Mediterranean Diet - Most Effective Lose Your Weight

Adopting a Mediterranean diet can be easy and cheap. This leaflet is about the types and amounts of ingredients to eat in order to get maximum health benefit from the diet.

The health benefits

The typical Western diet is high in animal fats and preservatives, but low in fruit and vegetables. Scientific research has shown that this food combination is partially responsible for triggering many chronic diseases and cancers.

Research has also shown that following a Mediterranean diet can reduce the chance of developing conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and even Alzheimer's disease. See separate leaflet called Health Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet.

Switching from a Western to a Mediterranean diet represents a healthy lifestyle choice. It can reduce the risk of a premature death and increase the chance of a healthy retirement, free from long-term medication. 

The Mediterranean Diet

The term 'Mediterranean Diet' describes a specific mix of dietary food ingredients, shown, to promote health and long life in people from many countries, including the UK and USA.

The word 'Mediterranean' refers to the origins of the diet, rather than needing to eat Greek or Italian - although, experimenting can be enjoyable and rewarding.

When planning ingredients for Mediterranean-style meals, it is good to include lots of variety. For example, using a range of fruit and vegetables gives the body maximum access to sources of vitamins, minerals and other trace nutrients. This is quite logical, because it's only recently that supermarkets have been able to make foods available throughout the year. This counteracts natural seasonal variety in the human diet.

The overuse of salt in flavouring Western-style meals and fast foods has been linked with increased blood pressure. The healthy alternative is to replace the excess salt with herbs, as Mediterranean folk have done for many years. This can also add new flavours to quite simple pasta, rice dishes and stews.

General principles

The Mediterranean Diet is not about quick fix 'superfoods'. Nor is it a strict list of what you should not eat. Rather, the Mediterranean Diet is a formula for healthy day-to-day eating over the long term. Here's a quick guide for those who would like to try it:

·                 Maximise your intake of vegetables, peas and beans (legumes), fruits and wholegrain cereals.

·                 Limit your red meat intake - fish and poultry are healthy substitutes.

·                 Where possible, use mono-unsaturated olive oil or rapeseed oil in place of animal fat such as butter or lard.

·                 Limit your intake of highly processed 'fast foods' and 'ready meals', where you cannot tell saturated fat and salt intake.

·                 Eat no more than moderate amounts of dairy products, and preferably low-fat ones.

·                 Do not add salt to your food at the table - there is already plenty there.

·                 Snack on fruit, dried fruit and unsalted nuts rather than cakes, crisps and biscuits.

·                 Drink (red) wine during meals, but no more than three small glasses per day if you are a man and no more than two small glasses per day if you are a woman.

·                 Water is the best 'non-alcoholic beverage' (as opposed to sugary drinks), although health benefits have also been claimed for various teas and coffee (see Note 3).

Mediterranean Diet ingredients

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended we eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. This guidance is partly based on research into the Mediterranean Diet.

Health-promoting food types to be encouraged

The following contain essential nutrients and have health-promoting properties.

Vegetables and Fruits
Examples	Vegetables: onions, cabbage, courgettes, cucumbers, carrots, spinach, leeks, broccoli, asparagus, lettuce, cauliflower, aubergine, garlic and peppers. Fruit: oranges, grapes, apples, bananas, pears, melons, plums, cherries, pineapples, olives, figs - and, perhaps surprisingly, tomatoes.
Also	Tinned vegetables and fruit, vegetable soups and juices, dried fruit, fruit juice. Potatoes, often thought of as vegetables, are discussed separately below.
Analysis	High in fibre, antioxidants and vitamin C.
Benefits	Help reduce risk of heart and vascular disease, cancers and bowel problems.
Risk in Excess	None known.

Cereals - wholemeal where possible
Examples	Wheat, barley, oats, millet, corn and brown rice.
Also	Found in cereal flakes, muesli, porridge, wholemeal pasta, wholemeal bread, spaghetti, couscous, polenta, crispbread, biscuits.
Analysis	Proteins, carbohydrate, fibre, vitamins, minerals, anti-inflammatory agents.
Benefits	Associated with decreased bowel problems, including cancers, lowered 'bad' blood fat and decreased heart disease.
Risk in Excess	None known (some people are intolerant to gluten).

Legumes (grow in pods)
Examples	Peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas, peanuts (they're not really nuts).
Also	Representatives from this versatile group can be spotted piled on plates (humble baked beans or peas), as bases for tasty soups and stews (for example, lentils) or in Mediterranean-style dips (for example, houmous).
Analysis	Protein, carbohydrate, fibre, vitamin B, vitamin C.
Benefits	Associated with reduced risk of heart and vascular disease.
Risk in Excess	None known.

