Overview
About Mediterranean
Mediterranean compatibility highlights how well foods fit a Mediterranean pattern built on olive oil, seafood, legumes, and vegetables, with little red meat.
The Mediterranean diet is based on traditional foods from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It emphasizes olive oil, fish, vegetables, whole grains, and moderate wine consumption while limiting red meat and processed foods.
In the data
What the grading picks up
- Graded pro-inflammatory and not Mediterranean, paleo or vegan friendly, being a saturated animal fat
- About 90% saturated fat, the highest of the common cooking oils, so it is not a Mediterranean or DASH-friendly fat to lean on daily
- It is refined added sugar, so it rates as pro-inflammatory and does not fit DASH or Mediterranean patterns
- Not paleo, AIP or Mediterranean-diet compliant, so it is excluded on those patterns by definition rather than because it triggers symptoms
Examples
A few ingredients either way
To avoid
Grading
How we grade Mediterranean
Every ingredient in the database carries one grade for mediterranean, and this page, the checker and the app all read that same grade. It describes the ingredient as it is usually eaten. Portion size and preparation move it.
Mediterranean is kept as a matter of degree. In the app, a borderline ingredient shows on the ingredient screen without counting against the day.
Practical
Following Mediterranean
- Use olive oil as your primary cooking fat.
- Eat fish at least twice a week and limit red meat.
- Make olive oil your primary fat source
- Eat fish at least twice per week
- Enjoy meals with family and friends - it's part of the lifestyle
- Red wine in moderation (optional) with meals
- Limit red meat to a few times per month
Method
Test it with a diary
Most people find their own triggers by logging meals and symptoms for a few weeks and reading the result back. Three steps.
- 1Log every meal for a few weeks. Type it, say it out loud, or scan a barcode, and it lands as a list of ingredients.
- 2Rate how you feel through the day on whatever you are tracking, whether that is bloating, headaches, skin or sleep.
- 3Read the pattern back. Every ingredient you logged is scored against the days you felt worse, and the result ranks mediterranean against everything else you eat.
Read next
Where to go next
References
Mediterranean sources
Where the mediterranean grades come from: food composition databases, clinical guidelines and patient organisations.
6 sources from peer-reviewed research, regulatory bodies, and clinical guidelines.
Get started
Following Mediterranean?
Log what you eat and how you feel, and the app finds the pattern for you. Or look an ingredient up here first.
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