Trying to Eat Like They Do in the Blue Zones? These Delivery Services Will Help

Year after year (after year,) nutritionists and dietitians dub the Mediterranean diet the healthiest. Keeping keto might shed pounds faster and counting macros or calories scratches an itch for the math-minded, no diet offers a more balanced and wholesome approach to eating than the Mediterranean, experts say. 

The Mediterranean sometimes called the "Blue Zone diet" isn't complex but there are key foods to limit or avoid including red meat, pork, butter, sugar, processed grains and foods high in saturated fat. 

Meal delivery services have taken note of the Mediterranean influence on American habits as the healthy whole food-based cuisine has enjoyed outsized favor among consumers and wellness intelligentsia. Recipes featuring fatty fish, nuts, vitamin-rich vegetables and healthy oils are incorporated into weekly menus of top meal subscription outfits including Blue Apron, HelloFresh and CookUnity. 

I'm not a strict adherent, but I keep the tenets of this celebrated diet in mind when making food choices, and keeping a steady supply of the healthy stuff I aspire to eat on hand guards against knee-jerk food choices that don't align with my best intentions.

Having tested dozens of food and drink delivery services with an eye towards healthy eating, these services stand out as the best to try for satisfying a Mediterranean appetite.

Meal delivery services

Green Chef features plenty of fatty fish recipes in it's weekly menus.

Marley Spoon has an impressive 100 recipes to choose from each week and a good chunk of them adhere to Mediterranean diet standards. Marley Spoon has an outsized number of seafood picks each week, which keeps things interesting since the eating plan encourages only lean meats such as chicken, turkey and fish. There isn't a Mediterranean-specific tag to sort recipes, but there is one for seafood, poultry and gluten-free meals.

Overall, Green Chef is the best healthy meal kit service I've tested. The ingredients are fresh, the recipes are compelling and most of the meals don't take more than 30 minutes to complete. 

Marley Spoon meals feature fish and chicken heavily. 

There are fewer total options here than with Marley Spoon but many of them fit squarely within the Mediterranean plan. Most of the recipes feel like they've been plucked from an Italian, Greek or Turkish cookbook. Mediterranean standouts include the salmon bulgur bowls with turmeric carrots and chard, lemon pepper barramundi with Brussels and brown rice and Turkish-spiced chicken tacos with pistachio and cabbage slaw. 

If you're not keen on cooking, CookUnity sends prepared meals by the box full and the quality is as high as any service I've tested. This prepared meals subscription sources recipes from a collective of chefs around the country and the menu has no shortage of Mediterranean diet-friendly meals. 

The options vary by region and season, but you'll find as many as 15 seafood meals (lots of salmon) to choose from and even more featuring lean chicken and vegetables. This service emphasizes interesting, inventive fare that ladders up to a healthy diet filled with lean meats, healthy fats and green vegetables.

ModifyHealth has up to 30 Mediterranean diet-friendly meals on its menu.

If you're better served by an all-or-nothing approach, ModifyHealth's Mediterranean diet-inspired meal program leaves nothing to chance. This prepared meal service puts your health goals front and center and offers a more rigorous selection of Blue Zone meals, allowing less room for impulse or human error. 

You can use the regimented food to achieve better heart health, control diabetes or root out GI issues via a calculated elimination diet. Choose the Mediterranean diet plan and you'll get weekly deliveries of meals featuring only ingredients allowed by the popular eating nutrition program with more than 30 options in any given menu cycle. Meals clock in around $13 and you must order at least six per week. The food is expertly prepared, although it is deliberately shy on salt and may need a pinch from time to time.

Grocery and seafood delivery services

A steady supply of wild seafood is key to maintaining a Blue Zone diet.

If you want to eat like they do in the Blue Zones, you'll need access to seafood. Fresh fish is a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet but it isn't always easy to hook, depending on where you live. A reliable seafood delivery service will help keep your fridge or freezer stocked with healthy salmon, arctic char, tuna and trout to keep your Mediterranean diet in form. 

Sizzlefish's Wild Seafood Box is my pick, although there are plenty of great seafood delivery options available. The subscription service sources from sustainable fishermen and this wild box contains only that -- wild seafood -- which earns better overall nutrition scores than farmed fish. 

Filets of fish are flash-frozen and packed with dry ice before being shipped to your door for thawing and cooking for freezing further. This box contains up to 12 portions for $130 a month. You're free to choose your own or let Sizzlefish curate the box of wild seafood for you.

Good seafood is available through online delivery services like Fulton Fish Market and Sizzlefish.

If you don't find the fish you're looking for on Sizzlefish, I recommend Fulton Fish Market. This fresh fish delivery service sources from one of the largest fish markets in the world, and packs any of its hundreds of seafood varieties to you with next-day shipping. Fulton is pricier than Sizzlefish with subscriptions starting at $130 for six portions, but the quality and selection are unmatched by any service I've tested.

Fresh fruits and vegetables feature heavily in the Mediterranean diet as well and our favorite produce delivery services will help you keep a bounty at all times. Misfits Market, which sources odd-looking but perfectly edible produce to keep prices low, is our pick for the best subscription to try. Others we've loved including Thrive Market and Hungryroot (a hybrid grocery delivery and meal kit service) offer a more robust grocery selection to fortify your good habits.

The right grocery delivery service will help keep your fridge and pantry stocked with Mediterranean Diet-friendly food.

Nuts and seeds are another food group to ramp up if you're going for a Blue Zone lifestyle. Nuts.com has dozens of healthy varieties that can be spun into recipes or munched on as a midday snack. There are curated boxes and a recurring subscription option if you don't care to spend time each month adding nuts to your online order.

Don't forget about the wine

If you're going to go full Mediterranean, don't forget about the wine. 

To live like a Blue Zone inhabitant you have to drink like one and that means plenty of red wine. The Mediterranean diet allows -- nay, encourages -- a glass of red for women and two glasses for men. To keep a flow of good wine coming in, try one of these CNET-tested wine clubs.

Firstleaf is our favorite wine club for most, with plans starting at $90 for six bottles per month. You can select all red in keeping with the diet's parameters and the rating algorithm will quickly learn your likes and dislikes, suggesting new and interesting red wines to add to your rack.