Adults living in certain olive-growing areas of the Mediterranean Basin display high life expectancies and rates of chronic disease that are among the lowest in the world. These benefits are achieved despite socioeconomic indicators that are often much lower than those of more industrial nations in North America and Europe. Attention has focused on diet as the cardinal factor since food consumption patterns are closely tied to the incidence and severity of chronic debilitating diseases. The Mediterranean Diet: Constituents and Health Promotion explores in detail the relationship among the Mediterranean Diet, nutritional status, and disease and evaluates the nutritional practices that minimize or slow the incidence and progress of major diseases, especially heart disease and cancer.

During the past ten years the Mediterranean Diet has been the subject of constant attention, debate, and controversy. It is the subject of ongoing studies as a cultural model for dietary improvement and health promotion in the United States and Europe.

Divided into three sections, the book provides this information: