Eat, drink and be healthy–the Mediterranean Diet (MD) seems to be good for everything, even if you’re not European: Alzheimer’s disease risk was cut by 68 percent in a U.S. study of a Mediterranean Diet, US-style.

But what is the real MD? And why does it work?

It is rich in liquid fats and not in solid fats. Liquid fats lower inflammation and CRP, and inflammation probably leads to atherosclerosis (heart attack, stroke and impotence), some cancers and perhaps, Alzheimer’s…in fact, all causes of mortality.

But olive oil is easy– in 2004, even the FDA approved a health claim for olive oil for preventing coronary heart disease.

The Mediterranean Diet is actually a pattern of eating fish, a little dairy and meat, and many different plants. One group studied 127 locally consumed wild or semi-wild plants showed high antioxidant activity in “Berberis vulgaris, Reichardia picroides, Scandix australis, Satureja montana, Thymus piperella, Lythrum salicaria and Vitis vinifera.”

Translated, that’s the common barberry, common brighteyes, a daisy-relative, winter savory, wild thyme, purple loosestrife, and European wine grapes.

Great flavors, strong science, waiting manufacturers, hungry dieters, an evening passagiata…it’s a perfect formula for commercial success. And companies who want to achieve will create better and greater success than any diet guidelines or sanctioned pyramid.

But look out for the Mediterranean Twinkies and Wheat Thins. They’re coming too!