We’ve heard and read about how the Mediterranean diet can help us thwart everything from heart disease to weight problems, but how do we find foods in the grocery that fit the eating plan?

We now have the calling card: “Med Mark,” a postage-stamp symbol on packages of foods that fit the age-old eating plans. Just look for the amphora.

What’s an amphora? It’s the pottery jug used by people in Mediterranean cultures for 3,000 years to store and ship their foods and drinks.

Oldways, an industry-supported group in Boston that publicizes whole-grain products, created Med Mark as part of a consumer assistance program. Manufacturers whose food and drink products meet well-accepted definitions of the traditional healthy Mediterranean diet, can license the stamp for their packaging.

“Through the years, our experience confirms that consumers respond to messages that simplify shopping and clear the clutter of competing and confusing nutritional information,” Oldways president Dun Gifford says. “What's really important to keep in mind is that this is a diet pattern, it's not a single food but a variety of foods. That's the key concept that people need to understand."

Meeting guidelines

In 2003, the organization formed the Whole Grains Council, which now puts the yellow-and-black Whole Grain stamps on more than 1,200 food products.

Oldways also created the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, which is similar to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's pyramid for food in general. Although manufacturers pay Oldways a fee to use the Med Mark stamps, their food products still must:

•  Contain no trans fat;

•  Limit saturated fat to 8 percent of total calories;

•  Limit sodium to 480 milligrams for an individual food or 600 milligrams for meal-type products;

•  Keep added sugars to four grams, or about one teaspoon.

The easy-to-identify symbol comes at a time when nutritionists and other health experts praise the Mediterranean diet as the “gold standard” of healthy eating, with research linking the foods to decrease risks of heart disease, cancer, lung conditions, Alzheimer’s, allergies and asthma.

"Vegetables, especially, are celebrated, not just tolerated," says Karen Collins, a nationally known dietitian whose columns appear on Nubella, MSNBC.com, and other major Web sites. "Even the flavorings like rosemary, oregano, onion and garlic, which are so much a part of Mediterranean food, do more than make the food taste good. They add antioxidants and other anti-cancer substances."

Not just one 'diet'

Actually, there really isn’t one “Mediterranean diet,” but the term applies to meals that people have consumed for thousands of years in at least 16 countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and in Asia. But regardless of the countries in which they are served, the meals share these characteristics:

•  high consumption of fruits, vegetables, bread and other cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds;

•  olive oil as the cornerstone and source of “healthy” monounsaturated fat;

•  dairy products, fish and poultry in low to moderate amounts;

•  little red meat;

•  eggs up to four times a week;

•  wine low to moderate amounts.

•  A Savoring Taste of Tapas

•  Shrimp & Fennel Risotto, the Mediterranean Way

•  Mushroom Saute with Toasted Walnuts

•  Greek Stuffed Vegetables

•  Lasagna, Mediterranean-Style, With Spinach and Pumpkin

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Nubella News, a division of Marketing Technology Solutions, Inc., offers content intended for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We encourage our readers to seek prompt medical care for health issues and consult their physicians before starting a new diet, fitness regimen, or medical treatment.