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What Is The Mediterranean Diet?

Posted on 11. Mar, 2009 by Slim Slater in Diet & Nutrition

The people who live in the Mediterranean basin are healthy, so it was only natural to create a Mediterranean diet for others to follow. The Mediterranean basin is an area that surrounds the Mediterranean Sea and has mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. This area includes areas of France, the Iberian Peninsula, the Italian peninsula, and the Balkan Peninsula. It also includes areas of the Sahara desert, and Africa.

Most people who mention the Mediterranean diet are really talking about a diet created by Walter Willett. The diet includes wine, red meat, olive oil, eggs, fish, poultry and a healthy amount of physical activity. Not much fat is taken in – only about 8% of total calories are from fat. Experts consider it a high fiber diet. It has been around since 1945 when the version of the Mediterranean diet was first published Ancel Keyes who lived in Italy. But it did not become popular until the 1990s.

Whereas American diets rely on animal fats, the Mediterranean diet utilizes olive oil. The benefits of olive oil are well known – it helps control blood pressure and blood sugar. Olive oil is also good for treating ulcers and for lowering the risk of many types of cancer. Antioxidant elements in red wine, an important part of the Mediterranean diet, are also beneficial.

The American Heart Association recommends diets like the Mediterranean diet . However, the AHA frowns on the amount of fat allowed by the Mediterranean diet. They say obesity is a growing health concern in the Mediterranean basin. However, the American Heart Association does like the fact that most of the fat in the Mediterranean diet comes from olive oil, mono saturated fat, that doesn’t raise cholesterol. That’s a good thing for heart health, but healthier hearts in the Mediterranean areas may be more due to increased physical activity rather than strictly to diet.

A Google search is a great source of information on the Mediterranean diet.

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