9 reasons to try the Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean-style diet has been all the rage in recent years. This eating pattern is built on the fundamentals of healthy eating—emphasizing fresh produce, lean meats, whole grains, and healthy fats—and is colorful, delicious, and satisfying. No wonder it perennially lands atop U.S. News & World Report’s list of outstanding diets. There are loads of factors that earn this eating pattern its strong ranking, including simplicity and heart-health benefits.

"When compared to a low-fat diet, it has a moderate impact on weight loss, but I think there are more health benefits people can reap, like lower blood pressure and reduced risk for heart disease and diabetes," says Lauren Zimmerman, RD, a dietitian in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

A wealth of research backs this up, too. Read on to learn about the serious advantages to adopting a Mediterranean-style diet.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recommends a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats. According to the USDA, foods high in saturated and trans fats, added sugars, and sodium are best left off your plate.

Proponents of the Mediterranean diet adhere to these principles, as well. Mainstays include plenty of produce, beans, peas, nuts, and other protein-rich legumes, as well as non-tropical cooking oils like olive and canola. Devotees use herbs and spices as much as possible, thus reducing the amount of salt they sprinkle into dishes.

Consider these easy ways to introduce Mediterranean-style cooking into your kitchen:

• Make plant proteins, like lentils or quinoa, the stars of your dish.
• Sauté your veggies in olive oil, rather than butter.
• Scale back your dairy consumption and opt for low-fat milk or yogurt.
• Swap your steak for a freshly grilled filet of salmon, tuna, or mackerel.

Red meats should be eaten only once in a while, and fish or shellfish should be the protein of choice two or three times each week.

Depression affects just under 17 percent of U.S. adults at some point in their lives, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Several factors can increase your risk of depression, including a family history of the condition, a traumatic or stressful event, big life changes, medical problems, or medication. And mounting research also suggests a link between diet and depression.    

But healthy, anti-inflammatory eating patterns—particularly ones that resemble a Mediterranean diet—are linked to a lower risk of depression, according to multiple studies, including a systematic review published in Cureus in 2022. Researchers noted it was important that the diet center vegetables and fruits and avoid large quantities of meat, junk food, or fast food. 

More research is needed to understand how eating a healthy diet may help to reduce depression risk, but many researchers are increasingly confident that it can. 

The relationship between diet and sleep might be a two-way street. A 2023 review published in Nutrition Research Reviews found that getting less than the recommended seven to nine hours of nightly sleep might increase the amount of fatty and sugary foods you crave. 

On the flip side, a Mediterranean-style diet has been linked to better sleep quality. A 2022 review published in Nutrients examined 17 studies and found a link between a Mediterranean-style diet and sleep quality and quantity. The more a person stuck to the diet, the more that amount and quality of nighttime sleep went up.

If you struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep, try eating a Mediterranean-style diet. You could also adopt some sleep hygiene tactics like:

• Keeping your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet
• Going to bed at the same time each night
• Skipping large meals, alcohol, and caffeine before bed

If you wake up tired or get drowsy during the day, try tracking your sleep. Sharecare, available for iOS and Android, lets you monitor your sleep in two ways: It will track your sleep automatically or you can manually log your hours of rest. This tool can also help you create a diet and schedule that works best for you.

The Mediterranean style of eating is straightforward: Just fill your plate with the nutrients your body needs and there will be little room left for foods that are less healthy. This simplicity, coupled with the plan's flexibility, make the Mediterranean diet relatively easy to stick to.

"I think it's an easy diet to follow because I don't see it as too restrictive," Zimmerman says. "As long as people can find ways to incorporate a lot of plant foods—like fruits, vegetables, and beans—into their diet, they can eat plentifully without really restricting anything."

Obesity, which is linked to an unhealthy diet, can increase your risk for type 2 diabetes. In most cases, diabetes can be managed with a healthy diet, regular exercise, blood sugar monitoring, medication, insulin, or a combination of these interventions. Certain eating plans are more effective for diabetes control, and the Mediterranean diet is one of them.

A Mediterranean diet, compared to a low-fat diet, can help stabilize blood glucose levels in people with diabetes or at risk of diabetes. That’s according to a 2021 review published in Nutrients that looked at 13 meta-analyses and systematic reviews. The possible reasons include raising insulin sensitivity, improving the gut’s microbiome, and having anti-inflammatory effects. 

Adopting a Mediterranean diet can begin with small changes, like swapping your afternoon bag of chips for crunchy celery sticks and a tablespoon of hummus.

