Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Mediterranean diet

Recommended Program
The Mediterranean Diet
A Fundamental Guide to Using the Mediterranean Diet
for Improved Health, Weight Loss, Reducing the Risk
of Heart Disease, Blood Pressure & Common Allergies


Mediterranean Diet Mistakes - Don't Skip the Olive Oil
By Ralph Jakowski Platinum Quality Author

Unless you've lived under a rock for the last decade, or you're new to the dieting scene, chances are you've heard about the Mediterranean Diet. This diet is really nothing more than a lifestyle and eating change in one's life. It basically consist of eating lots of fresh vegetables, fruits and fish along with drinking moderate amounts of Red Wine.

So what is the problem?

Well, many people are missing out on an important aspect of the Mediterranean Diet. That would be the olive oil that is used, or should be used, to prepare the food. From what I've heard, there are a lot of people simply using off the shelf vegetable oil or Canola oil. This makes no sense to me!

The health benefits of olive oil have been know for quite some time. Even today, new studies are turning up more and more benefits of cooking with Olive Oil rather than vegetable oil. This oil is probably one of the secret ingredients that make the Mediterranean Diet work so well. It has been shown to have cholesterol fighting properties as well as being loaded with anti-oxidants. Olive oil also helps the Cardio system of the body by helping veins and arteries remain flexible rather than hardening.

Not only that, but oil from olives is loaded with Monounsaturated fats. This is the 'good' kind of fat, one that you do want in your diet. So if you're trying to tweak your diet for maximum health benefits, then pick up a bottle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and start using in the dishes you prepare for your Mediterranean Diet. You increase the health benefits of this diet just by using this one product in your meals!

Not just any old olive oil will give you the same health benefits. You want to make sure to grab some Gourmet Olive Oil that is labeled Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This is the healthiest kind that has the most beneficial ingredients. You can find some by looking over Gourmet Olive Oil Reviews and choosing one that sounds good to you.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ralph_Jakowski

Recommended Program
The Mediterranean Diet
A Fundamental Guide to Using the Mediterranean Diet
for Improved Health, Weight Loss, Reducing the Risk
of Heart Disease, Blood Pressure & Common Allergies

Spanish Food is a Mediterranean Diet - Similarities of the Two and Why They Are Good For You
By Faviano Torres

Mediterranean diet is based on the traditional cuisines of the countries near the Mediterranean region. Spain is among the countries that have rich and sumptuous diet sharing similar nature and characteristics of the commercialized Mediterranean eating style. Spanish food is also a reflection of good health as it mostly uses vegetables and nuts and seeds as the ingredients for their main course, while using poultry and red meat as minimal as possible.

While it is true that each country in Mediterranean region has its own unique cuisine that also reflects their rich culture and custom, most of their cuisines share identical qualities listed as follow:

Having a penchant for fruits and vegetables -- Spaniards are fond of eating fresh fruits and vegetables. At most time, they have their vegetables half-cooked with olive oil, or half-steamed. They also believed in the importance of enzymes and the truth about them being fond in raw and half-cooked food. Also included in their daily diet are nuts, seeds, potatoes and beans in huge amount.

Olive oil for good fats -- As Spanish people love sautéed dishes, they incorporate olive oil in their food preparation because of its healthful properties and devoid of bad cholesterol. For them, olive can be a healthy source of fat, making them safe from hypertension and heart ailments.

Fish and Omega-3 fatty acids -- Sardines, mackerels, herrings and tuna are among the good sources of Omega-3 fatty acids--amino acids that are crucial in keeping a healthy heart and healthy mind.

Meat and Dairy products -- Spanish people do not totally discard meat, although noticeably, the servings are kept in small amounts and eaten less frequently.

Wine -- Of course, how could wine be absent in a diet when even medical and health specialists believe that a moderate dosage of wine can be good for the heart? People in Mediterranean region do love drinking wine particularly social drinking.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Faviano_Torres

Recommended Program
The Mediterranean Diet
A Fundamental Guide to Using the Mediterranean Diet
for Improved Health, Weight Loss, Reducing the Risk
of Heart Disease, Blood Pressure & Common Allergies


The Interesting Mediterranean Diet
By Ana Maria Da Costa

The Mediterranean diet has its origins on the countries that face the Mediterranean Sea: Southern Italy, Spain, Greece, Crete, ex-Yugoslavia, Turkey and Tunisia.

Along their unlucky story plain of hunger and misery, these people were able to set a diet based on their land's products, mainly vegetarian.

It was insufficient, but better than the northern one, as the durum wheat proteins are better than the corn ones, used on the north, that caused the pellagra(disease caused by the lack of vit.B group).

With the social and economic development of the last century, the south diet began to enrich itself with animal protein food to reach the rich countries level nowadays.

During this process, it reached a point of quite perfection, having supplied its proteins lack but still conserving its original formula. It was about 1950-1960, and during this period, people from Mediterranean area, mainly from South Italy, had lower death rates of cronical-degenerative and neoplasia metabolic diseases.

The Mediterranean food model is a program in which some typical food (olive oil, pasta, bread and legume, vegetables and fresh fruit, wine) are wisely matched with proper animal products quantities (meat, specially the white ones, fish, dairy products and eggs).

An interesting characteristic of this food model is the use of non-fat condiments (spices, herbs, sugo, lemon, red pepper, garlic, onion, basil, oregano, rosemary, bay, parsley, sage, thyme, ecc) that allows a low sodium diet.

In this diet it is possible to prepare a single dish using these typical ingredients, having a complete, balanced and economical meal.

The Mediterranean diet uses to be presented as a pyramid, where the quantities of each group of food (vegetables and fruit, carbohydrates and so on) are proportional to the size of the pyramid level.

The vegetables are at the lower part of the pyramid, together with the fresh fruit and one should eat 5-6 portions a day.

The next level is occupied by the carbohydrates with 4-5 portions a day, then oil and fat with 2-3 portions a day followed by dairy products with 2-3 portions a day.

Follows meat, fish, eggs, cold cuts and legume with 1-2 portions a day and at the top the sweets with 1 portion a day.

The portions were established by studies, but one can easily apply the idea with the self good sense. Even if one does not weight 150gr to make a fruit portion, or 10gr to make a portion of oil, just balancing the diet following these proportions will work.

There is a new entry in this pyramid - the physic movement. Aside each level there's the movement recall.

The people from Mediterranean area did not suffer from the so-called "civilized" diseases because they used to work on the fields, walk to and from everywhere. Surely they did not seat for hours in front of a computer or tv as people do nowadays.

So, to avoid sedentary, it is important to walk 30 minutes a day, for at least 6 days a week. This walking time can be easily found just parking far from the office, making the stairs instead of waiting for the lift and so on.

The Mediterranean diet became known because during studies it was proved that it is healthy and helps keeping the right weight, other than being easy to do. It is important to have a food model that matches with the nowadays life style, as people do not have time enough to follow big changes in their routine.

Another positive factor is that it is easy to industrialize some typical products as pasta, olive oil, bread and others, being then able to spread it to large range of population.

The European countries involved asked UNESCO to recognize the Mediterranean diet as World Heritage and is should happen during 2009.

Ana Maria da Costa. Economist, living in Italy since 1983 and proceeding the studies in Food and Wine culture. The website http://www.all-about-italian-food.com gives useful information about Italian food

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