The Pyramid of the Mediterranean Diet is a schematic and direct representation of the Mediterranean Food Model.

It is made up of six sections each containing various food groups: every group must be included in the diet in proportion to the size of the section which represents it.
•  the first level includes bread, pasta, rice and other cereals;
•  the next level is divided equally between vegetables and fruit;
•  the level above this is split equally between pulses, meat, fish and eggs, and milk and other dairy products;
•  at the top of the pyramid are fats and sugars.
Basically, the pyramid recommends that the daily calorific intake should include:
•  55-60% carbohydrates: from cereals, fruit and vegetables; 
•  a substantial intake of fibre: from vegetables, fruit and pulses; 
•  a calorific intake of 10-15% from proteins: from pulses, milk and other dairy products, fish, meat and eggs; 
•  the remaining 30% from oils and fats (preferably extra virgin olive oil).

The main recommendation is to vary food often, since:
- no food, eaten on its own, is able to satisfy all our body's needs;
- no food is, in itself, indispensable and may be replaced by others with similar characteristics.

The frequency of consumption of each type of food is:
•  daily for cereals, fruit, vegetables, pulses, nuts, olive oil, cheese and dairy products;
•  weekly for fish, poultry, white meat, eggs, refined sugars;
•  monthly or more frequently, but in small amounts: red meat (beef, lamb, pork, horse meat, fresh or cured).