A healthful diet may help lower the risk of developing some cancers. For example, a 2023 review published in the Frontiers in Nutrition looked at 11 studies that involved more than 1.3 million participants. They found evidence that closely following a Mediterranean diet lowered the risk of developing gastric cancer by a whopping 29 percent. 

Another 2021 review and meta-analysis, published in the European Journal of Nutrition, found that following a Mediterranean diet was linked to a lower overall risk of dying from cancer, a lower risk of all-cause mortality for cancer survivors, and a lower risk of developing bladder, liver, gastric, respiratory, head and neck, and colorectal cancers. 

There are many theories about why this style of eating may be effective in minimizing the risk of cancer. For example, the dietary fiber in fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains is known to have a protective effect on the body. Consuming less red and processed meat, which are both carcinogens, also contributes to lowering the risk of cancer. And while inflammation can increase your cancer risk, a typical Mediterranean diet is rich in anti-inflammatory foods like olive oil, fruits, vegetables, fatty fish, and nuts.

Your brain changes as you age, and, in older adults, these changes can include decreases in cognitive function. But the Mediterranean diet may give a whole new meaning to the phrase "brain food."

A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis published in Frontiers in Nutrition suggests a link between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and cognitive health. Researchers looked at 64 different studies and found evidence that following a Mediterranean diet may lower the risk that healthy older adults will develop either mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease. The review’s authors recommended a Mediterranean diet as a way to delay or prevent cognitive disorders and potentially improve cognitive function. They also acknowledged that more research is needed on the topic.

To potentially boost your brain health, try swapping your everyday lunchtime sandwich with a spinach salad, topped with chopped walnuts, fresh berries, and a serving of grilled chicken.

A number of factors, including your weight, age, blood pressure, activity levels, and family history, contribute to your risk of heart disease. But your diet plays a part, too.

While unhealthy eating habits can hurt your heart, following a Mediterranean diet may help protect it. A 2023 systematic review published in Nutrients found that following the diet lead to a lowered risk of cardiovascular events like stroke and heart attack. It was also linked to a lower risk of death from heart disease, as well as from all other causes. This was true for people in general, and it may also be true even for people who have had heart disease in the past, though more research is needed. 

Several factors may contribute to the heart-healthy benefits of a Mediterranean diet. The eating plan limits saturated and trans fats, which can contribute to heart disease. Instead, it emphasizes healthy, polyunsaturated fats from fish, seeds, nuts, beans, and vegetable oils. The omega-3 unsaturated fats present in high numbers in the diet may lower inflammation, as well as the risk of stroke and heart failure.  

Zimmerman suggests a diet that limits processed junk food and focuses on whole foods can help lower blood pressure levels. "You're not consuming as much sodium and you're eating a lot more potassium, which can really help counteract the effects of sodium on the blood pressure," she says. Potassium-rich foods include bananas, avocados, Brussels sprouts, spinach, and sweet potatoes.

Frailty is a syndrome common in older people that involves several conditions, including unintentional weight loss, low energy, and muscle weakness. Frail adults are also at an increased risk for bone fractures, falls, and dementia.

The good news is that there may be ways to slow the degree of physical and mental decline in older adults. A 2018 systematic review and analysis published in the Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging looked at almost 5,800 people across four studies and found evidence that older adults who followed a Mediterranean diet were less likely to become frail.

In one of the studies analyzed, adults who adhered most closely to the Mediterranean diet had a 68 percent lower risk of becoming frail compared to those who followed the diet the least faithfully. The Mediterranean eaters also saw a reduction in risk for slowness, low activity, and poor muscle strength.

Because a Mediterranean diet plays an important role in preventing cardiovascular disease, it can also help prevent stroke, a cardiovascular event. One of the reasons is that 60 percent of strokes are caused by atherosclerosis, or blood vessels becoming blocked, often because of high cholesterol. Consistently consuming healthy fats rather than unhealthy fats can make a big difference. 

A 2023 systematic review published in the British Medical Journal looked at the effects of seven different diets on the cardiovascular health of participants who were at high risk, including the risk of stroke. These diets were low fat, Mediterranean, very low fat, modified fat, combined low fat and low sodium, Ornish, and Pritikin. 

Researchers found that two of these diets, the low-fat diet and the Mediterranean diet, reduced the risk of death from all causes. This was true even if the participants didn’t have any other intervention programs or even regular physical activity. And the only diet that lowered stroke risk was the Mediterranean diet.