Mediterranean Diet
The traditional way of eating in the southern Mediterranean has recently been shown to contribute to a longer, healthier life - and following the Greek, Spanish and Italian models can help weight loss, too.
What you can eat
The Mediterranean diet is rich in fruit, vegetables and fibre; it contains plenty of starchy foods, usually whole grain varieties; it is high in good’ monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, and low in saturated fat; sugary, processed foods and snacks are eaten very rarely. No wonder it ticks so many boxes as a nutritionist’s ideal diet!
Basing a weight-loss diet on Mediterranean principles makes a lot of sense because it is appetizing and filling, as it features many foods that are low in energy density such as lean meat, poultry, fish and seafood; pasta, rice, couscous and potatoes; pulses such as beans and lentils; and fruit and vegetables.
Dairy products are usually eaten as cheese or yogurt rather than milk - and it is easy to shop for low-fat versions of these. Nuts and seeds also feature in the Mediterranean diet, and the main source of fat is olive oil, which is used for cooking as well as dressing foods.
The purest form of Mediterranean diet is found in Crete, but, ironically, obesity is becoming a public health problem in Greece even more rapidly than in the UK. Today, it seems that nowhere in Europe is immune from the influence of the motorcar, computer games, convenience food and supermarket snacks.
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