Protecting, defending, enhancing and promoting agri-food products and the lifestyle associated with the Mediterranean Diet, declared by UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, is the objective of the official initiative for which 2014 has been declared International Year of the Mediterranean Diet.
The wine sector, through its program ‘Who knows how to drink knows how to live’ joins the celebration of this initiative and recalls that it is a product and a food that, consumed in moderation and during meals, is considered an integral part of the Mediterranean Diet.
As old as our civilization
The ancient Greek word ‘diaita’, from which diet derives, means balanced lifestyle, and this is exactly what the Mediterranean Diet is, much more than a nutritional guideline, since it represents not only a dietary diet but also a style healthy life, an element that reinforces the feeling of belonging to a community and contributes to promoting a territory and its diversity.
The Mediterranean Diet is a valuable cultural heritage, which from simplicity and variety has resulted in a balanced and complete combination of food, based on fresh, local and seasonal products as far as possible.
In the Mediterranean, food is not merely nutrients. The words of Plutarco in his work Parallel Lives illustrate this reality:
“Men invite each other not to eat and drink, but to eat and drink together.”
In this way, when talking about ingredients of the Mediterranean diet, to the wheat, vine and olive trilogy, to legumes, to vegetables, to fruits, to fish, to cheeses, to nuts, we must add a basic ingredient: sociability.
Variety and balance
The Mediterranean Diet is characterized by the abundance of plant foods, such as bread, pasta, rice, greens, vegetables, legumes, fruits and nuts; the use of olive oil as the main source of fat; a moderate consumption of fish, shellfish, poultry, dairy products (yogurt, cheeses) and eggs; the consumption of small amounts of red meat and daily intakes of wine consumed in moderation and during meals.
Its importance in the health of the individual is not limited to the fact that it is a balanced and varied diet with an adequate supply of macronutrients. To the benefits of its low content in saturated fatty acids and high in monounsaturated, as well as complex carbohydrates and fiber, we must add those derived from its richness in antioxidant substances.
Scientists have shown that this lifestyle is beneficial for people’s health and well-being. In addition, it contributes to the maintenance of sustainable agriculture and to protect the environment.