NUTRITION WATCH

ADVERTISEMENT

The World's Healthiest Diet?

page 1 | 2 | Next Page »



Pictured Recipe: Shrimp Saganaki

2 Quick Mediterranean Snacks
9 Staples of the Mediterranean Diet

New research shows that eating like a Mediterranean is good for your waist as well as your heart.

By Rachel Johnson, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., for EatingWell September/October 2008

Healthy Mediterranean Recipes | Related Articles

A few years ago I was invited to lecture in Italy. My husband, Mark, always ready for an adventure, tagged along. After my work was done, we visited the Cinque Terre, five tiny villages perched high upon rugged hills overlooking the Mediterranean. We hiked the scenic trail into the coastal town of Riomaggiore. Weary from our walk we settled into a small café for a 2½-hour lunch: a small plate of pasta with pesto, fresh fish drizzled with olive oil and a platter of grilled artichokes and peppers, along with a carafe of the house red. With plenty of exercise, delicious food in reasonable portions and a relaxed pace, I experienced the Mediterranean lifestyle in its home base—and felt wonderful.

This year marks the 15th anniversary since the Mediterranean Diet was officially recognized by Oldways, a nonprofit food-issues think tank in Boston, as one of the world’s healthiest. Based on the age-old dietary traditions of Crete, Greece and southern Italy, this “diet,” or eating pattern, is abundant in fruits, vegetables and olive oil, sparing with meat and anointed daily with red wine.

Now new studies are supporting this way of eating. In July, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study that showed that following a Mediterranean-style, reduced-calorie diet was just as effective as a low-carbohydrate diet. The study tracked 322 Israelis over a two-year period and found the Mediterranean eating pattern helped people lose more weight than a conventional low-fat diet and helped people with diabetes better control their blood glucose levels.

Another recent study by Spanish researchers reports that people who adhered most closely to Mediterranean Diet principles reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by as much as 83 percent, compared with those who didn’t. We also know the diet reduces inflammation, a risk factor for heart­attack and stroke, and may even ward off depression and lower the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

But while studies continue to support this eating pattern, the traditional lifestyle on the shores of the Mediterranean is regrettably losing ground. Inactivity is increasing and obesity is on the rise. Longer work hours leave less time to shop and cook, while a shift toward more sedentary lifestyles means more sitting in front of the computer screen than working in the fields. Recognizing this, here are four tenets of the Mediterranean Diet for people with 21st-century lives.

page 1 | 2 | Next Page »

Healthy Mediterranean Recipes:

Mediterranean Portobello Burger
Tuscan-style Tuna Salad
Mediterranean Baked Penne
Greek Dinner Salad
More Healthy Mediterranean Recipes

Related Articles:

Eating Like a Mediterranean
Guide to Eating the Mediterranean Way
Healthy Mediterranean Recipes
Heart Healthy Diet Articles and Tips
Heart Healthy Diet Recipes

Stay current with the latest issue of EatingWell. Subscribe Risk-Free Now!

More EatingWell Resources:

Advanced Healthy Recipes Search
Today's Featured Recipes
100 + Healthy Recipes Collections
EatingWell Homepage: News, Recipes, Health
EatingWell's BEST Menu Ideas