Oldways and the Mediterranean Diet
Kind Words About Oldways
"If America’s way of eating and thinking about food has changed for the better in the last ten years—and I believe it has—it's in no small part thanks to the efforts of Oldways."
Nancy Harmon Jenkins
The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook
"For anyone who loves food, the flavors of tradition are too delicious, too meaningful, and ultimately, too important to give up. No organization understands this better than Oldways. "
Karen MacNeil
Cooking Light
"Only if you had lived in a closet for the last several years could you be unaware of the celebration of Mediterranean cuisine as a healthful, satisfying diet. Much of this awareness must be credited to Oldways."
James Mellgren
The Gourmet Retailer
Oldways and the Mediterranean Diet: A timeline
1947 Rockefeller Foundation conducts post-war epidemiological survey of Crete; the findings published in 1953 publication indicate that people in Crete have healthier chronic disease profiles than Americans.
1954 Ancel Keys and colleagues publish results confirming relationship between dietary pattern and coronary risk factors.
1980 Publication of Ancel Key’s famous study, “Seven Countries: A Multivariate Analysis of Death and Coronary Heart Disease.”
1991 Oldways organizes a series of international conferences promoting the health benefits of the Traditional Mediterranean Diet, which is defined as the dietary pattern found, until recent times, in olive-producing areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.
1993 Oldways and the Harvard School of Public Health release the first version of the Traditional Mediterranean Diet Pyramid.
1994 Official version of the Traditional Mediterranean Diet pyramid is issued and endorsed by the World Health Organization, Oldways, and the Harvard School of Public Health.
1995 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition publishes a Mediterranean Diet Supplement by Walter Willett and others confirming that the Mediterranean pattern of eating is likely to enhance long-term health.
1998 Oldways and the Harvard School of Public Health hold International Scientific Conference and issue International Scientific Consensus Statement on Dietary Fats, concluding that the type is more important than the amount of dietary fats and the Mediterranean-style Diet is the preferred dietary pattern.
1999 British Journal of Medicine publishes Antonia Trichopolou’s study concluding Mediterranean Diet increases longevity in study population.
1999 Lyons Heart Study published in Circulation confirms protective effect of Mediterranean Diet.
2000 Oldways International Scientific Conference on the Mediterranean Diet held in London, updating the International Scientific Consensus on Dietary Fats and the Med Diet.
2001 International Journal of Obesity publishes Frank Sacks and Kathy McManus’s study supporting that a Mediterranean Diet is more effective than a low-fat diet in reducing obesity and promoting long-term weight maintenance.
2001 The American Heart Association’s Scientific Advisory Committee concludes that “it would be short-sighted not to recognize the enormous public health benefits that this Mediterranean-style Diet would confer with adoption by the population-at-large if the findings [from Mediterranean Diet studies] are confirmed.”
2002 Postgraduate Medicine reports “Current understanding and scientific evidence are adequate to recommend this diet widely as a practical, effective, and enjoyable strategy – the new ‘gold standard’ in heart disease protection.”
2003 Oldways 10th Anniversary International Conference of the Mediterranean Diet held in Boston.
2007 Oldways’ Med Mark Program launched to help consumers easily find foods and drinks traditional to the Mediterranean Diet.
2008 Due to its early success, Oldways’ Med Mark program is expanded into the Mediterranean Foods Alliance (MFA), a nonprofit consumer advocacy group.
2008 MFA distributes nationwide Mediterranean Diet Supermarket Educational Program, entitled "From Your Cart to Your Kitchen."
2008 Oldways holds 15th Anniversary Mediterranean Diet International Conference in Cambridge, MA November 16 - 18.
2008 Oldways releases updated Mediterranean Diet Pyramid after Scientific Consensus Meeting in Cambridge, MA in November.