Mediterranean Diet or Whole Food Plant-Based Diet?

The Mediterranean diet was just named the Best Diet for 2021 by U.S. News & World Report for the fourth year in a row. It’s been linked to a significant reduction in the risk of heart disease, brain disease, cancer and even death.

That’s a pretty impressive resumé.

But how does it compare to a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet? After all, the WFPB diet has those benefits on its resumé, too – and more.

The truth is that the Mediterranean diet can be thought of as a type of plant-based diet – which explains why it also took the top spot in their Best Plant-Based Diets list. Of course, WFPB didn’t appear anywhere in their rankings because it isn’t really a diet – it’s a way of eating.

So, if you’re wondering how the Mediterranean diet compares to WFPB, prepare to be enlightened. But I’ll give you a hint – it’s the areas where the Mediterranean diet overlaps with the whole food, plant-based diet that give it its strongest health benefits.

Mediterranean Diet and Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet Foods

First, a quick rundown of what each diet entails:

Mediterranean Diet: Emphasizes fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, olive oil, and herbs and spices. Fish and seafood are consumed a few times a week, with cheese, yogurt, poultry and eggs in moderation. It also includes red wine, while red meat and sweets are reserved for special occasions.

Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet: Emphasizes fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, legumes, and herbs and spices, with nuts and whole-grain flours in moderation. Anything that is not consumed in its whole form after growing in the ground is generally avoided, except for special occasions.

What are the differences?

As you can see, the two diets have a lot in common. The main difference is that the Mediterranean diet includes a few animal foods, like dairy, fish and poultry. Of course, it’s a gray area because some of us following a WFPB diet might enjoy these foods as an occasional indulgence as well.

In my article Whole Food Plant-Based Diet for Beginners, I categorized foods into 3 groups: the main focus, foods consumed in moderation, and those that should be kept to a minimum. Meat and poultry fall under the third category, and it’s not surprising these foods are also consumed only in moderation in the Mediterranean diet.

One of the biggest differences beyond dairy and seafood consumption is that those following the Mediterranean diet consume a lot of extra-virgin olive oil, which is considered a highly processed food by those who eat the WFPB way.

Where a person on the Mediterranean diet might eat olive oil and red wine, those on the WFPB diet would reach for whole olives and red grapes instead to enjoy the benefits and minimize the risks of heart disease.

Having said that, whole food plant-based is pretty flexible. For example, I suffer from hypothyroidism, which means my body doesn’t produce enough of the thyroid hormone. On the advice of my health coach, I’ve been adding more healthy fats to my diet in the form of nuts, seeds, avocados… and yes, the occasional tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil. All in the name of healthy hormones.

The point is that it’s okay to try different things and see what works for you. They’re both similar diets that offer great benefits, and when you make whole plant foods the mainstay of your diet, there is a bit of leeway when it comes to the foods you choose to add in moderation.

Is one approach better scientifically?

This is where it gets interesting. There are a lot of other factors at play that we need to keep in mind.

First, it’s hard to separate the more active lifestyles of people in the Mediterranean who naturally follow this way of eating from the diet itself. It only makes sense that people living in this region, who tend to be more physically active, would also be healthier than those following some of the other diets it is often compared to.

That brings us to the second point: the Mediterranean diet is often compared to animal food-based diets, and any diet focused on plants is always going to win that contest.

Mediterranean vs. plant-based diet for heart health

Many people’s first foray into the Mediterranean diet comes from a desire to improve their heart health. This diet is absolutely heart-healthy, and there is strong evidence supporting it.

However, studies have also shown that a strict whole food plant-based diet has an excellent chance of reversing heart disease, whereas the Mediterranean diet only seems to slow its progression – which is still a lot better than the standard American diet!

What really makes WFPB superior from a health standpoint is that it avoids dairy and meat, which are linked to a host of health problems.

It’s also interesting to note that many people living in the Mediterranean don’t follow the original Mediterranean diet these days as processed foods have become cheaper and more accessible to them. And guess what? Heart disease has skyrocketed alongside this shift in places like Greece as meat and cheese edge plant foods off of people’s plates.

Although WFPB is really an improvement on the Mediterranean diet, it’s useful to think of the whole food, plant-based diet as a plant-based Mediterranean diet. Framing it like this underscores the health benefits of WFPB and the similarities and differences between the two.

In the end, it doesn’t really matter what label you put on your diet. As long as whole plant foods are making up the bulk of your diet and you’re keeping animal and processed foods to a minimum, your body is going to reap the benefits!