By David Blyweiss, M.D., Advanced Natural Wellness

May 28, 2012

• The healthiest traditional diet, with a few modern twists
• Eat what’s in season where you are, not in the Mediterranean
• Why you should also adopt a Mediterranean lifestyle, along with the diet

Of all the diets out there, the Mediterranean Diet is the one I think is the most beneficial to your health. And the one with the most research and proof backing up the claims you hear about all the time.

Studies have shown that this diet can counter obesity and diabetes, improve heart health, and even protect you against some forms of cancer. Since these are the top health challenges facing America today, it’s no wonder you might be hearing more and more about this approach to both eating – and living.

However, like many traditional customs, the Mediterranean Diet needs a little modification to be the best choice you can make for today. Here’s what I suggest…

Unlike many other named diets, this one isn’t a fad and it wasn’t named for or by a health guru. Rather it describes a traditional way of eating and living that’s been practiced for generations by people along the Mediterranean basin. Spain, Italy, Malta, Greece, France and Cyprus and even parts of the Middle East, have all contributed to the formation of this dietary pattern.

While it varies a little from country to country, the Mediterranean Diet is generally known for including:

• A wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables as the mainstay of every meal
• Unrefined, unprocessed ancient whole grains for bread and pasta
• Reliance on olive oil for cooking and marinating
• Protein largely from fish, and to a smaller degree, from lamb, goats and chickens
• Wine in moderation, with meals

A study published in 1970, now known as “The Seven Countries Study,” clearly articulated the benefits of the diet – and the health consequences of not following it.

Of the seven nations studied – including the U.S. – those having the highest animal product consumption, the highest saturated fat intake, and the highest cholesterol consumption also had the highest percentage of death by cardiovascular disease. Those following the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle had the exact opposite results.

That said, there are a few changes I would recommend:

Grains and pasta: We simply don’t have access any longer to the type of wheat originally found in this diet. Wheat has changed. How we process it has changed. And its effect on our bodies is now toxic. I recommend substituting with brown rice or quinoa pasta, and opting for heartier breads made from grains other than wheat.

Meat and Fish: How the fish and meat you include in your diet is cultivated matters. Organic, grass-fed, and wild caught are the all-important phrases to look for on labels. Also, eating a lot of fish means increasing your exposure to mercury. Unfortunately, animal husbandry practices and environmental pollution levels have changed, which means even the healthiest diet must be followed with an eye to avoiding these man-made dangers.

Dairy: While yogurt, cheese and milk are all part of the Mediterranean diet, I still advocate leaving them off your plate. Or sticking with dairy made from goat’s milk rather than cow’s milk – which is closer to the traditional practice anyway. Nut milks, such as almond, are a healthy replacement. And coconut milk yogurt for sauces and spreads that require it is another modification I would suggest.

Unrefined and Unprocessed: I’ve noticed that many people who are trying to follow the Mediterranean Diet are still choosing foods that are processed and refined. Pasta and breads with refined flour. Using sweeteners with refined sugars. Choosing meats with nitrates. Keep in mind that the preparation methods are just as important as the ingredients themselves in this diet.

Mediterranean in Spirit, Local in Reality: Focus on eating vegetables that are local to you, and in season… rather than on what grows in the Mediterranean.

Did you know that, on average, your fruits and vegetables have traveled 1500 miles from where they were picked to where you bought them? Transporting foods such a long way makes it more expensive and less healthy for you. But the taste is what will convince you to commit to buying more locally grown food in the end. Fruits and veggies that can ripen on the vine rather than in a truck along the way simply taste better.

Lifestyle plays an important role in the cultures that observed the Mediterranean Diet… perhaps just as much as food choices. My final recommendation is that you adopt some of the hallmark approaches to living present in the cultures of this area of the world as well…

I’ve recommended that you get daily exercise, especially walking and strolling outdoors. In our culture, this often means driving a bunch of miles to walk on a stationary treadmill in the gym while watching a bank of TV’s.

However, to this day, entire towns along the Mediterranean turn out in the piazza or town square for an evening constitutional. Adults stroll and talk, while kids run around and play games.

Social interactions over meals are also more common. It is not unusual for a Sunday midday meal to take a few hours!

This combination of daily physical exercise with slower and more social mealtimes is an important element of this approach to life. It can lower your stress, improve your digestion, and add to your overall quality of life.

You can eat all the right things – but never exercise and gobble down your food – and you probably won’t get the full benefit of the Mediterranean Diet.

But when you combine all of the wisdom of the cultures that developed this approach to life, with modifications that account for today’s food supply… you have a recipe for a very healthy, happy, pleasurable life.

References:

Keys A (Ed). Coronary heart disease in seven countries. Circulation. 1970 Apr;41(4 Suppl):I 1-200.

Knoops KT, et.al., Mediterranean diet, lifestyle factors, and 10-year mortality in elderly European men and women: the HALE project. JAMA. 2004 Sep 22;292(12):1433-9.

Christina-Maria Kastorini, et.al., The Effect of Mediterranean Diet on Metabolic Syndrome and its Components, J Am Coll Cardiol, 2011; 57:1299-1313