The Mediterranean diet is a type of diet that follows eating habits of people from the countries round the Mediterranean Sea: Spain, Greece and Italy. That is why in this diet appear foods that people in those country usually eat. Therefore the main products of the diet which are more often used are: legumes, the famous olive oil, cereals that aren`t refined, vegetables, some of the dairy products emhasizing on yougrt and cheese, it is included the fish with a balanced consumption, small quantities of meat and products that are made from meat, it is also allowed a moderate consumption of wine.
What you should intensify when you are following the Mediterranean Diet:
- you should exercise a lot
- the most important food eaten should aim on fruits, whole grains, nuts and vegetables including legumes
- butter should be replaced with olive oil and canola oit because these two oils contain more healthy fats than butter or margarine
- when you condiment your food you should emphasize more the use of herbs which should take the place of the salt
- red meat should be eaten only a couple of times per month
- the use of fish and poultry should be minimum two times per week
- as an optional element in this diet is moderate drinking of red wine
The accent in this diet is not put on the intake of the fats by limiting it. The fact is that you should make wise decisions when you choose what type of meal you are having. There are the saturated fats (that appear in the butter or the margarine) and there are unsaturated fats (monounsaturated fats and the polyunsaturated fats that appear in canola oil or in some of the nuts). The wise choice is to avoid the saturated fats and use the unsaturated fats instead as this has advantages that improve the health of the blood vessels, diminish the sudden heart attack and help the blood pressure to become moderate.