Mediterranean diet- “Wonder” of olive oil
Marketed as a wonder of olive oil, the Mediterranean diet had nothing to do with any oil of any sort except in the measure that it can replace butter and lard.
Milos Pokimica
Written By: Milos Pokimica
Medically Reviewed by: Dr. Xiùying Wáng, M.D.
Updated June 9, 2023Good old healthy Mediterranean diet. Marketed as a wonder of olive oil that had nothing to do with oil of any sort whatsoever except in the measure that it can replace even worse choices like a regular saturated fat like butter and lard. That is precisely how even the father of the Mediterranean diet saw it (Keys, 1987). When you go to pubmed.gov and search for a Mediterranean diet, there are about 5000 results. Mediterranean diet is many diets in a lot of different countries. It can be Morocco or Greek or Spain or Italy or some other place.
However, when we talk about the Mediterranean diet what is implied is the diet on the island of Crete in the post World War 2 era. Also, what comes next is a big question: Why was heart disease rare in the Mediterranean? Meaning on the island of Crete after WW2.
In 1948 after the war and socioeconomic collapse, the government of Greece was concerned about malnutrition and the health status of its citizens. They decided to invite the Rockefeller Foundation with the goal of undertaking an epidemiological study on the island of Crete. In 1952 impressed by low rates of heart disease Ancel Keys, the same scientist that was in charge of the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, noted the connection after researching the data between fat and especially saturated fat, and heart disease. Although at that time he did not see cholesterol as the problem because it would mean the animal products are the guilty ones. The connection between dietary fat and heart disease was observed even earlier in the 1930s and was influential on Keys’ work, but data from Crete made him write a paper about it in 1953 and made public addresses. The famous Seven Country Study was to begin five years later in 1958 to investigate Keys’ concerns (www.sevencountriesstudy.com). By the 1960s it was a common belief that saturated fat contributes to heart disease. The Diet of people on the island of Crete was a catalyst for this research later on. In 1970 the Seven Country Study was presented for the first time. Now Keys lived to 100 himself and at the time was not much of the radical as cholesterol confusions would like you to believe. He recommended eating less fat, meaning fat in meat and fat in general like eggs (or at least yolks) and dairy products, and instead of eating more fish and chicken. He considered fruits and vegetables to be just complementary food, and he had cholesterol of around 200. That number is not healthy by a long shot, but he did live to 100. The problem was that he was a doctor from the same system as any other doctor. Arteriosclerosis does not usually happen in an age like cholesterol confusions would like us to believe because of all of the stressful blood flow.
Arteriosclerosis is a disease, not the aging process. We can go and look at arteries and measure the blood pressure of poor people in places like Crete. Keys did not see the real truth about what was real diet on Crete. He thought it was just fat and didn’t see the problem in animal protein. Animal protein correlation was overlooked even in the charts. He muddied the water by pointing just at fat.
However, even that was not good enough. Even that was over the top. In 1966, George Campbell and Thomas L. Cleave published “Diabetes, Coronary Thrombosis, and Saccharine Disease.” They argued that chronic Western diseases such as heart disease, peptic ulcers, diabetes, and obesity are produced by one thing: “Refined carbohydrate disease.” It was a never-ending story. It never stopped to this day. Everything is a lie that is confronted by the opposite lie. Artificially created diet wars and confusion. It was a good design strategy that didn’t change a thing in 70 years except for kipping regular people in disease-causing money making an evil loop of misery. Even in current times, it is the same old manipulation story. In 2001, for example, in the article in Science Magazine entitled “Nutrition: The Soft Science of Dietary Fat”, Gary Taubes wrote:
“It is still a debatable proposition whether the consumption of saturated fats above recommended levels by anyone who’s not already at high risk of heart disease will increase the likelihood of untimely death…or have hundreds of millions of dollars in trials managed to generate compelling evidence that healthy individuals can extend their lives by more than a few weeks, if that, by eating less fat.”
