The Mediterranean Diet is a shorthand way of describing a combination of dietary habits and cultural attitudes to food, and to eating, typified by the people of Greece, Southern Italy and other Mediterranean regions. The key ingredients of the diet are fruits, vegetables, potatoes, beans, nuts, seeds, and cereals; olive oil is used for cooking and dressings; fish is commonly used, as is poultry, while red meat is only an occasional feature. Dairy products, such as feta cheese, are a hallmark, but for taste and quality rather than bulk. A relaxed attitude to life, combined with an active lifestyle, sees mealtimes as social and family occasions, to be savored as much for the companionship they bring as for the food. So body and spirit receive equal attention.