To keep our patients and team members safe, no visitors, with few exceptions, will be allowed until further notice. By Kristen H. Reynolds, MD, January 01, The Mediterranean diet is based on traditional ways of eating for people who live around the Mediterranean Sea. Adopting Mediterranean eating habits is a great way for just about anyone to enjoy fresh, delicious food while staying healthy or getting healthier. The key to eating Mediterranean is consuming plant-based foods at every meal. Foods that are less healthful, like sweets, are eaten as treats or in small amounts once a week or less. Red meat is eaten rarely, usually once weekly, and grass-fed meats are preferred. Check out this Mediterranean diet food pyramid for a visual representation of the various food groups and how much you should eat from them.
The Mediterranean diet is a mostly plant-based diet, says Elena Paravantes-Hargitt, a registered dietitian and nutritionist who specializes in the Mediterranean diet and the founder of OliveTomato. Paravantes-Hargitt lives in Greece. For a handy visual look at the Mediterranean diet of today, Paravantes-Hargitt recommends checking out Oldways, an organization, along with Harvard School of Public Health and the World Health Organization, that created the Mediterranean diet pyramid 25 years ago. The groups recommend eating fish and seafood twice a week and moderate amounts of dairy, eggs, and poultry. Red meat and sweets are consumed just sometimes. One study and meta-analysis published in October in the British Journal of Nutrition found that every point increase in Mediterranean diet score — meaning how well one follows the eating style on a scale of 1 to 9 — was associated with a 5 percent lower risk of death from any cause. Yes, this eating approach is something that can help stabilize your weight — without making you feel deprived. A standard American diet is rich in foods that are high in saturated fat, added sugar, and salt. As for risks, dietitians often recommend a Mediterranean-style diet to those managing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. The good news is that because this is a style of eating versus a set of rigid rules, you can fully customize this approach to suit your likes and dislikes.
Says, like, the majority of health advice revolving around weight loss. And we completely agree with that sentiment. So, you’re probably thinking “Ok, great, so I have to ‘change my way of life’ to get fit,” but how exactly are you going to do that? One idea floated around by experts is by focusing on your eating pattern. In the introduction, the authors define an eating pattern as, “more than the sum of its parts; it represents the totality of what individuals habitually eat and drink, and these dietary components act synergistically in relation to health. It may only impact your life when you make a habit of eating a sleeve of Oreos every night. The USDA goes on to recommend a specific pattern of eating you may have heard of: the Mediterranean diet. Diet being defined as the kinds of foods you eat, not the 2-week plan you go on to shed weight before your niece’s wedding. Specifically, it’s an eating pattern that prioritizes fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish, legumes and whole grains, is low in red meat, and free of processed foods and added sugars.