The Mediterranean diet has been named by doctors and psychologists as the best diet for mental and physical health.
And what exactly is the Mediterranean diet? It is a dietary style adopted by the people living by the Mediterranean Sea, Italy, Spain, Greece, Crete and Southerner France.
In the Pre-globalization time, these countries would consume only what available based on their geography which was primary plant-based food with moderate meat and fish contribution (not mass produced) and limited dairy production.
Benefits of this diet:
- Promotes heart health (see video's below)
- Helps to maintain an heathy body weight
- Keep blood sugar under control and lower the cholesterol level
- Helps to prevent, control and manage diabetes: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/diabetes-the-basics/type-2-reverse
- Improve brain function
- Prevents cancer
I always refer to the Mediterranean diet with a picture of a pyramid:
Practical guidelines to follow the Mediterranean diet:
- Eat mostly fruits and vegetables (in each mean meal) whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds
- Use extra virgin olive oil mainly.
- Fresh Local Fish
- Limited red meat (if possible, not from the supermarket)
- Moderate dairy intake
- Occasional cakes, biscuits, and other processed and ultra-process food
- Use of herbs
- Regular physical exercise
- Community and social life (work to live not reverse)
- Mostly home cooked meals with recipes passed on by the previous generation.
- Sharing of food prepared by each other within family and friends.
- Moderate wine consumption always with food or company (aperitivo in Italy got 3 ingredients: food, drinks, and people!)
I generally prefer talking about a lifestyle than a diet. Although the word Diet means “the food and drink usually eaten or drunk by a person or group”,(https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/diet),I find that the use of the word “lifestyle” is more complete when we talk about a sustainable and healthy way of living.
Is well known that the Mediterranean countries have the key to longevity and health. Food is not the only factor contributing to the health recipes of these countries but also the way how these people live: focus on community and family.