The Mediterranean Habit Americans Are Suddenly Copying

It started with a celebrity interview. Then TikTok caught fire. Now kitchen counters across America are looking a little more like a Greek grandmother’s pantry, and the habit behind it all is surprisingly simple.

The ritual getting all the attention is the daily olive oil shot, a small pour of extra virgin olive oil taken every morning on an empty stomach. It sounds almost too basic to be a wellness trend.

Once Hailey Bieber named it one of her three non-negotiable morning musts alongside skincare and coffee, search interest in “olive oil shots” jumped overnight. The internet has not been the same since.

What People Are Actually Doing

The routine is almost embarrassingly low-effort. One tablespoon of quality extra virgin olive oil, sometimes mixed with a squeeze of fresh lemon, knocked back before anything else.

Bieber credits it with helping coat the gut and has kept the habit going daily for several months. Kourtney Kardashian has also shared that her own mornings include a tablespoon of EVOO on an empty stomach every other day.

What the Mediterranean Already Knew

Here is the part that puts the whole trend in perspective. Greek, southern Italian, and Spanish populations consume roughly 15 to 25 kilograms of olive oil per person per year, compared to about 1 kilogram in the United States.

What Americans are repackaging as a cutting-edge morning ritual is simply how Mediterranean families have eaten for centuries. Drizzled on salads, spooned over vegetables, pooled under crusty bread.

The Science Behind the Drizzle

The people living in Mediterranean Blue Zones were onto something long before the trend hit TikTok. A Harvard study found significant mortality benefits from olive oil at just over half a tablespoon daily.

The real benefits come from consistent daily use rather than any single dramatic dose. That quiet truth is what the trend sometimes glosses over.

Why It Is Spreading So Fast

The Mediterranean diet was ranked the best overall diet for 2025, and Americans increasingly want a piece of that longevity story without overhauling their entire lives. A single morning habit feels manageable, and it fits into any busy schedule.

Thanks to social media, what used to be an unspoken tradition passed down through Italian and Greek kitchens now has its own viral moment.

Whether you take it as a shot or simply start finishing your dinner with a generous pour, the appeal is the same. The Mediterranean secret was never complicated. It was just waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.