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Traditional
Mediterranean Diet
Growing evidence
demonstrates that a
traditional Mediterranean
diet, or a modified
Mediterranean diet, is
beneficial to health, with
hard evidence for a
cardio-protective effect
from heart disease. Results
from recent investigations
provide a strong biomedical
foundation for the
beneficial effects of the
Mediterranean diet.
The good stuff in the
traditional Mediterranean
diet (or technical
components of the food
groups represented in a
typical Greek meal) include:
-
High
monounsaturated/saturated
fat ratio
-
Ethanol consumption at
moderate levels (mainly
wine)
-
High consumption of
vegetables, fruits,
legumes, and grains
-
Moderate consumption of
milk and dairy products,
mostly in the form of
cheese
-
Low consumption of meat
and meat products
The Mediterranean Culture
The Mediterranean culture
integrates the past and the
present. Many of its modern
aspects can be traced to the
ancient past. It is not
uncommon to have olives and
bread for breakfast, and
then eat lunch in a
fast-food restaurant.
The Mediterranean basin has
been, for millennia, a
crossroads of people and
civilizations. Here, for
5000 years, boats,
carriages, people, and
merchandise, as well as
creative ideas and
religions, have converged.
Indeed, the climate in the
region and the wonderful
culture have molded the hot,
dried components into a
balanced ecosystem for which
the traditional
Mediterranean diet is only
one, but highly visible,
manifestation.
Modified Mediterranean Diet
Someone said once, "Although
different regions in the
Mediterranean basin have
their own diets, it is
appropriate to consider
these as variants of a
single entity, the
Mediterranean diet." -- From
these variants comes the
modified Mediterranean diet.
You don't want to modify
this diet too much, or you
can lose some of the
beneficial aspects. However,
if you add in a few foods
that you enjoy (in
moderation of course), you
can still get many of the
benefits that this diet
offers.
The prevalent ingredient in
the traditional
Mediterranean diet is olive
oil. Other essential
components of the
Mediterranean diet are
wheat, olives, and grapes
and their derivative
products. Total fat may be
high, around or in excess of
40% of total energy intake
(as in Greece), or moderate,
around 30% of total energy
intake (as in Italy).
In all instances, however,
the ratio of monounsaturated
to saturated fats is much
higher than in other regions
of the world, including
northern Europe and North
America. The Italian
modified Mediterranean diet
is characterized by higher
consumption of pasta,
whereas in Spain fish
consumption is particularly
high.
As an example of a typical
greek modified Mediterranean
diet, consider the following
meal:
1) Meat, with visible fat on it, but not greasy.
2) Wine -- the adults, at
least
3) Lots of bread with the
grains still visible
4) Fruit
5) Wonderful fresh
vegetables -- often with
cheese
6) Lots of legumes
Many people prefer a
modified Mediterranean diet.
This way they can still get
the health benefits of this
diet, but at the same time
enjoy other foods as well.
Just make sure you don't
drastically change the diet
too much, or you can lose
many of the health benefits.
One complaint we often hear
about both the traditional
and modified Mediterranean
diet is hunger. Most
diets will not work if you
are hungry all the time. To
combat this hunger, many
people have had success with
a weight loss supplement.
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