Mediterranean Diet

Medical professionals have been intrigued that people in the Mediterranean region eat about as much total fat as Americans but have a much lower incidence of heart disease. Dietary factors have been and are being studied with generally positive results.

Overview

The keys to this diet are simple: plenty of pasta, bread, grains olive oil, fruits and vegetables; moderate use of red wine, fish, poultry and dairy products; not much red meat.

While clinical tests, particularly with heart and lung patients, have been highly positive, there is widespread demand for more studies and more rigorous studies, particularly by diet practitioners whose favorite ox has been gored.

Now it is true the most promenent study (the Lyon Study) was incomplete when it was halted. The reason it was halted was the ethics commitee felt the early results demanded bringing the control group in on the deal.

The American Heart Association says the Mediterranean diet is too high in fat. Atkins and Paleo say it's unconsionably high in carbs, Zoners say it's close but wrong carbs and no tables and calculators. Vegetarians say it's cruel to shrimp and Puritans say it tastes too good so it must be immoral. I say it's maybe a little shy on the red wine but otherwise just fine.

I (and some others) suspect a major keys to the healthfulness of this diet is monounsaturated fats (olive oil) displacing trans fats, polyunsaturated fats and saturated fats. Also low sugar - see our Low Fat Diet page.

Suggestion: get a couple good Greek, Italian and Turkish cookbooks and learn to use them. Resist cherry picking the more American style recipes (stick to the plan in the first paragraph above).

Disclaimer: noting that I have no medical or dietary credentials whatever, I do endorse this diet as providing excellent, flavorful and economical meals that many experts consider to be rather healthy, but offer no medical advice whatever.

Mediterranean Diet

Overview

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