Official Mediterranean Diet exists because most diet websites are marketing in nutritionist’s clothing — anecdotes dressed up as science, recipes with no measurable structure, claims that don’t link to a single peer-reviewed study. We built this site to be the opposite of that.
Our Editorial Standard
Every health claim on this site is sourced to a named peer-reviewed paper. The full citation list lives on our Health Benefits page — PREDIMED (Estruch et al., NEJM 2018), the Lyon Heart Study (de Lorgeril et al., Circulation 1999), the EPIC cohort, the JAMA Neurology 2023 dementia analysis, and so on. If a claim doesn’t have a source attached, we won’t publish it.
Every recipe lists ingredients in both weight (grams) and volume (cups, tablespoons) so they work in any kitchen and translate cleanly to print. Every recipe is anchored to a specific Mediterranean region — Crete, Andalusia, Sicily, Lebanon, Sardinia — not floated in a “Mediterranean-inspired” abstraction. If we cannot name the region a dish comes from, we don’t publish it as Mediterranean.
Why “Official”
There is no governing body that licenses the term “Mediterranean diet.” UNESCO inscribed the Mediterranean diet on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, but UNESCO does not run a recipe registry. The closest things we have are the original Seven Countries Study by Ancel Keys (1958–1970), the Greek Ministry of Health’s official pyramid (1995), and the PREDIMED trial’s 14-point adherence screener (2003–2011). We use all three as our editorial north stars.
“Official” in our name means we hold ourselves to those three references. Not to a brand. Not to a personality. Not to whatever wellness trend is currently selling subscriptions.
What This Site Is Not
- It is not a medical service. Nothing here is medical advice. If you have a health condition, work with a registered dietitian or your physician.
- It is not a weight-loss product. The Mediterranean diet correlates with healthier body composition, but it is not a calorie-restriction protocol or a “30 days to your dream body” plan.
- It is not affiliated with any specific brand or country tourism board. No olive oil maker pays us to favor their product. Affiliate disclosures, where they exist, are listed on every applicable post.
How We Use AI
This is a small operation. We use AI tools to draft article outlines and to extract structured nutritional data from research papers — both reviewed by a human before publication. We disclose this transparently on the AI Content Disclosure page. We do not use AI to fabricate citations, invent regional traditions, or replace recipe testing. Every recipe is tested in a real kitchen before it ships.
Who Reads This Site
Readers tend to be people who:
- Have been told by a doctor to adopt the Mediterranean diet (for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, or family history of dementia) and want practical week-by-week guidance.
- Cook a few nights a week and want recipes that fit weeknight constraints without becoming “Mediterranean-themed pasta nights.”
- Want the underlying research, in plain English, before they change how they eat.
How to Reach Us
Editorial questions, research corrections, partnership inquiries — see the Contact page. Every email is read. We try to reply within two business days.
To get the free 7-day starter kit and the Sunday digest, visit the Starter Kit page.
Last reviewed: May 2026.