“We need to redefine the Mediterranean diet,” Dr. Malhotra said. “The truth is that it’s a lifestyle. It’s the whole approach. It’s the food. It’s the social interaction. It’s getting the right kind of exercise. It’s being outside. It’s getting sunlight and sunshine. The question, though, is how can we combine all these lessons from this village with what we know about modern medicine.”
Dr. Malhotra and Mr. O’Neill were also surprised by what they learned about food in the Mediterranean.
Although olive oil and vegetables were a constant, some aspects of the traditional diet varied greatly from one part of the region to the next. They found that pork and lamb were common in some areas, but that sugar was traditionally consumed infrequently. They learned that all olive oils are not created equal. And they discovered that the type of grain typically eaten in Pioppi is very different from what most Americans consume.
COMMENTS
Claggers
Tuscany November 19, 2015
Having lived in Italy for two years here's what I've seen first hand: Italians eat –lots! (Including meats, salami, cheese, pasta, pizza, cakes etc) And they smoke – lots! And, yes, they do live to be a ripe old age. Some interesting observations that may or may not be a factor: Italians don't eat butter, they don't eat processed food; they don't eat between meals; they don't eat "strange" food (they are very much creatures of habit!); they eat what's in season and they prepare most of their own food....and they don't accept poor quality ingredients. (many supermarkets source locally and know many of their suppliers personally) But the critical factor in this so-called "Mediterranean lifestyle"? No-one seems to get bothered about anything. Maybe avoiding stress is more important than extra virgin olive oil?
scholastica8
Inglewood, CA November 22, 2015
There may also be a significant genetic factor. One thing that is never mentioned is a theory that lack of collagen in our diet is a more significant factor than cholesterol. Collagen is an animal protein & the body's elastic. We make it ourselves, but our production can decline due to genetics & age. Declining collagen is why we get aging eyes, wrinkles (including the ear lobe crease), less flexible tendons, & more brittle blood vessels. When blood vessels become brittle, they can crack (ask skin can crack). Cholesterol is the body's patch. Normally, the patch would fall away if the blood vessel was contracting & expanding normally... & so the cholesterol would be of no consequence. The Mediterranean diet tends to use as a base home-made beef, chicken, or fish stock... not the pasteurized, boxed stuff that we buy. Pasteurization's high heat breaks down collagen, but the long, slow simmer of homemade stock does not destroy the collagen
Enlightened
Mexico November 16, 2015
I'm a formulating chemist and so, have access to a range of oils and fats, most of which could be used for human consumption. For instance, shea butter is used as cooking oil in Africa.
I have coronary disease, and so am quite sensitive to any more clogging that takes place. And so I was seduced by stories of how wonderful is virgin coconut oil. I tried it and within two weeks found myself with cardiac warning signs. I switched back to my usual high oleic oil - similar to olive - and within a few weeks was OK again. It appears to me that oleic oil and of course omega-3 oil are the two that will promote health and mental function.
I have coronary disease, and so am quite sensitive to any more clogging that takes place. And so I was seduced by stories of how wonderful is virgin coconut oil. I tried it and within two weeks found myself with cardiac warning signs. I switched back to my usual high oleic oil - similar to olive - and within a few weeks was OK again. It appears to me that oleic oil and of course omega-3 oil are the two that will promote health and mental function.
Rich
Palm City October 27, 2015
Sounds like a movie of Buettner's Blue Zone books. Interview all the 90 year olds you want, but you can not duplicate their life and all their hardships from wars and poverties that go them to where they are now. They made their own olive oil but what we buy is one of the most adulterated foods in the world. None of us today could survive on their portion sizes. Does anyone think that their store bought vegetables shipped from California are as nutritious as what they grow.
Stress is a constant in American life, and every study of heart and stroke rates seems to indicate that lowering stree is vital to health. Yet Americans are the only modern country with a market- driven healthcare system (if you can really call the hodgepodge of insurers, private practice medicos, clinics in stores, and alphabet soup government program a 'system.'). Working people have no job security, savings are low - particularly for the hard-hit boomers), anger and violence are the primary components of American tv. Illness and loss of income, plus high medical costs, are a common fear of older Americans and single parents. I see people leave their low-wage jobs, drive through traffic to a mall, and spend what they have on piles of poor-quality imports, striving after an unattainable vision of the happy home and a fulfilling life. You won't find that at the mall, or in the high-pressure/low-security jobs. Isn't it time that more medical research begins to address directly the toxic nature of modern American life?
