The Mediterranean Diet
The Perfect Diet for Weight Loss, Heart Health, and Wellness?
The Mediterranean Diet is probably the best available diet that still tastes good. It has an impressive list of health benefits.
Independent health experts frequently recommend the Mediterranean Diet. They cite the health benefits as well as the good taste. It is a diet that is easy to stick to; it's not one of deprivation.
There are over a dozen countries in the Mediterranean so the term “Mediterranean Diet” is not a precise one. The cuisine of Southern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa has been influenced by the trade that has existed since the beginning of history. The people of the region vary considerable in customs and language but there are some culinary characteristics that these countries share.
- high consumption of colorful fruits, vegetables,
- bread and other cereals,
- potatoes, beans,
- nuts and seeds—sources of healthy oils.
- especially olive oil--an important mono-unsaturated fat source
In contrast to the Standard American Diet (SAD), the diet of the Mediterranean people includes primarily fresh, seasonal vegetables rather than canned or imported produce. The diet contains low to moderate amounts of:
- dairy products,
- fish and poultry
- very little red meat
- eggs
- wine and beer
The diet contains a fairly high amount of fat, yet the people have less heart disease because they eat healthy fats like olive oil. The fish tend to be oily fish like sardines that are high in Omego-3 oils. The diet eliminates fried foods that have been cooked in rancid vegetable oils or trans fats.
Dr. Andrew Weil, the famous health guru, is a proponent of the diet. He says that people who eat the diet have 33 percent less heart disease and 24 percent less cancer.
Besides getting the balance of the various healthy fats right, the diet has many benefits—mostly attributed to olive oil.
- a good mix of vitamins and minerals
- less arteriosclerosis and heart attacks
- less liver disease
- less gall bladder disease
- less constipation
In the Lyon Diet Heart Study reported by the American Heart Association, the people who ate a Mediterranean Diet had a 50% to 70% reduction in their chances of developing heart disease after four years.
Of course the lives of the people of the Mediterranean are getting busier and more stressful so many of them are not following their traditional diet. It would be a shame if we began to see their populations suffering from the same illness as the industrialized countries.
You’ll find cookbooks about the Mediterranean Diet in any bookstore or library.
References
- Kris-Etherton P, Eckel RH, Howard BV, St. Jeor S, Bazzare TL. “AHA Science Advisory: Lyon Diet Heart Study. Benefits of a Mediterranean-style Dietary Pattern on Cardiovascular Disease. Circulation 2001;103:1823
- Understanding Fats on Food Labels