People 70 years later think that the Mediterranean diet is healthy because of olive oil. This is an excellent illustration of a half-truth. Italian restaurants market themselves as a healthy Mediterranean diet cuisine with spaghetti carbonara and alcohol. The death rate from heart disease in Crete at that time was more than 20 times, not 20 percent, 20 times less than in the US. We statistically see this data from places like rural China and Crete and Okinawa and on and on and see that these people’s diet is simple and similar to each other. How much stupidity do we have to have not to see the real story of what is happening? Scientists with a considerable level of education are not the stupid ones. They have six-figure annual income plus bonuses. They are the smart ones. We are not. Nutritional science is not secret deep underground military propulsion system laboratory research. There are no real debates in the field of nutrition, only purposely creating real confusion.
So what did they eat on the island of Crete in the World War 2 aftermath? The answer is the same. No meat, eggs, or dairy. Just poor people’s food like fruit and vegetables, grains, nuts, and legumes. Things that grow locally. In numbers, they ate more than 90% plant-based, and meat, fish, dairy, and egg products combined are about 7%. They did eat some of the olive oil because olives grow in Crete but that is not the olive oil diet. Or the wine diet. There is nothing healthy about wine except grapes. We would be better off just drinking raw grape juice. If we look at Greece today what is it that we think we would find? They have the number 1 score in Europe in child obesity. The Island of Crete included. As soon as the economy improves the meat, cheese, sugar, and alcohol come in a package. And smoking too. Greece has a rate of tobacco consumption above 40%. The Mediterranean diet was not a local-specific Mediterranean diet like Italian cuisine or Greek cuisine or such. It was a poverty diet without meat and eggs, and dairy, similar to diets in all poverty or war-stricken places, and industry does not like to mention this. Heart disease was a rarity in Greece. Was. Not anymore. And even in Crete at times of war, some rich people ate “normally” meaning eating meat every day instead of once in two weeks. Heart attacks were normal for them too, unlike the rest of the common people that were struck by poverty. No one today eats the real Mediterranean diet anymore. The pure Mediterranean diet of today that is predominantly plant-based is not a real whole food diet. It is dominated by white flour, the consumption of oil and salt, and alcohol. In Crete, they did not eat refined white pasta from the factory with a sauce full of extracted oil and bottles of wine. Alcohol is a known breast cancer risk factor even if we disregard inflammation and toxicity. That is not a health-promoting meal. Well, that is not a health-promoting meal if we do not compare it to the even worse standard American meal of today. So yes, the Mediterranean diet is healthier than the regular diet but not as healthy as a real natural human diet. Whole food plant-based diet.
The problem is that regular normal food is not tasty as refined full of salt and oil and sugar so hardly anyone sticks to it. From a young age, children are given all of these chemicals we consider to be food, so we are addicted to them in childhood and have no real baseline anymore for comparison to what real human food is. That is why poor people’s diet works. If we disregard cholesterol and toxins and saturated fats that come from animal products and if we analyze the individual components of diet in Crete, we see that actually, it was not grains that were protective against heart attack. Grains, were more neutral and because they were whole food with fiber they had no effect on obesity or diabetes. Among the individual components in the Mediterranean diet consumption of greens and nuts actually, had most of the effects on lowering cardiovascular disease risk. Vegetarians that eat nuts have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease instead of those who don’t, and there are now a number of studies on this topic also. Here is one (Guasch-Ferré et al., 2013) with the conclusion: “Increased frequency of nut consumption was associated with a significantly reduced risk of mortality in a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk.”
