The Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet is another diet that
can help you on the road to heart health.
The purpose of a diet is to give us the proper boost; giving
us the tools we need to begin living a healthy active lifestyle.
Each person is different, we all know our own needs, wants, and
cravings and deep down we all know our own strengths and weaknesses.
We should choose the diet or technique that helps us in our unique
way to achieve the goal we want to obtain.
This is to live a happy active lifestyle and avoiding heart
disease and other life threatening diseases.
Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet is a nutritional model inspired by the
traditional dietary patterns of the countries of the Mediterranean
basin, particularly Italy, Greece, and Spain.
It is based on what from the point of view of conventional, mainstream
nutrition is considered a paradox: that although the people living
in Mediterranean countries tend to consume relatively high amounts
of fat, they have far lower rates of cardiovascular disease than
in countries like the United States, where similar levels of fat
consumption are found.
These common patterns found in the Mediterranean diet are
- Fruits and vegetables- daily
- Bread, pasta, rice couscous usually whole grain - daily
- Beans, peas, lentil, nuts and seeds - regularly
- Fish and seafood - regularly
- Olive oil and other un- hydrogenated vegetable oils -
regularly
- Meat and poultry only several times per month
- Alcohol- especially red wine daily
- Moderate physical activity
Based on the basic diet pattern it seems obvious why they have
lower rates of heart disease.
Fruits and vegetables - are high in fiber and other vitamins
and nutrients
Whole grains- have a lower glycomic index and are higher
in fiber
Nuts- have mono unsaturated fats and are considered by
the FDA as one of the foods that can reduce the risk of heart disease
Fish which is a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids, and
is also considered by the FDA as on of the foods that can reduce
heart disease
Olive oil which lower LDL cholesterol levels in the blood,
and increases the HDL cholesterol level in the blood
Alcohol the consumption of red wine is also thought to
be a factor; because it contains bioflavonoids with powerful antioxidant
properties (this effect of the red wine is also called the French
paradox, due to France's high red wine consumption).
Moderate physical activity, exercise and living an active
lifestyle increases HDL and reduces the risks for heart disease.
Here you can find some more information regarding the Mediterranean
diet
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Heart
