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Mediterranean Diet
A Mediterranean Diet is a style of eating based on the Southern Mediterranean region (i.e. Spain, Greece, and Italy). This kind of diet consists of a lot of vegetables and fruit, salads dressed with olive oil, fish, bread, pasta, and other grains. The diet contains only small amounts of fish and poultry, and red meat is rarely eaten. The diet also contains low to moderate quantities of wine, and some eggs. In recent years the Sonoma Diet has taken the principles of Mediterranean eating and packaged them up into a very popular diet.
Mediterranean Diet – Healthy Eating
A Mediterranean Diet is in line with healthy eating practices. Olive oil is not a magic weight loss solution, but it is the predominant oil of the Southern Mediterranean. Good quality Olive oil is a good source of mono-unsaturated fat. Portion size should be watched carefully if you are aiming for weight loss, particularly with higher calorie foods such as oils. Wine (typically red wine) is consumed as part of a mediterranean diet – a glass a day with a meal is the norm. 
Why is it Popular?
The peoples of the Southern Mediterranean area have a lower incidence of heart disease than in the West. This could be attributed to the lower levels of saturated fat in their diet.
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I live in Costa del Sol. Why is there no mention of jamon(pork)in any of these Med diets? It is the most heavily consumed meat here in the Med. Every kitchen has a cured pig leg from which they take thin slices that taste like jerky! Carne en Salsa(stewed pork in mildly spicy tomato sauce) is the most common dish.
The aforementioned Sonoma Diet is a good one. I have also recently put together a free Mediterranean weight-loss program for my patients, available here:
http://advancedmediterraneandiet.com/doityourselfdiet.html
-Steve
Additional reasons for popularity of the Mediterranean diet are 1) prolonged lifespan, 2) prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus, 3) lower incidence of dementia, both Alzheimers and vascular types, 4) lower incidence of cancer (breast, colon, prostate, uterus).
-Steve Parker, M.D.
http://AdvancedMediterraneanDiet.com/blog/
I think this is a very good diet that seems to have no side effects.
o canada our home and native land!