Editor's Note:

Antonia Trichopoulou is one of those who has been doing the proving. Dr. Trichopoulou is considered to be one of – if not the – foremost authorities on the Mediterranean diet.

A professor of nutrition at the University of Athens Medical School, she led the research team that found that Greek adults who adhered to their traditional eating styles had a 25 percent lower risk of dying from coronary disease and cancer than did those who adopted Western-style diets. Her research has been published in New England Journal of Medicine, the

British Medical Journal, the American Journal of of Clinical Nutrition and other prestigious journals. Here she explains why following the Mediterranean diet as a whole is important, for it is not just one part or another that makes it effective.

References:
1.
Keys AB. Seven countries: a multivariate analysis of death and coronary heart disease. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1980.

2.
Trichopoulou A, Costacou T, Bamia C, Trichopoulos D. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and survival in a Greek population. N Engl J Med 2003; 348(26):2599-608.

3.
Trichopoulou A, Orfanos P, Norat T et al. Modified-Mediterranean diet and survival: The EPIC-Elderly prospective cohort study. Brit Med J 2005;330(7498):991.

4.
Trichopoulou A, Bamia C, Trichopoulos D. Mediterranean diet and survival among patients with coronary heart disease in Greece. Arch Intern Med 2005;165(8):929-35.

5.
Psaltopoulou Th, Naska A, Orfanos Ph, Trichopoulos D, Mountokalakis Th, Trichopoulou A. Olive oil, Mediterranean diet and arterial blood pressure: the Greek EPIC study. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;80:1012–18

6.
Antonia Trichopoulou, Androniki Naska, Philippos Orfanos, Dimitrios Trichopoulos. Mediterranean diet in relation to body mass index and waist-to hip ratio: The Greek European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Study