The Mediterranean diet is a way of eating based on the ideal patterns and the culinary traditions of the Mediterranean countries, especially Spain, Italy and Greece.

The main characteristics of it are a large consumption of fruit, green vegetables, dried fruits, grain and pulses; the use of the olive oil as the main source of fat, either to cook, or as dressing for salads and other preparations, a bigger consumption of poultry and fish than of red meats, and the consumption of red wine during the meals in a reasonable quantity.

The properties which are attributed to it are based on the fact that although the Mediterranean countries consume a bigger quantity of fats than the United States, for example, the incidence of the cardiovascular diseases in these countries is much lower there. The causes can be related with a more important consumption of fish, specially blue fish, rich in acids fat omega 3, in a high consumption of olive oil which reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood, instead of animal fats, and finally in the consumption of wine, which possesses beneficial effects, specially the red wine by its anthocyanes (natural colouring of the wine), nevertheless, because of the toxicity of the alcohol, this one must be consumed in moderate quantity, at the rate of one or two glasses per meal.