You hear a lot about the Mediterranean Diet, and how it keeps those Greeks and Italians looking olive-toned and healthy. Also, eating a Mediterranean diet may keep your mind healthy, specifically preventing Alzheimer’s and dementia.

The Mediterranean diet is a modern nutritional recommendation inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of some of the countries of the Mediterranean Basin.

Based on “food patterns typical of Crete, much of the rest of Greece, and southern Italy in the early 1960s”, this diet, in addition to “regular physical activity,” emphasizes “abundant plant foods, fresh fruit as the typical daily dessert, olive oil as the principal source of fat, dairy products (principally cheese and yogurt), and fish and poultry consumed in low to moderate amounts, zero to four eggs consumed weekly, red meat consumed in low amounts, and wine consumed in low to moderate amounts”. Total fat in this diet is 25% to 35% of calories, with saturated fat at 8% or less of calories.

The principal aspects of this diet include high olive oil consumption, high consumption of legumes, high consumption of unrefined cereals, high consumption of fruits, high consumption of vegetables, moderate consumption of dairy products (mostly as cheese and yogurt), moderate to high consumption of fish, low consumption of meat and meat products, and moderate wine consumption.

In an experiment, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers aimed to learn how participants following a Mediterranean-type diet and exercising, faired against Alzheimer’s and dementia.

The team studied 1,880 men and women, with an average age of 77, and found after roughly 5.4 years, 282 developed Alzheimer’s disease. This prompted to claim there is an association between a healthy diet, Alzheimer’s and dementia.