Nuts have high-oil content but also high fiber content, so the oil is not immediately absorbed like fat from meat or refined oil and unlike meat or oil nuts are rich in antioxidants and other phytochemical substances. One more benefit of nuts is that when combining them with greens oil will increase the phytochemical absorption of fat-soluble chemicals that are in already healthy vegetables. We do not have to go low fat and avoid nut and seed consumption and predominantly eat starch. We should eat starch and nuts and all other food in a wide variety possible. So far science has not correlated high seed and nut consumption with any disease including obesity, except in people who have allergies. Just the opposite. They are beneficial in almost any condition. Brazil nuts are full of selenium, and walnuts are protective against cancer, lignans in flaxseed are one of the most protective chemicals against breast cancer and are also full of omega-three oils for brain function. Our ancestors had been eating raw nuts and seeds for a long time. They are our natural food as much as fruits or grains or young leaves or other green leafy vegetables.
The healthy diet is the one we had evolved and adapted to eating. That is it.
References:
- Keys A. (1987). Olive oil and coronary heart disease. Lancet (London, England), 1(8539), 983–984. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(87)90337-0
- Guasch-Ferré, M., Bulló, M., Martínez-González, M. Á., Ros, E., Corella, D., Estruch, R., Fitó, M., Arós, F., Wärnberg, J., Fiol, M., Lapetra, J., Vinyoles, E., Lamuela-Raventós, R. M., Serra-Majem, L., Pintó, X., Ruiz-Gutiérrez, V., Basora, J., Salas-Salvadó, J., & PREDIMED study group (2013). Frequency of nut consumption and mortality risk in the PREDIMED nutrition intervention trial. BMC medicine, 11, 164. https://doi.org/10.1186/1741-7015-11-164
Related Posts
Do you have any questions about nutrition and health?
I would love to hear from you and answer them in my next post. I appreciate your input and opinion and I look forward to hearing from you soon. I also invite you to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for more diet, nutrition, and health content. You can leave a comment there and connect with other health enthusiasts, share your tips and experiences, and get support and encouragement from our team and community.
I hope that this post was informative and enjoyable for you and that you are prepared to apply the insights you learned. If you found this post helpful, please share it with your friends and family who might also benefit from it. You never know who might need some guidance and support on their health journey.
– You Might Also Like –

Learn About Nutrition
Milos Pokimica is a doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, medical health and nutrition writer, and nutritional science advisor. Author of the book series Go Vegan? Review of Science, he also operates the natural health website GoVeganWay.com
Medical Disclaimer
GoVeganWay.com brings you reviews of the latest nutrition and health-related research. The information provided represents the personal opinion of the author and is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The information provided is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.NEVER DISREGARD PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL ADVICE OR DELAY SEEKING MEDICAL TREATMENT BECAUSE OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ ON OR ACCESSED THROUGH GoVeganWay.com
NEVER APPLY ANY LIFESTYLE CHANGES OR ANY CHANGES AT ALL AS A CONSEQUENCE OF SOMETHING YOU HAVE READ IN GoVeganWay.com BEFORE CONSULTING LICENCED MEDICAL PRACTITIONER.
In the event of a medical emergency, call a doctor or 911 immediately. GoVeganWay.com does not recommend or endorse any specific groups, organizations, tests, physicians, products, procedures, opinions, or other information that may be mentioned inside.
Editor Picks –
Milos Pokimica is a doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, medical health and nutrition writer, and nutritional science advisor. Author of the book series Go Vegan? Review of Science, he also operates the natural health website GoVeganWay.com
Latest Articles –
Plant Based News
-
‘5 Plant-Based Foods My Family Eats Every Week’
on April 26, 2025
-
New David Attenborough Documentary To Launch On His 99th Birthday
on April 25, 2025
-
Refined Sugar-Free Vegan Banoffee Pie
on April 25, 2025
-
Plant-Based Meat Not Associated With Adverse Health Outcomes, Government Report Finds
on April 25, 2025
-
Minor Figures Unveils ‘Category First’ Flavored Oat Drink
on April 25, 2025
-
21 Kid-Friendly Vegan Recipes
on April 24, 2025
-
Chia Seeds Could Help Lower Heart Disease Risk, Says Study
on April 24, 2025
Top Health News — ScienceDaily
- Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapeson April 25, 2025
Researchers have identified three subtypes of senescent skin cells with distinct shapes, biomarkers, and functions — an advance that could equip scientists with the ability to target and kill the harmful types while leaving the helpful ones intact.
