A historical analysis of the Mediterranean Diet’s rise to prominence through the lens of Critical Race Theory

Abstract

Ample evidence indicates that adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, heart failure, cancer mortality, type 2 diabetes, overweight, and obesity. The MedDiet is widely accepted as a gold standard diet, yet its adoption and promotion as the healthiest cultural diet reflects systemic racism and inherently biased research, rather than evidence-based science. This analysis establishes that while the Mediterranean region is multi-cultural and multi-ethnic, the MedDiet is a White diet. It also asserts that a lack of causal research and other methodologic issues in research about the MedDiet has resulted in a hyperfocus on the MedDiet over other cultural diets. Third, this essay compares the MedDiet to the traditional Chinese and African diets to assert that many cultural diets are healthy and may be as healthy as the MedDiet. Ultimately, health professionals promoting the MedDiet as a gold standard marginalize people from non-White cultures by maintaining White culture as normative. In order to better serve and include people of color, dietary recommendations need to become as diverse as the US population. Doing so will also improve cultural competence among professionals, lead to a more equitable profession