SAN FRANCISCO -- In a major departure from the U.S. government's recommendations for healthy eating, leading international scientists and nutritionists have created their own version of the Food Guide Pyramid: a Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, which recommends higher consumption of plant-based foods and a dramatic reduction of meats and saturated fats.
Developed by the World Health Organization, the Harvard School of Public Health and Oldways Preservation & Exchange Trust, a Boston-based nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving healthful, traditional diets of different cultures, the new food pyramid is based on the dietary traditions of the Mediterranean region.
"People in the Mediterranean countries -- the Greeks, Italians, Spaniards -- have lower incidence of coronary disease and several forms of cancer," said Dr. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, chairman of the department of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston.
"Their life expectancy is actually longer than it is in the United States and several other central and northern European nations."
Trichopoulos was one of several health experts who developed the new pyramid and who introduced the healthy eating guidelines to a packed room of reporters during an international symposium here late last month that focused on the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet.
The experts contend that a traditional Mediterranean diet -- which is largely based on fruits, vegetables, potatoes, breads and grains, beans, nuts and seeds -- is the reason for lower levels of
heart disease and cancers among Mediterranean populations.
"More than half the area of the pyramid is made up of plant-based foods," said Dr. Frank Sacks, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "It reflects the fact that in traditional Mediterranean areas, beef and other meats are not at the center of the plate. They are peripheral and consumed occasionally. That seems to be a reasonable way to eat meat and keep coronary disease rates down."
The new guidelines differ in several ways from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Guide Pyramid, which was released last year.
The new pyramid recommends limiting red meat consumption to a few times per month, or a maximum of 16 ounces monthly. Poultry, fish and eggs should be consumed a few times per week. The USDA pyramid recommends two to three daily servings of meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs or nuts.
Variable amounts of olive oil, which studies show hold down blood cholesterol levels, should be a daily staple in the diet, according to the new pyramid. USDA recommends "sparing" use of oils and says nothing specifically about olive oil.
USDA recommends limited consumption of nuts and beans by placing them in the same category with meat, poultry and fish. The new pyramid encourages higher consumption of nuts and beans by placing them with fruits and vegetables.
The new pyramid also recommends regular physical activity and daily, moderate consumption of wine. The USDA pyramid says nothing about exercise or alcohol.
The researchers pointed out that the new pyramid is not intended to necessarily compete with the USDA model, but that it should be viewed as an alternative healthy diet and as a tool to stimulate debate and discussion about diet and health. They said they will be developing similar models for other cultures and diets, such as vegetarian and Japanese.
The new guidelines are intended to be user-friendly, according to the researchers, and therefore do not focus on the need to calculate the percentage of calories derived from fat, which can be confusing for most consumers.
"The most important message that can come from this is that eating is pleasurable and should be a cultural experience," said Dr. Elisabet Helsing, regional officer for nutrition at the World Health Organization's regional office for Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark. "We would like to take a step away from what I call nutrition terrorism."
Alternative Pyramid:
The new Mediterranean diet chart, developed by international scientists and nutritionists, recommends higher consumption of plant-based foods and a reduction of meats and saturated fats.
