The present study examined the effect of a nutritional intervention promoting the Mediterranean food pattern in uncontrolled 'real life' conditions among a group of 77 French-Canadian women. The principal objective was to document changes in the plasma lipid-lipoprotein profile and in body weight that occurred in response to the intervention. The 12-week nutritional intervention included two group sessions, three individual sessions and four 24-h recalls (phone interview) with a registered dietitian. A score based on the 11 components of the Mediterranean pyramid, ranging from 0 to 44 points, was established to evaluate the adhesion to the Mediterranean food pattern. The Mediterranean score increased from 21.1+/-3.6 at baseline to 28.6+/-4.4 after 6 weeks of intervention (P<0.0001) with no further increase at week 12. Small but significant decreases in total cholesterol and apolipoprotein B (apoB) as well as in body mass index (BMI) were observed after 6 weeks of intervention. No significant change in plasma concentrations of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) were observed in response to the nutritional intervention. In conclusion, a nutritional intervention program promoting the Mediterranean food pattern was effective in modifying food habits of healthy women from the Québec City metropolitan area and resulted in small but significant effects on specific cardiovascular risk factors.