Dr. Ancel Keys and his colleagues were the first to discover that the Mediterranean diet has health benefits for a wide range of diseases. During the early 1950s and late 1960s, while Keys was investigating his hypothesis, the Mediterranean region was recovering from the effects of World War II but was not yet influenced by the rising trend of fast food. Keys formed his hypothesis from his simple observation that the people of the island Crete were in especially good health, largely due to their dietary habits.
Last Modified: 05/22/2009
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