- Nudges improve food choices and cut calories when shopping for groceries onlineon April 25, 2025
A team of researchers designed and tested a new digital toolkit that helps consumers make healthier grocery choices online — an innovation that could play a major role in the global fight against chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
- AI model for thyroid cancer diagnosis, with over 90% accuracy and reduced consultation preparation timeon April 25, 2025
An interdisciplinary research team has unveiled the world’s first artificial intelligence (AI) model designed to classify both the cancer stage and risk category of thyroid cancer, achieving impressive accuracy exceeding 90%. This innovative AI model promises to significantly cut frontline clinicians’ pre-consultation preparation time by approximately 50%, aligning with the HKSAR Government’s initiative to harness AI technology in healthcare.
- Single-dose baloxavir reduces household influenza transmissionon April 25, 2025
A landmark study reveals that a single oral dose of baloxavir marboxil (baloxavir) significantly reduces the transmission of influenza within households, marking a major advancement in influenza management. The trial provides robust evidence that an antiviral treatment can curb the spread of influenza to close contacts.
- Cancer research reveals how chemo impact cells at the molecular levelon April 25, 2025
A study uncovers intricate details about protein function at the molecular level. The discovery could transform disease diagnostics and treatment.
- Young adults and rise in dry eye diseaseon April 25, 2025
Researchers have called for more advice to be given to young people about preventing dry eye disease, after a study found that 90% of participants had at least one sign of the condition in their eyes.
- Global survey highlights the challenges of VR-haptic technology in dental educationon April 25, 2025
A recent global survey of 156 institutions reveals strong interest in VR-haptic technology for dental training, yet significant barriers impede widespread adoption.
PubMed, #vegan-diet –
- Energy and Macronutrient Dietary Intakes of Vegetarian and Semi-Vegetarian Serbian Adults: Data from the EFSA EU Menu Food Consumption Survey (2017-2022)on April 26, 2025
This study is the first to examine the diet and nutritional status of the adult vegetarian and semi-vegetarian population in Serbia, using data from the EFSA EU Menu Food Consumption Survey 2017-2022. The survey included 314 participants (63 vegans, 192 lacto-ovo vegetarians, 50 pescatarians, and 9 flexitarians), aged 18-74 years (166 women and 148 men, with no gender differences in dietary patterns) across all regions of Serbia. Collected data included anthropometrics (BMI) and intake of…
- Influence of a Virtual Plant-Based Culinary Medicine Intervention on Mood, Stress, and Quality of Life Among Patients at Risk for Cardiovascular Diseaseon April 26, 2025
Background: Cooking and dietary intake may affect psychological well-being. Objective: We evaluated the effects of a virtual culinary medicine teaching kitchen intervention on psychosocial health. Methods: In a randomized crossover trial implementing a vegan diet high or low in extra virgin olive oil, adults with ≥5% atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk participated in eight weekly group cooking classes. Psychosocial survey assessments of perceived stress, positive and negative […]
- Association Between Orthorexia and Plant-Based Diets-Is There a Vicious Cycle?on April 26, 2025
Nowadays, social media and rapidly changing dietary trends encourage people to constantly-often excessively-control their diet, which leads to an increased risk of developing eating disorders, including orthorexia nervosa (ON). At the same time, more and more people reduce or give up consumption of meat and other animal products, adopting different types of plant-based (vegetarian) diets. The following paper aimed to demonstrate the significant similarities between orthorexia and plant-based…
- The Carbon Footprint of Diets with Different Exclusions of Animal-Derived Products: Exploratory Polish Studyon April 26, 2025
