What is the next phase in healthy eating?

According to Robert Ancill, President of The Next Idea, Los Angeles based Restaurant Consultancy consumers are taking increasing interest in Mediterranean cuisine.

In 2007, The Journal of the American Medical Association reported, a combination of the Mediterranean diet, moderate exercise and drinking, and no smoking can

lower mortality rates by 65 percent.

What is the Mediterranean diet? It’s heavy on the olive oil and light on meat and dairy. It also includes lots of fish, vegetables, seeds, grains, nuts and legumes.

The first study was conducted over 12 years (1988–2000) by researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and other European universities. Twenty-three hundred healthy people between the ages of 70 and 90 were surveyed about their eating habits and physical activities.

Another study conducted at the Second University of Naples found that people who suffered from “metabolic syndrome” improved after following a

Mediterranean diet. Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Symptoms include being fat around the middle, having high cholesterol and high blood pressure, and improper processing of glucose. After two years, only 44 percent of those on the Mediterranean diet still suffered symptoms.

Ancill reports that The Next Idea has experienced a larger than normal interest in Mediterranean concepts both from entrepreneurs and restaurant investors. In a recent interview Robert Ancill commented; “Possibly we will eventually see a Healthier consumer if such a trend gains traction in the market place, the question is whether operators will understand the unique economics of executing a Mediterranean menu”.