This is the diet I have followed for almost all my life - with some adaptations in order to reduce the caloric intake - e.g., I do not eat potatoes, cereals or meat, and serve food in small quantities - can have even several courses, but served in small plates or bowls.
Enjoy and bon appetit! [thumb]
The Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean Diet: Healthy Dietary Advice from Across the Sea
By Tony Robinsson
The popularity of the Mediterranean Diet began with a rather simple equation: the people of Greece and Southern Italy tended to eat a diet rich in fat, yet had less cardiovascular disease than people in the U.S. How could this be? The answer seems to lie in the Mediterranean's reliance on the monosaturated fat known as olive oil. Olive oil forms the basis of Mediterranean cooking--it is the key ingredient in preparing everything from pasta to steak. Olive oil is also considered an antioxidant, so it can be effective in the fight against cancer.
However, following the Mediterranean Diet can be a challenge. While 40 percent of one's total calories are derived from fat, dieters can only eat small portions of red meat. Even fish and poultry are de-emphasized, as are milk and milk products. However, unlike other diets, the Mediterranean Diet allows you to eat a fair amount of bread and potatoes, and you can eat eggs as often as every other day. You can even drink wine in moderate amounts.
It should be pointed out that the Mediterranean Diet offers little in the way of saturated fat or trans fat. This means that dieters have to avoid certain oils as well as margarine, peanut butter, cakes and cookies. Dieters are also encouraged to cut the total amount of fat they eat each day.
A study conducted in France showed that people who had had at least one heart attack who planned their meals according to a Mediterranean diet were less likely to suffer from subsequent heart attacks than those who followed a typical diet recommended by the American Heart Association. Another study conducted last year indicated that those who used the Mediterranean diet, exercised, and abstained from smoking were less likely to die than those who followed a traditional diet.
However, not all the foods found in a typical Mediterranean Diet are considered healthy choices. For instance, cheese-rich lasagna and ravioli can be roadblocks to weight loss. In addition, tiramisu and canolli can also cause an individual to pack on the pounds.
A number of dieticians recommend taking the best elements of the Mediterranean Diet and incorporating them into your lifestyle in order to achieve good health and weight loss. This means emphasizing vegetables in your diet, along with whole grains and nuts. You might be surprised to learn that the average Mediterranean consumes red meat less than twice a week. If you're following the Mediterranean path, you should also ban the butter and sugary snacks and opt for fruit when selecting a dessert.
But there are also other parts of the Mediterranean lifestyle which should be considered when you are attempting to lose weight. Mediterraneans tend to walk and bike a great deal, which contributes to their calorie-burning. In addition, meals tend to be a leisurely affair. As a result, the body has time for proper digestion.
A typical Mediterranean menu would include cereal and banana for breakfast; minestrone soup and a slice of garlic bread for lunch; and pasta primavera and berries for dinner. One of the great advantages to the Mediterranean Diet is that it is a feast for the senses--the colors are bold, the flavors are enticing, and the aroma is unbeatable.
Cardiologist Michael Ozner has been recommending the Mediterranean Diet to his patients for almost 30 years. In response to the diet's popularity, Ozner published a book called Miami Mediterranean Diet, which offers hundreds of tips for cooking up Mediterranean specialties.
In addition to helping people lose weight, the Mediterranean Diet has been credited with improving longevity for people within the Mediterranean Basin. Therefore, the diet is considered a healthy, life-giving alternative to a number of other diets that are on the market today. But perhaps the diet's biggest selling point is the fact that dieters say it helps to satisfy their cravings--while enabling them to lose weight. Therefore, a number of people see the Mediterranean Diet as the ultimate "un-diet," a weight management plan that doesn't scrimp on taste.
Change Your Diet, and Eat the Mediterranean Way
By Dave Saunders
Are you studying the principals behind a better diet? Mediterranean food diets are increasing in popularity because they are not based on popularized fads but rather a model which comes from literally thousands of years of use. The Mediterranean diet is inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of the Mediterranean area, particularly Italy, Greece, and Spain. Understanding how the Mediterranean Diet differs from the typical American diet can help us to improve our eating habits and enjoy improved health through enjoyable dietary changes.
The most noticeable characteristic of the Mediterranean Diet is high consumption of fruits and vegetables, bread and other cereals, olive oil and fish. Red meat is an infrequent source of protein in the Mediterranean Diet. Compared to the typical American diet, this may seem almost exotic. Meals fashioned after the Mediterranean Diet have a distinctively rich flavor because of the common use of olive oil as the source of fat in preparation compared to the margarine and highly processed, hydrogenated vegetable oils used in the preparation of American meals. As fat has a higher calorie density than protein and carbohydrates, portion sizes also appear more modest when compared to the size of a meal Americans often expect to receive from a restaurant. The result is a nutrient rich diet, high in fiber, with a low glycemic index, which includes lean protein sources and high quality sources of fat.
While the Mediterranean Diet has been developed over time since as far back as when the Iliad was a new story, it was "discovered" by an American doctor, Ancel Keys, in 1945. When compared to modern common American dietary practices, the Mediterranean Diet appears to be paradoxical. People living in Mediterranean countries tend to consume relatively high amounts of fat, and yet they have far lower rates of cardiovascular disease than in countries like the United States.
If we compare the sources of fat between the Mediterranean Diet and the typical American diet we can see that the fat sources in the Mediterranean Diet are of much higher quality and fat sources like extra virgin olive oil also contain excellent sources of antioxidants which have been shown to protect the body from conditions that lead to cardiovascular disease. Olive oil has also been shown to reduce blood cholesterol while the animal fats consumed by the typical American tend to increase cholesterol levels.
