The Mediterranean Diet: From the pyramid to the circular model

Abstract

The Mediterranean Diet (MD) is a millennial example of healthy and sustainable nutrition for humankind and the planet. It bases its principles on the limited and responsible use of resources, encouraging their reuse, whenever possible, and preventing over-exploitation. The MD is also a healthy food model through the prevention of many chronic non-transmissible diseases, safeguarding human health of present and future generations. The advancement of health through healthy eating has made it necessary to disseminate nutritional recommendations in line with scientific guidelines. In order to enhance the accessibility of these recommendations to the public, it has become widely adopted to employ graphic models that are both expressive and easily understandable, like the pyramid model. The intuitive nature and simplicity of interpreting the food pyramid have made it an effective educational tool for circulating nutritional recommendations. Over the years, the pyramidal representations have been enriched in an attempt to provide increasingly more information, while at the same time becoming more difficult to read. Circular graphic models are rapidly gaining popularity as a means of representing nutritional recommendations, alongside traditional pyramid models. These circular models not only hold cultural relevance but also strike a chord with the collective imagination, making them highly effective tools for conveying dietary guidelines. The goal of our study is to propose a new representation of the Mediterranean Diet based on circularity. Our representation aims to highlight both the importance of the various components/categories within the model, as well as the inherent cyclical nature that characterizes human life, the seasonality of food, the production chain, and the concealed circular economy behind each product. The choice of a circular model therefore represents the concept that virtuous choices can feed a “virtuous cycle” and reestablish a healthy balance among people, environment, and society.