Genius and Partnership: Ancel and Margaret Keys and the Discovery of the Mediterranean Diet

It was the biggest medical mystery of the century. President Roosevelt had died of it. Now millions of American men were afflicted with it and dying of its debilitating scars in the heart. It was the 1950s and American men were dying in droves from heart attacks. One man treks throughout the world to find the cause. In an early visit to Naples Italy, Ancel Keys, joined by his wife Margaret, discover that working men in Naples do not suffer from heart attacks. He measures their blood cholesterol and finds that it is much lower than levels in men from his home state of Minnesota. Could blood cholesterol be the reason for the massive numbers of heart attacks in the United States? Dr. Joseph Dixon follows the trail of Ancel and Margaret Keys as they scour the world for clues to the causes of heart attacks. Their journey leads to the world famous Seven Countries Study, contributions to the discovery of LDL, and the writing of three New York Times best-selling cookbooks. In the course of their travels, Ancel and Margaret Keys discover the Mediterranean diet, and write about it in their masterpiece cookbook and health guide, How to Eat Well and Stay Well the Mediterranean Way. The Keyses build a home in southern Italy and live the Mediterranean life style up close and personal. In a clear and easy to follow voice, Dr. Dixon tells the story of Ancel and Margaret Keys and their travels and discoveries. The contributions of Ancel and Margaret Keys to the war against heart disease may have been forgotten or misinterpreted, but now they live again in this modern mystery-thriller—Genius and Partnership: Ancel and Margaret Keys and the Discovery of the Mediterranean Diet.