How the Seven Countries Study contributed to the definition and development of the Mediterranean diet concept: A 50-year journey

The Seven Countries Study of Cardiovascular Diseases was started at the end of the 1950s and it continues to be run after >50 years. It enrolled, at entry, 16 population cohorts in eight nations of seven countries for a total of 12,763 middle-aged men. It was the prototype of epidemiological studies seeking cultural contrasts and the first to compare cardiovascular disease (CVD) rates related to diet differences. The study has shown that...