Mediterranean Diet Score Calculator
Score your adherence to the Mediterranean diet using the validated 14-item PREDIMED questionnaire. A score of 10+ is associated with 30% lower cardiovascular risk.
Mediterranean Diet Score at a glance
Every number this page produces traces back to the reference values in the lead paragraph - the calculator adjusts WHO-table guidance by life stage, it never substitutes different source data. This page works the target the other way around: instead of quoting a population average, the Mediterranean Diet Score asks for your age and body weight, then scales the reference guidance to your own circumstances.
Nothing here is a black box - the score is the plain sum of your answers above, each worth 0 or 1 exactly as the published rubric scores it, so the result matches what you would tally on paper.
Score your adherence to the Mediterranean diet using the validated 14-item PREDIMED questionnaire. A score of 10+ is associated with 30% lower cardiovascular risk.
What the Mediterranean diet actually is
The Mediterranean diet is not a single cuisine but an eating pattern inspired by the traditional diets of Greece, southern Italy, and Spain in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by high intake of olive oil, vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds; moderate intake of fish and seafood, poultry, dairy, and wine with meals; and low intake of red meat, processed meat, sweets, and ultra-processed foods. The landmark PREDIMED trial, a 5-year randomized intervention in 7,447 Spaniards at high cardiovascular risk, showed that a Mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or mixed nuts reduced the composite of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death by about 30% compared to a low-fat diet.
What the 14-item score measures
The 14-item Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS) was developed for PREDIMED and is the most widely used tool in nutrition research. Each of the 14 questions targets one dietary component, olive oil, vegetables, fruit, fish, legumes, nuts, red meat, butter, sweets, soda, wine, poultry preference, and sofrito (a tomato/garlic/onion sauce cooked in olive oil). A score of 9 or 10 is the conventional cutoff for "good" adherence; each 1-point increase is associated with a 5-8% reduction in cardiovascular events in cohort studies.
Why this diet pattern keeps winning
The Mediterranean diet outperforms low-fat, low-carb, and most named diets in randomized trials for cardiovascular outcomes, cognitive decline, and mortality. The reasons are multifactorial: olive oil and nuts supply monounsaturated fats and polyphenols that improve endothelial function; fish provides omega-3s that lower triglycerides and arrhythmia risk; legumes and whole grains supply fiber that feeds the gut microbiome and lowers post-meal glucose; vegetables and fruit deliver potassium, folate, and antioxidants that lower blood pressure and inflammation. The diet is also highly sustainable, it does not require elimination of any food group, it is socially enjoyable, and it relies on widely available, affordable ingredients.
How to actually adopt it
The simplest entry points are: switch to extra-virgin olive oil as your default cooking and dressing fat; add a daily handful of mixed nuts (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts); eat fatty fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel) twice a week; add a daily serving of legumes (lentils, chickpeas, beans); include 2+ servings of vegetables and 2+ of fruit per day; substitute poultry for red meat most days; and limit commercial sweets, sugary drinks, and ultra-processed foods. A small glass of wine with meals, not nightly, but several times a week, is part of the traditional pattern but is not necessary if you don't already drink.
Formula sources, population limits, and references for this diet pattern calculator are documented in our public methodology. Read the methodology · Medical disclaimer