How Does the Mediterranean Diet Promise So Much and Get Away With It?
You keep hearing all these great things about the Mediterranean diet - it's supposed to help with everything for an obesity problem to Alzheimer's.
It's enough to make you want to dismiss the whole thing as over-grandiose hype.
Except that there something about it all that rings true.
Let's go a little deeper into what exactly the Mediterranean diet is all about.
To begin with, Mediterranean diet is a legitimate concept - even the American Heart Association has something to say about it.
It's not a single kind of cuisine though.
There are 16 countries around the Mediterranean Sea that have some form of the diet.
You could take your pick of any of them.
If you believe the British Medical Journal (and why wouldn't you, most doctors do), it can be a great way to lose weight.
If you can live without heavily-processed factory-made food, if you can live without too much alcohol, and if you love shellfish and other seafood (which means, that if you are allergic to anything from the sea, this may not be for you) taking a closer look at the Mediterranean diet may be a one of the best things you ever did.
The Mediterranean diet by definition, is almost completely seafood, vegetables and fruits, olive oil and nuts.
Of course, almost every other kind of food does put in an appearance - red meat sometimes, poultry at others, even protein-rich grains.
What is it about this diet that really gets your heart beating healthily again? It's the fact that this diet has almost no trans fats or saturated fats.
It's the diet of the Italians and the Greek.
You begin to get a sense of why those Greek statues have their men looking so chiseled.
So should you quickly get on board with the Mediterranean diet if the American Heart Association puts its seal of approval on it? You should, of course, right after you consult with your doctor.
You do need to change the diet that is for any special requirements you may have.
How long will it be then before you experience some of the massive gains in health you'll make? The gains really are truly staggering - you get an 80% improvement in your chances of never getting diabetes, your children will have vastly improved chances of never getting asthma or any kind of allergy, and of course, older people will have 70% less risk of getting dementia or Alzheimer's.
Those improvements in outlook take time though.
These aren't drugs that help cure something right off the bat.
It takes a lifetime of healthy eating and of healthy habits.
But come, those benefits will.
It's enough to make you want to dismiss the whole thing as over-grandiose hype.
Except that there something about it all that rings true.
Let's go a little deeper into what exactly the Mediterranean diet is all about.
To begin with, Mediterranean diet is a legitimate concept - even the American Heart Association has something to say about it.
It's not a single kind of cuisine though.
There are 16 countries around the Mediterranean Sea that have some form of the diet.
You could take your pick of any of them.
If you believe the British Medical Journal (and why wouldn't you, most doctors do), it can be a great way to lose weight.
If you can live without heavily-processed factory-made food, if you can live without too much alcohol, and if you love shellfish and other seafood (which means, that if you are allergic to anything from the sea, this may not be for you) taking a closer look at the Mediterranean diet may be a one of the best things you ever did.
The Mediterranean diet by definition, is almost completely seafood, vegetables and fruits, olive oil and nuts.
Of course, almost every other kind of food does put in an appearance - red meat sometimes, poultry at others, even protein-rich grains.
What is it about this diet that really gets your heart beating healthily again? It's the fact that this diet has almost no trans fats or saturated fats.
It's the diet of the Italians and the Greek.
You begin to get a sense of why those Greek statues have their men looking so chiseled.
So should you quickly get on board with the Mediterranean diet if the American Heart Association puts its seal of approval on it? You should, of course, right after you consult with your doctor.
You do need to change the diet that is for any special requirements you may have.
How long will it be then before you experience some of the massive gains in health you'll make? The gains really are truly staggering - you get an 80% improvement in your chances of never getting diabetes, your children will have vastly improved chances of never getting asthma or any kind of allergy, and of course, older people will have 70% less risk of getting dementia or Alzheimer's.
Those improvements in outlook take time though.
These aren't drugs that help cure something right off the bat.
It takes a lifetime of healthy eating and of healthy habits.
But come, those benefits will.