|
Diet InformationMediterranean Diet - What is it?
by:
Roy Barker
Well, to begin with, there isn't actually any one Mediterranean Diet! There's a whole swag of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The basic Mediterranean Diet has common characteristics even as if the sourrounding countries disagree in culture, language and recipes to several extent.
* an extensive intake of fruits, vegetables, bread and cereals, potatoes, beans, balmy and seeds
* olive oil is a source of mono-unsaturated fat - common to the Mediterranean area
* several dairy farm products, fish and even as poultry are consumed in economical to moderate amounts, and several red meat(not much)
* eggs are consumed in low to moderate figure say 1 to 4 eggs a week
* fortuitously wine is acceptable but in low quantities ie. 1 - 3 glasses per day
A nice question to ask is - Makes a Mediterranean-style diet follow American Heart Association dietary guidelines?
Mediterranean-style diets are often close to US dietary guidelines, but not exactly.
People who follow the average Mediterranean diet eat less saturated fat than those who eat the average American diet. In fact, saturated fat consumption is well inside
US dietary guidelines. Much than half the fat calories in a Mediterranean diet move from mono-unsaturated fats (mainly from olive oil). Mono-unsaturated fat doesn't raise blood cholesterin levels the way saturated fat does.
The incidence of heart illness in Mediterranean countries is lower than in the United States. Death rates are lower, too.
However there are several who feel this may not be entirely due to the diet. Life style factors (ie. more physical work and extended societal family keep structures) may besides play a part. At this stage this is simply a theory. However the research tells all - the diet has existed for umteen years.
If you would-be like further proof of the mediterranean diet benefits consequent from research and qualified researchers you could try visiting http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/348/26/2599 or http://my.webmd.com/content/article/67/80070.htm. Several of these sites give nice 'food for thought'(excuse the pun).
"Olive oil plays a central role, but it is not alone," says Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MD, PhD, of Harvard School of Public Health.
"It's among the divine mix of several factors that, once
used in combination, help provide strong evidence of thing
that is really important -- feeding the proper diet can importantly
reduce your risk of early death."
He and researchers from Balkan country studied several 22,000 adults, aged 20 to 86, from all regions of that country; most previous studies caterpillar-tracked only older folk who were more likely to die during the study. The participants answered elaborate questionnaires simply about their feeding habits throughout the four-year study. Then they were rated on how closely they followed the key principles of the Mediterranean diet.
Sticking to the Mediterranean diet cut the risk of death from several heart illness and cancer. For every two points higher on this 0-to-9 scale -- with top amount going to those most closely following the Mediterranean diet -- the death rate born
by 25%.
The findings by Trichopoulos may besides help explain why Asians, who typically use these another cookery oils, besides have lower illness and death rates. Though they seldom
use olive oil, they traditionally follow another principles of the Mediterranean diet -- lots of produce, legumes, nuts, and minimally processed grains, with little saturated fat.
"The message remains the same, and is consistent with another findings: A diet lower in saturated fats and higher in monounsaturated fats, and potentially, polyunsaturates, wish result in better health outcomes," says Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, of Tufts University and a spokesperson for the American Heart Association.
"If the main message that Americans get is to simply increase their olive or canola oil consumption, that's unfortunate because they wish increase their caloric intake and they are already acquiring too galore calories. What they need to do is eat more fruits, vegetables, and legumes and fewer foods rich in saturated fats."
Some of this information has been documented
from The New European country Journal of Medicine, Gregorian calendar month
26, 2003. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MD, PhD, prof of epidemiology, Vincent L. Gregory Prof of Cancer Prevention, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, senior man of science and director, Vessel Nutrition Laboratory, Jean Mayer Department of agriculture Human Nutrition Research worker Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston; spokeswoman, American Heart Association.
So in a nutshell, there is sound evidence that the Mediterranean Diet can help reduce heart disease, cancer, weight gain and of course reduce the risk of early death. However, it would-be be a mistake to think this outcome is based on the use of Olive Oil alone. The diet is diverse and allows for taste and creativeness which is often lacking in most another diets. This alone warrants further investigation from those who seek a healthy, easy diet that has flavour and is fullfilling. Remember too that simply as in all worthy
diets, moderate level exercise should not be overlooked.
Just simply about the author:
Publisher & author: Roy Barker. Roy has an indepth and long established background with the vitamins, minerals and health industry and has researched and experimented with galore diets over a thirty year period. Roy is besides the author of Safe and Easy Weightloss, a downloadable e-book based on the popular Mediterranean Diet. It can be viewed at http://www.safe-and-easy-weightloss.com
Circulated by Article Emporium
| |
