties are still considered the best recipes against disease.
High-fat diets and a low intake of fruit and vegetables are thought to be responsible for a great many cases of heart disease, diabetes and obesity, which are reported among 70% of Westerners.
Experts believe many of these diseases could be averted by switching to antioxidant food like 'blue' fish (such as anchovies), tomatoes, turnips, broccoli, blackberries, and all the other staples of the Mediterranean diet.
"It's therefore fundamental that we push for a serious campaign to revive the Mediterranean diet," concluded De Lorenzo.
"We have to consider that the benefits will be visible in the long run, which means we'll see concrete effects in 15 years if we start teaching our children to eat healthily today".
