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The Mediterranean diet a nutritional and gastrononmic concept which gained common currency in the 1990s. It is based based on what from the point of view of conventional, mainstream nutrition is considered a paradox: that although the people living in Mediterranean countries -- France in particular is usually cited -- tend to consume relatively high amounts of animal fat, they have far lower rates of cardiovascular disease than in countries like the United States, where similar levels of animal fat consumption are found.
The explanation is thought that the large amount of olive oil used in the Mediterranean kitchen serves to partly counterbalance the animal fat in the diet; olive oil lowers cholesterol levels in the blood. In addition, the consumption of red wine is also thought to be a factor, because it contains bioflavonoids with powerful antioxidant properties.
These findings have lead to an upsurge in the interest of Mediterranean cuisines such as the Provençal.
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