Background/Objectives: Analyzing the carbon footprint of diets in various populations is important as it can help identify more sustainable food choices that reduce the overall impact of human activities on ongoing warming of the global climate. This pilot exploratory study analyzed the carbon footprint (measured in kg of CO(2) equivalent, eq.) using food diaries collected from Polish individuals with varying levels of animal-derived product exclusion in their diets. Methods: The study […]
- Consequences of a non-supplemented pediatric vegan diet: Nephrolithiasis & nutritional calcipenic ricketson April 25, 2025
Rickets and other nutritional deficiencies have largely been eradicated in the industrialized world. However, strict adherence to modern diet trends such as veganism may leave individuals vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies if proper supplementation is not followed. The effects of such deficiencies due to diet trends, particularly in children, is not well documented as occurrences are rare. Here we present a case of a 3-year-old female fed a strict vegan diet which led to the development […]
Random Posts –
Featured Posts –

Latest from PubMed, #plant-based diet –
- Can Diet Quality Be Associated with Disease Activity in a Prospective Dutch Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort?by Lola J M Koppelman on April 26, 2025
Background/Objectives: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by a relapsing-remitting disease course, influenced by dietary factors. This study aims to examine diet quality in IBD patients and investigate its association with disease activity. Methods: In total, 477 participants from a prospective IBD cohort study at two Dutch hospitals were approached to complete a population-specific food frequency questionnaire (GINQ-FFQ) at baseline and after one year. Disease characteristics…
- The Impact of Dietary Intake of Furocoumarins and Furocoumarin-Rich Foods on the Risk of Cutaneous Melanoma: A Systematic Reviewby Isabelle Kaiser on April 26, 2025
CONCLUSIONS: Our systematic review provides an overview of the current epidemiological evidence, but it could not clearly answer whether and to what extent dietary furocoumarin intake increases melanoma risk. Future epidemiological analyses focusing on this topic require more comprehensive dietary and UVR exposure data to better characterize the individual total furocoumarin intake and its interplay with UVR exposure patterns.
- Iron Consumption and Colorectal Cancer in Korean Adults: A Prospective Cohort Studyby Sukhong Min on April 26, 2025
Background/Objectives: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major health concern in Korea, with its increasing incidence emphasizing the urgent need to identify risk factors. Recent studies suggest that heme iron elevates CRC risk, but evidence remains conflicting. This study examined the associations between total, heme, and non-heme iron intake and the incidence of colorectal, colon, and rectal cancer in Koreans. Methods: Using the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study Health Examinee (KoGES HEXA)…
- Sn1,3 Regiospecificity of DHA (22:6omega-3) of Plant Origin (DHA-Canola()) Facilitates Its Preferential Tissue Incorporation in Rats Compared to sn2 DHA in Algal Oil at Low Dietary Inclusion Levelsby Damien P Belobrajdic on April 26, 2025
CONCLUSIONS: At lower intakes, sn1,3 regiospecificity of DHA leads to its preferential tissue incorporation compared to sn2 DHA.
- Polish Consumers’ Attachment to Meat: Food and Plant-Based Meat Alternative Choicesby Małgorzata Kosicka-Gębska on April 26, 2025
Background/Objectives: Poland has remained one of the leaders in meat consumption in Europe for years. This study aimed to determine the relationship between Polish consumers’ meat attachment and willingness to change their consumption habits to plant-based foods and meat, using self-assessment, including attitudes toward health, naturalness of food, product novelty, and willingness to seek information about these products. In addition, the relationship between the meat attachment of the…
- How Screen Time Affects Greek Schoolchildren’s Eating Habits and Functional Food Consumption?-A Cross-Sectional Studyby Irene Chrysovalantou Votsi on April 26, 2025
CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that screen time seems to affect children’s eating behaviors. The study concluded that the longer the screen time, the unhealthier the dietary habits of schoolchildren become. Future research should focus on reducing screen time, as a means of improving dietary patterns and potentially reducing childhood obesity.