For anyone having trouble choosing between these two diets, this article makes it pretty clear, based on your needs. Mediterranean vs Keto
I think a little history would help.
The term “Mediterranean Diet” was coined back in the late 1950s by the American physiologist Ancel Benjamin Keys (who was, back in 1945-46, the lead investigator of the famous Minnesota Starvation Experiment).
In 1958, Keys implemented a research project (known today as the “Seven Countries Study”) trying to determine if there’s a connection between the risk of developing coronary heart disease and diet, physical activity, and other factors (including tobacco use, weight status, lung capacity, heart rate, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol levels).
He screened 12,763 individuals, all men aged 40 to 59, from rural communities in the United States, Greece, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands, Japan, and two nations of the former country of Yugoslavia (now Croatia and Serbia).
When the results came out, Keys noticed significant differences between geographical areas: he found the lowest rates of risk of CHD in Crete (Greece), Japan, and Corfu (also in Greece), while at the other end of the spectrum, the highest rates were identified in Finland, with the United States coming second.
Later, he concluded that the dietary habits inherited in traditional Mediterranean populations (especially in Greece and Southern Italy) are associated with the lowest risk of developing CHD; so, he came up with the term “Mediterranean Diet.”
Now, the word “diet” is derived from the Greek “diaita”, which means “way of living.” As opposed to the modern concept (in which the word became associated with small amounts, or special kinds of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons), diaita applied to standard foods from nature and wasn’t referring to just food or eating choices, rather was focused obtaining good overall health. Thus, a more accurate interpretation of the Greek diaita would be “lifestyle” (instead of “diet”).
The dietary habits on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea were largely influenced by the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) and every region developed its preferences regarding food choices and cooking practices, recipes, and restrictions. The people from Spain are eating more seafood and fish, the Italians are famous for their pasta, while the Greeks are having one of the highest monosaturated fat intakes (mainly through large consumption of olive oil). So, there’s no such thing as a “Mediterranean Diet.”
Some common basic features of the Mediterranean Lifestyle include plant-based cuisine (including legumes, fresh fruits, and vegetables, cereals, seeds and nuts—most of them cooked by adding substantial amounts of olive oil)—, with moderate consumption of fish, seafood or dairy, and limited intake of meat and alcohol. Processed meats, sweets, or alcoholic beverages such as liquors or beer, are not part of the Mediterranean diaita.
The term “Ketogenic Diet” was coined back in the 1990s, when medical doctors successfully applied the “diet” for treating patients with epilepsy (and the precursor of the “keto diet” is prolonged fasting). “Keto diet” became a media sensation in 1994 when the American NBC-TV aired a program based on a true story of a 2-year-old boy suffering from epilepsy. While searching for alternate therapy for the kid, his father found references to fasting and the ketogenic diet, and, after the successful recovery of his son, he established the “Charlie Foundation” (charliefoundation.org) and made free videotapes for other parents to become aware of the therapy.
I won’t go now into detail regarding prolonged fasting (or what happens in the body during fasting), but I hope you find this information useful, and that you understand a little better the difference between the two “diets.”