Adopting a Mediterranean diet can be easy and cheap. This blog is about the types and amounts of ingredients to eat in order to
get maximum health benefit from the diet.
The health benefits
The typical Western diet is high in animal fats and preservatives,
but low in fruit and vegetables. Scientific research has shown that this
food combination is partially responsible for triggering many chronic
diseases and cancers.
Research has also shown that following a Mediterranean diet can
reduce the chance of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2
diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and even Alzheimer's disease.
Switching from a Western to a Mediterranean diet represents a healthy
lifestyle choice. It can reduce the risk of a premature death and
increase the chance of a healthy retirement, free from long-term
medication.
The Mediterranean Diet
The term 'Mediterranean Diet' describes a specific mix of dietary
food ingredients, shown, to promote health and long life in people from
many countries, including the UK and USA. The word 'Mediterranean' refers to the origins of the diet, rather
than needing to eat Greek or Italian foods (see Note 2) - although,
experimenting can be enjoyable and rewarding.
When planning ingredients for Mediterranean-style meals, it is good
to include lots of variety. For example, using a range of fruit and
vegetables gives the body maximum access to sources of vitamins,
minerals and other trace nutrients. This is quite logical, because it's
only recently that supermarkets have been able to make foods available
throughout the year. This counteracts natural seasonal variety in the
human diet.
The overuse of salt in flavouring Western-style meals and fast foods
has been linked with increased blood pressure. The healthy alternative
is to replace the excess salt with herbs, as Mediterranean folk have
done for many years. This can also add new flavours to quite simple
pasta, rice dishes and stews.
General principles
The Mediterranean Diet is not about quick fix 'superfoods'. Nor is it
a strict list of what you should not eat. Rather, the Mediterranean
Diet is a formula for healthy day-to-day eating over the long term.
Here's a quick guide for those who would like to try it:
- Maximise your intake of vegetables, peas and beans (legumes), fruits and wholegrain cereals.
- Limit your red meat intake - fish and poultry are healthy substitutes.
- Where possible, use mono-unsaturated olive oil or rapeseed oil in place of animal fat such as butter or lard.
- Limit your intake of highly processed 'fast foods' and 'ready meals', where you cannot tell saturated fat and salt intake.
- Eat no more than moderate amounts of dairy products, and preferably low-fat ones.
- Do not add salt to your food at the table - there is already plenty there.
- Snack on fruit, dried fruit and unsalted nuts rather than cakes, crisps and biscuits.
- Drink (red) wine during meals, but no more than three small glasses per day if you are a man and no more than two small glasses per day if you are a woman.
- Water is the best 'non-alcoholic beverage' (as opposed to sugary drinks), although health benefits have also been claimed for various teas and coffee (see Note 3).
