OK THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET MAY BE GOOD FOR THE HEART LOW SATURATED FAT BUT WHAT CAN YOU EAT TO COPY THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET

Some medical researchers have been touting the benefits of the so called Mediterranean Diet. I have written about a litany of medical studies that have lauded the so called Mediterranean Diet. The Mediterranean Diet is a dietary pattern based on food patterns typical of many regions in Greece and southern Italy in the early 1960s. Doctors observed that people living around the shores of the Mediterranean Sea have in the past been noted to have less than expected amounts of coronary heart disease. They speculated it had to with what those people were or were not eating.

Video and Statistical Analysis of the Mediterranean Diet




I talked about a study of the Mediterranean Diet that appeared in the December 10/24, 2007 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. It suggested that among nearly 400,000 retired Americans, the closer they stuck to a Mediterranean diet, the better the outcome was.

Diet good for heart low trans fat and saturated fat high in omega 3 and olive oil




The Mediterranean diet does not regard all fat as bad. In fact, the focus of the Mediterranean diet is not to limit total fat consumption, but rather to make wise choices about the type of fat in the diet. The Mediterranean diet is low in saturated fat. However, it views two types of fat, omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats as healthy and places no restrictions on their consumption. The omega-3 fatty acids are found in fatty fish (e.g, salmon, trout, sardines, tuna) and in some plant sources (e.g, walnuts and other tree nuts, flaxseed, various vegetables). Monounsaturated fat is abundant in olive oil, nuts, and avocados. Eating plenty of fruit, vegetables and fish instead of meat, not to mention olive oil rather than saturated fats.






Paula Goodyear in her excellent blog lists some suggestions for how to mimic the Mediterranean Diet in your everyday eating habits. She asked Dr. Antigone Kouris, a Melbourne, Australia based dietitian and nutrition research fellow with Monash University, whose own background is Greek.

Eat legumes. They're common throughout Mediterranean countries and in a traditional Greek diet are eaten twice a week to avoid eating meat for religious reasons, says Kouris, part of a research team at Monash University that found legumes to be the most important food contributing to longevity in over 1000 elderly people in five countries.

Eat lots of dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, rocket, endive, chicory and amaranth (excellent sources of magnesium and plant omega- 3 fats, she says).

Eat a range of coloured vegetables including tomatoes and capsicum - they're high in antioxidants, including lycopene.

Use extra virgin olive oil There's some evidence, says Kouris, that olive oil, like omega-3 fats, don't seem to add weight around the waist as much as animal fats and processed (hydrogenated) vegetable fats that are high in saturated and trans fats.

Eat fish and seafood. Traditionally fish is eaten more often than animal meats, she says.

Snack on nuts and seeds. Traditional snacks include pumpkin seeds, roasted chickpeas, almonds, walnuts, as well as dried and fresh fruit. (almonds and walnuts have been demonstrated to lower cholesterol)

Ten healthy habits from the Mediterranean (eating frozen pizza doesn't count)

Click Here to learn about the University of Toronto study of natural foods to lower cholesterol