A Mediterranean diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, and especially olive oil, with a few heart-healthy cheese choices – mozzarella, ricotta, and especially feta – and some lean poultry and fish. It has long been associated with lower risk of diabetes, heart disease, and cognitive decline, but how it does so has been mostly a mystery. I've followed this way of eating for years – this post ends with an easy recipe for a vegetarian Moroccan stew.
A new report in Frontiers in Nutrition suggests the source of the benefits of the Mediterranean diet at the molecular level: two tiny proteins made in the mitochondria, the tiny, footprint-shaped organelles that house the biochemical reactions that extract energy from nutrient molecules.
To continue reading, go to DNA Science, where this post first appeared.