Not a Fan of the Mediterranean Diet? You Have Options

Explore eating patterns from other cultures to stay healthy and support your brain

Katherine Hobson

Updated September 24, 2026

A close-up view of a salad with black-eyed beans, carrots, onions, tomatoes, basil and parsley

ALLEKO/Getty Images

The Mediterranean diet is famous for its health effects, and for good reason. Decades of research have linked the traditional plant-based eating pattern, common among people who live near the Mediterranean Sea, with a lower risk of inflammation and chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline and dementia.

But the Mediterranean diet isn’t the only option with those benefits — not by a long shot.

“It would be a mistake to interpret it as though that’s the only path to healthy eating,” says Kelly LeBlanc, a registered dietitian and vice president of nutrition programming at Oldways, an educational nonprofit that promotes traditional diets and nutrition education.

Heritage diets from other regions and cultures also make healthy use of local eating traditions. While they aren’t as well studied, they show promise in helping people support their brain health by emphasizing foods that lower inflammation and the risk of conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

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Oldways consulted culinary historians and chefs, as well as experts in nutrition and public health, to create its traditional diet pyramids, which reflect Mediterranean, Asian, African and Latin American heritage diets, among others. They looked for patterns among the varied cultures found in a particular region; the details vary, but the foundational foods are fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices.

Learning about alternative healthy eating patterns that reflect their own cultural heritage can be valuable for people trying to change their diet for the better, LeBlanc says.

Maya Feller, founder and lead dietitian at Maya Feller Nutrition, connected with her own Afro-Caribbean and French-speaking Caribbean roots when writing her cookbook, “Eating from Our Roots: 80+ Healthy Home-Cooked Favorites from Cultures Around the World.” The recipes she highlights emphasize flavor from aromatics, acid and heat rather than sugar, fat and salt.

When trying recipes from heritage diets, Feller encourages readers to stick to the original ingredients — even if they are new to you — rather than swapping in more familiar ones. For example, it’s worth seeking out berbere spice, a complex, fiery blend from Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisines that’s a key part of the spiced chickpea stew recipe in her book.

“It’s a way to actually take a little bit of a trip around the globe,” Feller says. And you’ll be getting a wider variety of essential vitamins and minerals. And rather than focusing on what you need to cut out, she recommends focusing on adding nutrient-dense foods in their whole and minimally processed forms — such as vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds. That tends to change the composition of what you eat naturally and in a more positive way, she says.

Finally, don’t forget that heritage diets aren’t only about specific foods but a lifestyle full of home cooking and the pleasures of the table, LeBlanc says. Oldways’ heritage diet pyramids also emphasize sharing meals with friends and family and engaging in pleasurable physical activity.

Here are three heritage eating patterns.

Asian Heritage Diet

Description: The Asian Heritage Diet includes elements from cultures across the continent. In their research, scientists have described regional diets, such as the Okinawan diet, which is low in fat and high in phytonutrient and antioxidant-rich carbohydrates, such as sweet potatoes; the Japanese dietary pattern; and the Jiangnan diet, from China’s Yangtze River Delta area.

Key Foods

Most often: vegetables, such as bamboo shoots, kale, seaweed and yams; fruits, including coconut, dates and lychee; nuts and beans, including edamame and tofu; grains, including rice and naan; and herbs and spices, including coriander, garlic and wasabi

In moderation: poultry, such as duck; seafood, including clams; and dairy products, such as paneer and yogurt

Less frequently: pork and beef; treats, such as rice pudding

What the research says: According to a 2024 review of heritage diets, authored by LeBlanc, Harvard’s Walter Willett, and other colleagues and published in Advances in Nutrition, traditional Asian diets — particularly when they are heavy on fiber — show promise for preventing chronic disease.

Sticking closer to a dietary pattern featuring lots of soybean and soybean products, veggies, algae, and milk and dairy products, and a lower intake of rice was associated with a reduced risk of dementia over 15 years in one study conducted among more than 1,000 adults in Japan, ages 60 to 79. Results were published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2013. Another review of that same Japanese Public Health Center-based prospective study found that key elements of a typical Japanese diet, including lots of soy products, fish and green tea, and less saturated fat and red meat, were linked to lower risks of some cancers, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

What to make:

African Heritage Diet

Description: The healthy eating traditions of the African diaspora include recipes from Africa, the Caribbean, parts of South America and the American South.

Key Foods

Most often: vegetables, such as beets, leafy greens and tubers; fruit, including avocados, mangoes and tamarind; nuts and beans, including black-eyed peas and peanuts; grains, such as amaranth and corn; and herbs and spices, including cloves and nutmeg

In moderation: poultry; meat; seafood; dairy; and oils, such as palm oil and sesame oil

Less frequently: sweets, such as cakes and cobblers made with minimal sugar; fruit; nuts; and whole grains

What the research says: A study published in 2022 in Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior found that after participating in Oldways’ A Taste of African Heritage program, a six-week culinary heritage cooking course, the 586 participants were more likely to eat more fruits, vegetables and greens.

They were also more likely to exercise, and they saw improvements in their weight, waist circumference and systolic blood pressure. History and heritage were positive motivators for living and eating well, according to 98 percent of participants. A study published in 2025 in Nature Medicine studied young African men to see the effects of switching from a heritage diet to a typical Western diet, and vice versa. The Western diet promoted inflammation, while the heritage diet had an anti-inflammatory effect.

What to make:

Latin American Heritage Diet

Description: The Latin American Heritage Diet reflects eating patterns in Latin America, where corn, potatoes and beans are grown. In a small study, researchers also found that a traditional Mexican diet high in corn tortillas, beans and fruits and vegetables, and low in refined grains and added sugars was associated with lower inflammation. Dishes from Puerto Rico, which often rely on ingredients grown on the island, can be made even healthier by lowering some of the fats and using sofrito, a sauteed blend of aromatic vegetables, herbs and spices to give the food its flavor, says Puerto Rican chef and cookbook author Giovanna Huyke.

Key Foods

Most often: vegetables, including chiles, cactus and spinach; fruits, including bananas, pineapple and sugarcane; nuts and beans, including black and pinto beans and pumpkin seeds; grains, including corn and tortillas; and herbs and spices, including chiles, cilantro and cinnamon

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