You see a lot of articles promoting the Mediterranean diet. What is this way of eating that has people so excited?
In a sea of 29 diets, U.S. News and World Report rated it #4 in their 2013 rankings, behind the DASH diet (created partially by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to help prevent and lower high blood pressure), Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet (created by the National Institutes of Health), and the Mayo Clinic Diet (pretty obvious where this one came from!).
The Mediterranean Diet was developed under the theory that since the people who live in that area seem to live longer and with less pain than many Americans, that following their lifestyle could help us with that too.
This plan includes mostly fruits and vegetables, unrefined grains, beans, fish, nuts, and olive oil. Dairy and eggs are included to a lesser degree. Red meat and the associated saturated fat is minimal, along with sodium and sweets.
You can have wine in moderation (I usually put mine in a glass).
This diet plan has been around since 1945, but it never really hit the mainstream until the 1990’s. Since that time there have been many studies conducted around the plan.
Research shows that following this eating plan can help protect against Heart disease, metabolic syndrome, some cancers, type 2 diabetes, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. It’s good for supporting healthy levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and blood sugar.
If you decide to follow this plan, don’t forget that “lifestyle” part – that means you need to plan to exercise regularly along with the eating plan. 2 1/2 hours of moderate activity every week is recommended as a minimum, along with some resistance training.
There are a lot of advantages to this way of eating, the only downfall is that it can be a little bit expensive with all of the fresh produce and seafood. You can get some help with this if you live close to a warehouse like Costco or Sam’s where the produce is less expensive and you can buy fish in big bags that is individually wrapped, which can be significantly less expensive than what you find at your local grocery store.
Image by Andrea Pavanello of Milan, used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Italy License
