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Self-check

Mediterranean Habits Self-Check

Twelve yes-or-no questions about how you actually eat, localized to Mauritian kitchens. Answer honestly (each answer explains itself as you go), then see where your everyday pattern sits and which habits would move it furthest.
  1. 1.Is an unsaturated oil (olive, canola, sunflower) your main fat for cooking and salads, rather than butter or ghee?
  2. 2.Do you eat two or more servings of vegetables on most days (bred, salad, giraumon, lalo, tomato-based dishes)?
  3. 3.Do you eat two or more servings of fresh fruit on most days?
  4. 4.Do you keep red or processed meat to less than one serving on most days?
  5. 5.Do you have less than one serving of butter, ghee, margarine or cream on most days?
  6. 6.Do you drink less than one sugary drink (soft drink, sweetened juice, sweet iced tea) per day?
  7. 7.Do you eat legumes (dal, lentils, red beans, chickpeas) three or more times per week?
  8. 8.Do you eat fish or seafood three or more times per week?
  9. 9.Do you keep commercial sweets, cakes and pastries to fewer than three times per week?
  10. 10.Do you eat a small handful of nuts or peanuts three or more times per week?
  11. 11.When you eat meat, do you usually choose chicken or fish over red or processed meat?
  12. 12.Do you eat dishes cooked on a tomato, onion and garlic base (rougaille-style) at least twice a week?
0 of 12 answered

Sources

  1. A 14-item Mediterranean diet assessment tool and obesity indexes among high-risk subjects: the PREDIMED trial Martinez-Gonzalez MA et al, PLoS ONE, 2012This self-check is an original set of habit questions modeled on the MEDAS methodology, not the validated instrument itself.
  2. Diet review: Mediterranean diet Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
  3. The Eatwell Guide NHS

Last reviewed: 2026-07-16

Keep going

Turn your answers into a meal with the Plate Builder, or browse the pantry staples this pattern leans on (olive oils, legumes, wholegrain flours) at naturespan.mu.

Why the Mediterranean pattern, in Mauritius?

The Mediterranean pattern is the most studied way of eating in nutrition science, with evidence running from decades of cohort studies to the randomized PREDIMED trial. It is not really about the Mediterranean: it is about vegetables and legumes doing the heavy lifting, unsaturated oils as the default fat, fish appearing regularly, and sweets and processed meat staying occasional.

Mauritius is unusually well placed for it. Dal, red beans and chickpeas are everyday food here, fresh fish is close, rougaille is a sofrito by another name, and the market fruit rotation never stops. This self-check deliberately asks about those foods rather than imported ideas of what healthy eating looks like.