[Mediterranean diet. Characteristics and health benefits]

The purpose of this article is to define the concept of Mediterranean Diet or Diets and to describe the associated health benefits recognised by the scientific community. The characteristics of the Mediterranean Diet are described as well as the effects the foods comprising it have on the most common pathologies such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. The Spanish Society of Community Nutrition's consensus based Healthy Diet Pyramid, along with Greece's pyramid for food guidelines for the adult population (from the Greek Ministry of Health), are presented and compared. They are the graphic representation of the food and physical activity guides of two typically Mediterranean countries. Nutritional and sociological trends are also discussed and their impact on the evolution of the Mediterranean Diet.