White and Oily Fish (and Seafood)
Examples	White fish and shellfish: sole, cod, plaice, haddock, hake, halibut, sea bass, turbot, whiting, mullet, tinned tuna, squid, mussels, prawns, crab, lobster. Whole fish: whitebait, sardines, pilchards, anchovy. Oily fish: salmon, mackerel, herring, trout, fresh tuna.
Also	Fish liver oil.
Analysis	Protein, essential vitamins, minerals. Oily fish (and some shellfish) contain cardio-protective omega 3 fatty acids, vitamins A and D. Whole fish are a source of calcium and phosphorus. Shellfish are also good sources of trace minerals.
Benefits	A mix of oily and white fish in the diet is an alternative source of protein that reduces the risk of heart disease and heartbeat irregularities.
Risk in Excess	Some oily fish contains low levels of pollutants. Pregnant women and those trying for a baby should limit intake of certain types of fish.

Beneficial food types, to be carefully measured

The Mediterranean Diet components contain essential nutrients and have health-promoting properties. However, there are known health risks if consumed in excess.

When cooking Mediterranean-style meals, unsaturated oils are used to replace saturated animal fats, such as butter and lard (see Note 5). If you cover your healthy vegetables with a cream- or cheese-based sauce, then you'll be adding saturated fat. Instead you could cut back on the saturated fat by using a smaller amount of a stronger cheese. Vegetables roasted with small amounts of olive oil are delicious. You could clean the plate with unbuttered, tasty, wholemeal bread.

Many 'fast foods' are designed to tempt the palate, but contain high levels of unhealthy saturated fat, trans-fat (heat-degraded fat) and salt.

Overall, although typical Western and Mediterranean diets can have a similar total fat content, the Mediterranean Diet is high in health-protective mono-unsaturated fat. In contrast the Western diet is high in artery-clogging saturated and trans-fat (See Note 6).

Mono-unsaturated Oils (Fats)
Examples	Olive oil (the traditional Mediterranean oil) and rapeseed oil (made in the UK).
Also	Found in olives, nuts and seeds, avocados.
Analysis	High in mono-unsaturated fat, low in saturated fat, high in calories (kcal). Also contain essential fatty acids and assist with vitamin absorption. Types of fat found in oils are normally listed on the back of the bottle. These oils are quite stable and don't degrade into toxic components when heated.
Benefits	Help protect against heart disease, some cancers (for example, breast) and assist in lowering blood pressure.
Risk in Excess	Mainly through risk of obesity due to high energy content.

Lean White Meat
Examples	Chicken, turkey and other poultry.
Also	Chicken fast food, turkey burgers, processed pies - generally high in animal fat and therefore not counting as lean white meat.
Analysis	Lean white meat without skin is high in protein, vitamins (including vitamin B12) and minerals, but with much less saturated animal fat than red meat.
Benefits	Contains essential nutrients.
Risk in Excess	Mainly from ingesting too much saturated fat.

Nuts and Seeds
Examples	Nuts: almonds, chestnuts, walnuts, cashew nuts, Brazil nuts. Seeds: pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, poppy.
Also	Found in muesli, seeds on breads, on cakes, etc.
Analysis	Protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals. Nuts are high in 'good' unsaturated fats.
Benefits	Help protect against heart disease, type 2 diabetes and reducing 'bad' blood cholesterol. Nuts possibly help body mechanisms control weight.
Risk in Excess	Are high in energy and therefore traditionally thought to be associated with weight gain in excess. Avoid salted nuts - high salt intake is associated with high blood pressure. People with nut allergy should avoid nuts.
A tip	Try having dried fruit, unsalted nuts or seeds as a snack in place of cream cakes, doughnuts or chocolate biscuits.

source : Patient.co.uk

Diet Mediterranean sekali lagi disahkan mempunyai manfaat untuk kesihatan jantung. Satu kajian baru yang dijalankan di Sepanyol mendapati diet yang kaya dengan minyak zaitun, kekacang, buah-buahan, ikan dan sayur-sayuran dapat mengurangkan risiko mendapat penyakit jantung atau kardiovaskular. Para penyelidik dari Universidad de Navarra membuat kajian ke atas 7,447 orang yang mempunyai risiko penyakit jantung untuk tempoh selama lebih kurang lima tahun.

Hasil kajian menunjukkan mereka yang mengambil diet Mediterranean menpunyai 30% pengurangan risiko mendapat serangan jantung, strok, atau kematian akibat penyakit kardiovaskular berbanding mereka yang mengambil diet rendah lemak. Mereka yang mengikuti diet Mediterraneam diarahkan mengambil sekurang-kurangnya 4 sudu makan minyak zaitun sehari, serta memakan segenggam (satu auns) walnut, badam dan kemiri (hazelnut). Mereka juga memakan sekurang-kurangnya tiga hidangan buah-buahan, dua hidangan sayur-sayuran sehari serta ikan sekurang-kurangnya 3 kali seminggu.

Mereka dinasihatkan jangan sekali-kali memakan roti dari kedai bakeri, pastri dan makanan manis. Mereka juga dinasihatkan agar menghadkan pengambilan produk tenusu dan daging diproses.

Sumber: AFP-Relaxnews.