The Basics of the Mediterranean Diet

Though lately recognized, the Mediterranean diet is now a well adopted diet program. It is not a new discovery. The Mediterranean diet is a very old dietary plan that came into notice in the 1960s and was limited to the Mediterranean areas only. In the 1990s, Dr. Ancel Keys from the USA made the first effort to make it popular and inspired people to adopt it.

The concept came from the dietary pattern of people of Mediterranean coastal areas of countries like Spain, Greece, Crete, and southern Italy. This diet is also known for having many medical advantages. The following information will explore some key components of the Mediterranean diet chart.

It includes fresh fruits and vegetables that are rich in antioxidants. It also has lots of plant originated foods. Do not forget olive oil as it is the source for monounsaturated fat. It can be used to prepare vegetable dishes, tomato sauce, salads and fish. It has vitamin E. Olive oil is known for its protective function against heart disease as well and that is why many people like it.

Dairy products like cheese or yogurt should also be included in the diet. Fish or poultry items, a source for Omega-3 fatty acids that make the blood flow smooth will be consumed by the people that select this diet. You will need to eat four eggs a week and consume a small amount of meat every week. Nuts, such as walnuts, pecans, almonds, and hazel nuts are low in saturate fats and they are a balanced part of this diet because of that.

We can see that fat is not a restricted item here. 25% to 35% of the calories that we will consume will come from our fat intake only. Specifically, the diet prefers good amount of monounsaturated fat (such as Olive oil), but not saturated fat. It is easy to see that it is also a diet that is high in dietary fiber. It also controls the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL). This is the bad cholesterol.

There are some prominent medical benefits of this diet that you should know about as well. You will have less risk of getting heart disease which is a great source of death in the present era. You also have less of a chance of developing type 2 diabetes. Cholesterol levels will not go up so you do not need to worry about this either. The same is true for high blood pressure and obesity.

So, it is clear that this diet does not only contribute to a perfect shaped body; it also focuses on overall, complete health. This diet plan was not made with conscious efforts or by some scientific experiments. Rather, it came naturally depending on the source of foods available in the poor Mediterranean countries.

Recent studies have shown that people following the this diet closely have a chance to live longer and have a healthier life than those who do not. The world is beautiful and we all want a long life. Is there any reason to worry when we have such a wonderful diet program that does not only give a long life, but also makes us look and feel better?

Christine Crotts loves to cook in her kitchen with a crowd seated around the kitchen island. Christine has written a site with reviews of customkitchenislands.net custom kitchen islands, as well as a review of customkitchenislands.net/articles/kitchen-islands-with-breakfast-bars.html kitchen islands with breakfast bars.