MEDITERRANEAN DIET AND DIETARY PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTATION AS POSSIBLE PREDICTING VARIABLES OF WEIGHT MANAGEMENT: AN UPDATE OF THE PROTEIN PROJECT ANTONINO BIANCO 1 , EWAN THOMAS 1 , MARIANNA BELLAFIORE 1 , FRANCESCO MARTINES 2 , GIUSEPPE MESSINA 1 , GIUSEPPE BATTAGLIA 1 , BETTINA KARSTEN 3 , FATMA NESE SAHIN 4 , GRZEGORZ BIELEC 5 , ANTONIO P AOLI 6 , ANTONIO P ALMA 1 1 Sport and Exercise Research Unit, University of Palermo, Italy - 2 BioNeC Department, Audiology Section, University of Palermo - 3 Department of Life and Sports Sciences, University of Greenwich, United Kingdom - 4 Faculty of Sport Science, Ankara University, Turkey - 5 Department of Environmental Sciences, Warmia and Mazury University in Olsztyn, Poland - 6 Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy Introduction The traditional Mediterranean diet (MD) has been defined as that dietary pattern adopted by the inhabitants of the Mediterranean area before the 1960s (1) . Such dietary regimen is characterized by a high consumption of vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, cereals, olive oil and fish with moderate con- sumption of dairy products and low intakes of meats (2) . This particular nutritional pattern was first adopted due to the poor economic status of the Mediterranean population, as meat and poultry was too cost expensive unlike locally grown vegetables and fruits (3) . The mean macronutrient composition of this kind of diet has a moderate to high intake of lipids (30-40%), with a high prevalence of mono- and low saturated fats (4) . Carbohydrates (CHO) con- tribute between 40 and 55% to the caloric intake and mainly originate from complex CHOs, which show a Acta Medica Mediterranea, 2015, 31: 907 Received January 30, 2014; Accepted March 30, 2015 ABSTRACT Introduction: The Mediterranean diet is known to support the prevention of several chronic diseases and excessive weight gains. However, relevant investigations were performed in a clinical settin. The aim of this study was therefore to understand the effects of protein supplements intake on body mass index (BMI) in healthy active individuals following the Mediterranean diet. Materials and methods: A face-to-face questionnaire was administered to 667 subjects, 627 living in a Mediterranean area (MD) and 40 in a non-Mediterranean area (NMD); questionnaire enquired dietary behaviors, including a comparison between die- tary patterns and protein consumption between these two populations and within each population. Results: Dietary patterns significantly varied between the MD and NMD populations (p < 0.001), although, BMI was not significantly different. The major significant differences were found between the BMI of protein supplement users and non-protein supplement users within and between the two populations (p < 0.01). No differences were found between the BMI of the protein supplement users of MD and NMD, while moderate differences were displayed between the non-supplement users of the two popu- lations (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The Mediterranean diet does not appear to affect BMI. However, BMI significantly differed between protein supplement users and non-protein supplements users indicating a direct influence of such products on body weight and consequen- tly BMI. Key words: Protein project, questionnaire, supplements, dietary patterns, health.