Research paper
Nestle M. Mediterranean diets: historical and research overview. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1995 Jun;61(6 Suppl):1313S-1320S. doi:10.1093/ajcn/61.6.1313S
Why we cite it
Provides the historical narrative connecting ancient Mediterranean dietary traditions through Ancel Keys' 1950s research to modern dietary guidelines, establishing why the Mediterranean diet became the prototype for nutrition recommendations worldwide. Directly relevant to the project because it frames the Mediterranean diet not as a modern invention but as a long-established eating pattern with both cultural depth and scientific validation, while warning that globalization threatens these traditional dietary patterns.
About the author
Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University, where she chaired the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies from 1988 to 2003. She holds a PhD in molecular biology and an MPH in public health nutrition, both from UC Berkeley. Before NYU, she served as senior nutrition policy advisor in the US Department of Health and Human Services (1986–1988) and edited the 1988 Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health. She is the author of 16 books including Food Politics (2002, James Beard Literary Award), and founded the food studies program at NYU in 1996.