SMD
Barcelona October 25, 2015
I am growing tired of hearing about the "relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle" from people who have only been here on vacation. The Mediterranean is preeminently urban, not rural, and urban life for anyone who is not a tourist, retired or unemployed is fast-paced. In Catalonia, as in Spain, we struggle with the burden of a daily schedule structured around a late lunch and working hours that may begin as early as 8 AM and end as late as 10 PM, which is also when television prime time begins. Naturally, this is very hard on families with young children, who rush off to school in the morning half asleep, eating industrial pastries on the way. They are liberated at 5 in the afternoon, when they eat more industrial pastry so they can make it to supper. Here in Catalonia there is a movement to restore sanity to our work and family lives by returning to the schedule people adhered to before the Civil War (1936-39). We don't have late lunches because we're enjoying life; this is one of the holdovers from the 40-year fascist dictatorship of General Franco. In the grinding poverty of the 1940s, city dwellers often had to work two jobs to make ends meet. At 1 or 2 PM they finished one job, and at 3 or 4 PM they started the other. All aspects of life shifted to accommodate necessity, and the advent of formal democracy 35 years ago has altered nothing.
Jaque
Champaign, Illinois October 23, 2015
Again the problem with nutrition research is the reductionist approach of any single ingredient. Whether it is blueberries, olive oil, fish, kale, coffee, green tea, black tea, chocolate, wine, greens, fruits, beans and nuts. It is impossible to do research on a diet of whole plant based foods as a collection. Nutritionists don't know the interaction of foods. For example, if you don't have enough Omega-3 fatty acids from greens or fish, olive oil is unhealthy on its own! Another example is apple - very low in Vitamin-C but is far more effective in reducing, Vitamin-C deficiency than giving pill of 10-times more Vitamin-C. The importance and interaction of phytochemicals is the least understood topic in nutrition research. So in the absence of any real scientific evidence stay with Whole Plant Based Foods with a multitude of colors!
Jon
NM October 23, 2015
Yesterday myself and two colleagues, one a professor born and raised in Ghana, the other from South Korea, were guests who led a panel discussion in an anthropology course about nutrition. Since my wife of the last 24 years is Spanish and I have spent a lot of time in Spain, I talked about Spanish cuisine on my wife's behalf (my wife had a schedule conflict).
And although none of us knew each other beforehand, all of us talked about the interaction of diet with life style. And I definitely argued strongly in favor of the idea that the diet works because of the lifestyle, that the Spanish diet is quite different from the Italian diet, but the lifestyles are very similar.
Of course, many aspects of the Mediterranean lifestyle will be hard or impossible to replicate in the U.S. Spanish are very old and were not bombed in WWII. So it has been very difficult to make Spanish cities car-friendly...a great thing for human health. You have to walk, or run to catch the bus or the train.
Also, in Spain the normal place to pop in and have a bite to eat, alone or with a friend or colleague, is in a bar, and in Spain most bars are not creepy places that most people avoid, especially at night, or loud places where only the young go. Most bars are local businesses and either have a kitchen that prepares real food...or they are attached to a real restaurant.
And although none of us knew each other beforehand, all of us talked about the interaction of diet with life style. And I definitely argued strongly in favor of the idea that the diet works because of the lifestyle, that the Spanish diet is quite different from the Italian diet, but the lifestyles are very similar.
Of course, many aspects of the Mediterranean lifestyle will be hard or impossible to replicate in the U.S. Spanish are very old and were not bombed in WWII. So it has been very difficult to make Spanish cities car-friendly...a great thing for human health. You have to walk, or run to catch the bus or the train.
Also, in Spain the normal place to pop in and have a bite to eat, alone or with a friend or colleague, is in a bar, and in Spain most bars are not creepy places that most people avoid, especially at night, or loud places where only the young go. Most bars are local businesses and either have a kitchen that prepares real food...or they are attached to a real restaurant.
J.M.O'Belly
KS October 23, 2015
I vote for Lifestyle: The Zen of When.
These people know When (and When Not) to put calories into their own stomachs. They're not influenced by Caloric Entrepreneurs and Sales Pitchers the way we are over here.
They don't Snack between meals - they Drink Water!
