The Mediterranean Diet and Food - Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy?

Eat fat, drink wine, and stay trim and healthy? That seems to be a lesson of the Mediterranean diet, which includes the traditional foods of Cyprus, Greece, southern Italy, southern France, Spain, and Portugal. The Mediterranean diet features fish, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, plenty of olive oil, and wine in moderation.

Mediterranean diets were first formally publicized in the US in 1945 by an American doctor named Ancel Keys. Keys was a nutritionist responsible for designing soldiers' meals, and he personally adopted the Mediterranean diet after being stationed in southern Italy. (Incidentally, Keys himself lived to be 100!) However, the diet has only recently attracted much attention in the US. By the 1990s, after years of hearing from diet gurus who pushed away fat altogether, many of us welcomed the message that we needn't eliminate dietary fat to be healthy. Mediterranean diets

Regarding fats, the difference is olive oil. Olive oil is a staple of the Mediterranean diet; it's mixed into salads, rubbed onto grape leaves, stirred into hummus, and used for most cooking. Olive oil - unlike animal fat - actually lowers LDL cholesterol and is associated with much lower rates of cardiovascular disease.

Other key elements of Mediterranean diets are likewise associated with health benefits:

Moderate amounts of red wine may reduce the risk of heart damage; red wine contains flavonoids with powerful antioxidant properties.
Fish are lauded for providing omega-3 fatty acids. (Some vegetarian substitutes include walnuts, flax, hemp, and eggs.)
We've long known the importance of eating vegetables, though few Americans consume the recommended daily amount. (The government now recommends nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day!)
Whole grains like brown rice and rye contain fiber and some anti-oxidants not found in fruits and vegetables.

Of course, other aspects of the Mediterranean lifestyle may well contribute to better health. For example, while Americans tend to rush through meals, Mediterranean peoples are more likely to take two hours for lunch, pausing between bites for meaningful conversation or a sip of wine. And whereas Americans head back to work, their Italian or Spanish counterparts are likely to rest their bodies with siesta. All in all, it seems we have sweet lessons to learn from the Mediterranean coast.

All Article Text on this site is copyrighted© 2006-2007 weightcontrolroom.com All rights reserved. Do not copy.
The info on this site is for informational purposes only and not medical info in any way, see disclaimer.