There is such a diet – Mediterranean. It got its name because it is, in fact, a common diet of people living in the Mediterranean region. These are residents of countries located along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea such as Italy, Greece, France, Spain and so on. As surprising as it may be, scientists have constantly noticed that even residents of not very rich areas of this region have a fairly high life expectancy. What could this be connected with, they asked themselves. Nutritionists associate this curious fact with the diet that is present in the lives of residents of the Mediterranean coast. The products that they usually consume have a beneficial effect on the human body, which prolongs its life.
It has been noted more than once that the population living in Mediterranean regions and adhering to traditional local cuisine is least susceptible to cardiovascular diseases. Let’s try to figure out together what has such a dramatic effect on mortality from this terrible disease and adopt the nutritional principles used by the inhabitants of this region.
There is another remarkable property of the Mediterranean diet – it helps to normalize weight. That is, it is not aimed at losing weight, but it helps to do so very well. It should be noted that this is not a very strict diet and it includes a fairly large number of various products, which allows you to cook dishes for almost any taste.
But you should understand the word “diet” correctly in the context of this material. First of all, this is not some temporary phenomenon, not a period of life during which a person suffers and suffers in order to achieve some goal. This is, first of all, the lifestyle itself and the culture of nutrition, which will not give fabulous results in the short term, but will gradually tune your body in the right way and allow you to feel more comfortable in the near future. And in the long term, it will significantly reduce the likelihood of complex diseases in the future.
There are no contraindications to the Mediterranean diet, as it does not include any specific products, but at the same time, the products that are included in it have a large set of useful vitamins and microelements that are so necessary for our body to function long and smoothly.
The principles of the Mediterranean diet are quite simple
At the first meal, immediately after waking up, that is, for breakfast, you should give preference to carbohydrate products such as cereals and pasta. This will help replenish your body with energy that was spent during rest and will nourish you throughout the day. You can even allow yourself tasty flour products. They will not remain on your hips and stomach in the form of surplus. But you need to know the measure in everything and the fact that you consume carbohydrates only in the morning does not mean that you can overeat them so much that you will not want to eat for the rest of the day.
At lunch, your table should mainly contain protein and vegetable products. Protein is a building material for our body and lunch is the best time to replenish its reserves. Vegetables contribute to good breakdown and absorption of protein, as well as normal bowel function. They are a rich source of vitamins and minerals.
For dinner, you should choose low-calorie dishes containing less carbohydrates and fats. These can be various salads combined with protein dishes – fish, meat, cheese and other dairy products. But remember about the percentage of fat!
Between meals, you can allow yourself occasional snacks of fruit or low-calorie yogurt. Sweets and cookies have no place here – this is part of the morning diet and in very limited quantities. But in the morning, all this should be present in fairly moderate quantities.
It is allowed to eat those foods that do not contain sugar, preservatives, or animal fats. It is very important to learn to avoid snacking at fast foods, as well as semi-finished products. You should simply cross this type of diet out of your diet forever! The way you eat food itself should be thorough.
Thorough not in the sense that you need to eat for future use, but in the sense that you need to eat as is customary – at the table and in a calm, unhurried atmosphere, chewing food thoroughly, but in no case on the run! All this is very important for the high-quality absorption of food and the timely emergence of a feeling of satiety. The faster we eat, the more we want to stuff into ourselves before the feeling of satiety. In fact, the body needs much less than our stomach thinks.
With the Mediterranean diet, you should avoid eating animal fats, starches, fatty dairy products. Vegetable fats such as olive oil are very well accepted by the body, as well as fish oil, present in many varieties of sea fish. Fish and other seafood are generally the basis of the diet of any coastal areas, including the Mediterranean, but you need to remember that fish should not be combined with flour dishes, fatty side dishes and eggs.
Also, the Mediterranean diet is full of fermented milk products, but if possible with a low fat content – yogurts, feta cheese, low-fat cheeses.
A large amount of vegetables is a must for the Mediterranean diet. You can eat vegetables in any form and in almost any quantity, as they do not carry any special caloric value, but they contain a large amount of fiber and vitamins. The exception is potatoes.
I hope that all of the above will help you figure it out and understand a little better what the Mediterranean diet is.