They practice Bellytivity!
bellytivity. (n.) The responsible awareness of when (and when not) to put calories into one's own stomach.
(from: The Theory Of Bellytivity, 2015.)
Thank you.
These people know When (and When Not) to put calories into their own stomachs. They're not influenced by Caloric Entrepreneurs and Sales Pitchers the way we are over here.
They don't Snack between meals - they Drink Water!
They practice Bellytivity!
bellytivity. (n.) The responsible awareness of when (and when not) to put calories into one's own stomach.
(from: The Theory Of Bellytivity, 2015.)
Thank you.
Sue
New Jersey October 23, 2015
And, Down goes the Mediterranean Diet. The breakfast rolls and Italian loaves I consumed in Italy, in large quantities, including in private homes, in Italy were commercially baked white bread. As are baguettes in France, as are pitas, etc. My Sicilian cookbook is unequivocal, "senza pane, non mangiare," - "without bread, one cannot eat!" The people making lists of "The Mediterranean Diet" food, and completely omitting bread, are either delusional or hypocritical. And as for this film - "simple changes to your lifestyle," yeah, sure, in an age of long commutes, work not performed indoors, subservience to children's schedules, long lists of to-dos (Did the good doctor note that Italy has national health care, and you can drop in at a clinic with only your health care card?) These changes are NOT simple in this society. They are inexpensive in dollars, but not in time.
Find your own way. Is it easy to cut out a whole category of food? Is it easy to eat everything but practice rigorous portion control? Is it easy to bring your lunch to work? Is it easy to cut out 95% of restaurant and take-out meals? Is it easy to not have dessert? What is easiest for you to do? Close your ears to all diet advice and make your own way.
Find your own way. Is it easy to cut out a whole category of food? Is it easy to eat everything but practice rigorous portion control? Is it easy to bring your lunch to work? Is it easy to cut out 95% of restaurant and take-out meals? Is it easy to not have dessert? What is easiest for you to do? Close your ears to all diet advice and make your own way.
JayeBee0
California October 29, 2015
Senza pane, non mangiare is not "Without bread one cannot eat." It's "Without bread one does not eat" Or "...is not eating." Literally, at least. Good translations include imaginative interpretation and attention to internal (not literal) meaning, I agree, but I happen to (subjectively) think this means that (in the opinion of the speaker) bread makes a meal better. Like the socalled "Mediterranean diet" it's kind of complicated.
Elizabeth Minchilli
Rome October 23, 2015
None of what the Pioppi Protocol hopes to 'reveal' is news. The health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet , including lifestyle issues like sharing a meal around a table, a high and constant level of activity and low stress levels have been known and discussed frequently not only by Ansel Keyes who observed this himself in Pioppi, but by many doctors, nutritionists and other researchers. The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, designed by Oldways Preservation and Trust in conjunction with the Harvard School of Public Health, has been an important tool in promoting this diet. But even there, in this graphic that was developed in 1993, there is not simply food illustrated, but also activities and gathering around a table for enjoyable meals. This is not by any means news or investigate reporting on the part of the film makers.
Reed Erskine
Bearsville, NY October 23, 2015
Not sure where this idealized myth of the "Mediterranean Diet" originated. Having lived in 7 Mediterranean countries in the course of 4 decades, the stuff about fruits, vegetables and nuts is only part of the story. Most Med diets are carbohydrate heavy, refined white flour the major component. Fast foods are increasingly popular, along with deep frying techniques. Super sweet sugary deserts are perennial favorites. Most wild sea food in the Med is a thing of the past, due to industrial fishing methods which have raped the sea and left most of it barren. Walking the streets of many Mediterranean cities, increasing rates of obesity are visible, though still less than that of Northern European and North American visitors, huffing and puffing up and down picturesque cobbled lanes in search of tasty Mediterranean fare.
aleberg
port angeles, wa October 23, 2015
A lot of it is heritage grains such as spelt, farro, or fregola made with semolina wheat. These are all absolutely delicious, but they are not typically cooked into the soft, sweet, white breads we eat in the US. Among other things, they don't raise the blood sugar the way our breads do, nor do they require sugar in order to be palatable, as oatmeal does.
Dave Holzman
Lexington MA October 23, 2015
My guess, and this is just a guess, is that the grains they eat are whole grains, and the ones most Americans eat are refined.