Red wine consumption is also a positive factor in many Mediterranean Diets. Rich in flavonoids, these powerful antioxidants come from the skins, seeds and stems of grapes which are what make a red wine red during fermentation. White wines are fermented without these components and therefore have lower levels of antioxidants. Regular, moderate consumption of red wine has been shown to have significant benefit in cardiovascular health because of the regular ingestion of these antioxidants.
Genetics, lifestyle, and environment may also be involved in the health benefits enjoyed by people of these Mediterranean cultures, but when compared to the typical diet of an American, the Mediterranean Diet offers a higher quality source of foods which should bring a benefit in a variety of health factors for nearly anyone who includes them as their source of nourishment.
Mediterranean Diet Information
By Anita cherry
Mediterranean diet is basically the dietary traditions followed by the people of Greece, Spain and southern Italy who live around the Mediterranean Sea. It has been studied by an American Dr Ancel Keys when he landed in Greece in 1945. He discovered that the people of Greece and Spain had longer life expectancy and didn't have any major health problem. Their diet mainly consists of lots of food from plant sources freshly eaten minimally processed, locally grown, and seasonal and very little food from animal sources Foods mainly are fresh fruits, vegetables, sea fresh fish, herbs, bread, grains, nuts and seeds, non refined oils like olive oil which is 25% to 35% of fat consumed and low consumption of saturated fats, moderate consumption of cheese and yoghurt, honey and fresh fruits for desserts, lots of fresh fish and non refined cereals. Vegetables consumed should be at least 1 pound and red meat consumed sparingly only. Lots of physical activity and consumption of wine if taken should only be 1 glass for women and 2 glasses for men daily with meals. Fruits are mainly grapes, raisins olives, avocado, strawberries, raspberries, currant, blue berries grapes, black olives, orange, apple, pear, figs, pomegranates, dates, passion fruits, cherry, apricot, grapefruit, peach, prunes, quince, bergamot and plums. Vegetables are spinach, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, white peach, bell pepper, carrot, beetroot, tomato, onion, shallots, scallions, green onion, celery, eggplant, capers, cucumber, lemon, Zucchini, white and red cabbage, mushroom, grapevine leaves, artichokes, potatoes, sweet corn and gherkin. Grains are mainly pasta, couscous, rice, polenta, bulgur etc. Legumes are carob, peas, beans, lima beans, chickpea and lentils. Herbs and spices used are anise, basil, bay leaves, borage, peppercorns, garlic, chilies, chamomile, chervil, chives, dill, fennel, lavender, marjoram, mint, nutmeg, oregano, parsley, sesame seeds, rosemary, sage, savory, sorrel, tarragon, and thyme, vanilla, mahaleb, red saffron, masticha, cinnamon, clove, coriander, cumin and caraway. Cheese used are mainly from sheep and goats milk - bocconcini, edam, feta, halloumi, kasseri, kefalograviera, kefalotyri, roquefort cheese, mozzarella, mitzithra, manouri, manchego, peciino toscano , mascarpone, parmesan, and pecorino, anthotyro, xynotyri, ladotyri, anevato and batzos Nuts are almonds, fennel, poppy, sesame, pistachio nuts, peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts and chestnuts. Fish and fillets are herring, salmon, trout, tuna, anchovies, sardines, mackerels, cod, and carp. Sea foods like octopus, clams, mussels and squids are also eaten. A wide variety of these foods consumed daily has been found to be very good for the heart as well.
A View Of The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid
By Dave Saunders
The food pyramid we're most familiar with is based on portion size and does not take into account the different qualities of food sources. It's assumed that everyone knows that all processing done to food serves to make it more harmful. Unfortunately common knowledge and common practice often do not go hand in hand. As people do learn that whole food choices offer health benefits over the more typical processed food choices, they are seeking out suggestions for what foods to put together into a dietary plan.
The Mediterranean diet is increasing in popularity because it is not based on popularized fads but rather a model which comes from literally thousands of years of use. The Mediterranean diet is inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of the Mediterranean area, particularly Italy, Greece, and Spain. Understanding how the Mediterranean Diet differs from the typical American diet can help us to improve our eating habits and enjoy improved health through enjoyable dietary changes.
A Mediterranean diet pyramid would start with red meat at the top as the source of animal protein which is consumed the least in a Mediterranean diet. Under that we find eggs, poultry and fish and the common sources of animal protein. Next, we find cheese, yogurt and other milk products. Extra virgin olive oil is the most common source of fat in the Mediterranean diet pyramid. Not only does it give the diet a distinctive, and full, flavor, olive oil is also an excellent source of antioxidants.
On the next level of the Mediterranean diet pyramid, we find fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes and nuts. These are eaten in great variety and raw or lightly cooked. Pickled foods are eaten for flavorful variety in a Mediterranean diet, but not as a staple as is commonly with the highly processed intake of the typical American diet.
At the last level, we find bread, pasta, rice, couscous, polenta and other whole grains and potatoes. Again, where this differs from the typical America diet is that these sources are whole grain and not filled with the levels of preservatives. The lower amount of processing also improves fiber density.
In any diet, the general proportions of intake are such that the calories are split between 20% protein, 30% fat and 50% carbs. The Mediterranean diet pyramid isn't much different in this mix, but rather in the quality and variety of foods eaten. The lesson to be learned from the Mediterranean diet is that fresh, whole foods provide a dietary benefit over the highly processed foods that make up the most of the typical American diet. Eliminating processed foods entirely is probably not necessary, but they should not be the majority of what we eat, but rather the occasional variance.
