The traditional Mediterranean diet, of which olive oil is a major ingredient has attracted intense international interest as its impressive health benefit have become clear. Mediterranean diet can be represented by the concept of a pyramid which is meant to provide an overall impression of healthy food choices, rather than to define recommended weights of certain foods or proportion of energy obtained from them.
The pyramid describes a diet for most healthy adults. Whether changes would need to be made for children, women in the reproductive years and other special population groups is an issue that needs further consideration. A principal objective of this graphic illustration is to foster a dialogue within the international scientific, public health, food and agricultural communities as to what specific elements and configurations of the traditional diets of the Mediterranean should be regarded as healthy.
The pyramid is the first in a series that will be developed over next few years to illustrate geographically the healthy traditional food and dietary patterns of various cultures and region of the world. Countries that have slipped away from healthy Mediterranean diet are starting to show increases in mortality from hearth disease. As a result, doctors and nutrition experts are calling for the incorporation of the principles of the Mediterranean diet into all dietary guidance policies in countries which do not have this tradition, and efforts are now being to stop the loss of traditional eating patterns.
A crucial feature of the Mediterranean diet for its role in disease prevention is its low content of saturated fatty acids. Thus, a mass experiment of the Mediterranean countries, like Spain, where olive oil has been used for centuries, has proved olive oil and the Mediterranean diet may have benefits in several other diseases.
Olive oil and the Mediterranean diet may:- Lower blood pressure and prevent or ameliorate hypertension.
- Be good diet for diabetics or prevent diabetes.
- Be used to manage or prevent obesity.
- Have a benefit on clotting factors in the blood.
- Prevent some cancer.
Also existing evidence consistently support a protective role of olive oil in breast cancer prevention. The Mediterranean diet constitutes a centuries old tradition that contributes to excellent health and forms a vital part of the world’s collective cultural heritage.
Spain has a great olive oil culture, the result of thousands of years of tradition. The country produces an annual average of almost 30 % of world total, making Spain the main producer and exporter of olive oil in the world. The variety of climates ad soil type in Spain results in a far wider range of aromas and tastes among Spanish oils than the oils of any other producer country.