(NewsNation) — The Atlantic diet could be the new healthy eating alternative to the popular Mediterranean diet and may support better heart health and lower the risk of dying early from cancer.

“It’s the Mediterranean diet’s cousin in a way, and basically they’re both saying, hey, we want non-processed foods, we want non-frying techniques, we want veggies, we want beans,” said board-certified neurologist Dr. Tom Pitts.

Pitts joined “Morning in America” to discuss the traditional diet of northern Portugal and northwestern Spain, dubbed the Atlantic diet.

“The Mediterranean diet, though is a little stricter. It does not want red meat. Maybe some poultry, but no red meat and very little starch,” Pitts said. “Whereas the Atlantic diet says pretty much the same, but you can have moderate, you know, let’s say lamb or some red meat, hopefully, leaner.”

The Atlantic diet was found to modestly reduce the incidence of metabolic syndrome, a combination of higher blood pressure, blood sugars, triglycerides and belly fat that raises the risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke and other serious health conditions, according to a recent study published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

“To me, its greatest efficacy is its gateway ability to get you to the Mediterranean diet because that’s too drastic a change, this is a nice segue,” Pitts said.