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The Mediterranean Diet - What Is It?
 by: Eva Moffat
It has been found that people living in Mediterranean Countries such as Southern France, Spain and Italy live longer than people in other parts of the world. Why is this?
It’s what they eat and how the Mediterranean’s cook their food that makes all the difference.
From Mediterranean Country to Mediterranean Country, the way the food is cooked may differ so although the flavors are varied, the foods used are the same.
What is the Mediterranean Diet?
The diet consists mainly of foods that come from plants; grains, vegetables especially green leafy vegetables, fruits, beans legumes, nuts, and olive oil. Mediterranean Countries make most of their dishes from these foodstuffs. Additional advantages of these foods are their nutritional value; they provide antioxidants, fiber, vitamins and minerals.
The Mediterranean Diet can help people avoid what is called the ‘Diseases of Affluence.’ These diseases are common in Westernized, industrialized nations and include Heart Disease, Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes and even some cancers.
Isn’t Olive Oil A Fat, and Aren't Fats Are Bad For Us?
Yes olive oil is a fat, but it’s a good fat. The body needs good fat.
·The body needs a certain amount of good fat to help everything to work properly. But there are two kinds of fat that we get from our food.
Saturated (Bad) Fat causes the fat to settle on the inside walls of the Arteries. The fat in the arteries is called cholesterol. It’s cholesterol that makes blood vessels narrow so the blood is unable to pass through properly. The heart then has to pump harder to allow the blood to pass round the body, causing Heart Failure, High Blood Pressure and Strokes. Bad Fat is normally called LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein). If you can cut all the bad fat out of your diet, you will be doing yourself and your body a big favor.
Whatever you do, don’t mistakenly leave out the good fat from your diet. Because unsaturated (good) fat has been found to actually liquefy cholesterol and pass it out of the body by natural means.
Good fat is called HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) this good fat can be found in plants and some animal products. Therefore if you eat more fruit and vegetables you will be on the right path to living a healthy lifestyle.
Angel Keys, aged 96, believes his long life is due to the Mediterranean Diet. As a young scientist 50 years ago, he found that people in countries where fresh fruits and vegetables are in abundance and olive oil flows freely: Southern Italy, Southern France, Greece and parts of North Africa and the Middle East, Heart Disease in these areas is rare.
Three Tips for Maintaining a Mediterranean Diet
1) Fill your plate with fresh fruit and vegetables they are low in calories and fats and full of much needed nutrients.
2) When buying bread go for flour made from whole grains.
3) For dessert, choose fresh fruits.
Besides preventing heart disease and other ailments, not only is the Mediterranean Diet delicious, but as an added bonus, you’ll probably even lose weight. Bon Apetit!
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