Adopt the Medterranean Diet for Health and Well Being

What is the Mediterranean diet?

The Mediterranean diet is a modern nutritional recommendation which incorporates the basics of healthy eating and was inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea; Spain, southern Italy, Crete, and coastal Greece in the 1960s.

What are the benefits of the Mediterranean diet?

The Mediterranean diet has been proven to reduce your risk of heart disease. A 2007 study conducted in the United States found that both men and women who followed a Mediterranean diet lowered their risk of death from both cancer and heart disease. The Mediterranean Diet is more than just a diet. It is a lifelong living style and includes getting plenty of exercise and enjoying your meals with family and friends.

Key components of the Mediterranean diet include:

• Eating lots of fruits and vegetables along with legumes and whole grains.
• Use butter sparingly and consume only healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil.
• Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods.
• Eating small portions of nuts, no more than a small handful daily.
• Drinking red wine, in moderation.
• Consuming very little red meat.
• Eat fish or shellfish twice a week.

What are the main components of a Mediterranean diet?

The principal aspects of this diet include high consumption of legumes, unrefined cereals (whole grains), fruits, vegetables, and olive oil, moderate consumption of dairy products (mostly as cheese and yogurt) and wine, moderate to high consumption of fish, and low consumption of meat and meat products.

The Mediterranean diet is traditionally made up mainly of fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and some fish. For example, residents of Greece eat very little red meat and average nine servings a day of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables. Bread is an important part of the Mediterranean diet, however, it is eaten without butter or margarines, which contain saturated or trans fats. Due to the low consumption of red meat, the Mediterranean diet has been associated with a lower level of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol — the "bad" cholesterol that's more likely to build up deposits in your arteries.

Choosing healthy oils and fats

• The Mediterranean diet uses olive oil as the primary source of fat, rather than animal or dairy fats. Olive oil provides the most healthy type of fat, monounsaturated fat, a type of fat that can help reduce LDL cholesterol levels when used in place of saturated or trans fats. "Extra-virgin" and "virgin" olive oils are the least processed forms, meaning they contain the highest levels of the protective plant compounds that provide antioxidant effects.
• Polyunsaturated fats, which contain the beneficial linolenic acid (a type of omega-3 fatty acid) are the second best source of fat in your diet. These fat sources include canola oil and nuts, particularly walnuts. Nuts are high in fat and calories (approximately 80 percent of their calories come from fat), but tree nuts, including walnuts, pecans, almonds and hazel nuts, are low in saturated fat. For the best nutrition, avoid honey-roasted or heavily salted nuts.
• Fish, which provides the best source of omega-3 fatty acids is eaten on a regular basis in the Mediterranean diet. Omega-3 fatty acids lower triglycerides and improve the health of your blood vessels. The Mediterranean diet discourages using any saturated fats and hydrogenated oils (trans-fatty acids), both of which contribute to heart disease.

How does wine fit in?

The Mediterranean diet typically includes red wine consumed in moderation. Light intake of alcohol has been associated with a reduced risk of heart disease in some research studies. Research indicates that moderate red wine consumption may help protect against certain cancers and heart disease and can have a positive effect on cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Red wine has an aspirin-like effect, reducing the blood's ability to clot, and also contains antioxidants. One of the most studied antioxidants in red wines is resveratrol, a compound found in the seeds and skins of grapes. Red wine has a high concentration of resveratrol because the skins and seeds ferment in the grapes' juices during the red wine-making process. In the case of alcohol, when a little bit is good, more is not better. The recommended daily intake for women is one 5 ounce glass and for men is one to two 5 ounce glasses.


Can I easily adopt a Mediterranean diet?
The good news is that adopting a Mediterranean style diet is easy if you're a smart shopper. Simply choose plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, limit your intake of red meat, and eat fish or seafood twice a week. Do, however avoid fried and processed fish products. Use healthy fats, such as olive oil and canola oil, when cooking — but only in moderation because of their high calorie content. Consider nuts as a healthy snack or an addition to a salad once a day. Finally, reduce or eliminate saturated fat and trans fats (also known as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils) from your diet. Here is a list of some specific steps you can take:

• Eat natural peanut butter or make sure your peanut butter is trans-fat free.
• Eat foods in the most natural state possible. If you must eat processed foods educate yourself by reading labels. "Low fat" or "cholesterol-free" on the label doesn't mean a product is necessarily good for you as many of these items may still contain trans fats.
• Eat a variety of whole fruits and vegetables every day. Ultimately, strive for seven to 10 servings a day and remember the brighter or darker the color, the healthier it is. Keep carrot sticks, nuts, apples, dried fruit and bananas on hand for quick, satisfying snacks. Fruit salads or fruit smoothies for breakfast are a wonderful way to eat a variety of tasty, healthy fruit.
• Use canola or olive oil in cooking. Use olive oil for salad dressing and as a healthy replacement for butter or margarine. Dip bread in flavored olive oil or lightly spread it on whole-grain bread for a tasty alternative to butter.
• Season your food with herbs and spices rather than salt or use a salt substitute like Mrs. Dash.
• Substitute fish and poultry for red meat. Avoid sausage, bacon and other high-fat meats. Eat fish twice a week. Water-packed tuna, salmon, trout, mackerel and herring are healthy choices. Broiled, baked and grilled are the best cooking methods for fish. Avoid fried fish, unless it's sauteed in a small amount of olive oil.
• Limit high fat dairy products such as whole or 2 percent milk, cheese and ice cream. Switch to skim milk or soy milk and fat-free yogurt .
• Keep walnuts, almonds, pecans and cashews on hand for quick snacks and energy.
• Drink a glass of red wine with your meals several times a week. If you don’t drink wine, drinking purple grape juice may be a healthy alternative to wine.
• And, of course, eliminate or limit all processed foods especially those high in High fructose Corn Syrup or other forms of processed sugar.

There are many sources of Mediterranean diet recipes including cookbooks, pamphlets, and online recipes. Start out by trying one new recipe a week until you build up a repritoire of dishes you enjoy eating and preparing. The benefits of a Mediterranean diet over the traditional S.A.D. diet are more energy, great health, and an active lifestyle so, eat up!

Water is essential to good health

Healthy eating for optimal health and well being is important but drinking enough water every day is absolutely essential to good health. Adopt the habit of drinking eight 8oz. glasses of water a day and instantly improve your overall health and well-being.

Why is water important?

Water is one of the principal chemical components of your body and makes up about 60 percent of your body weight. Every system of your body depends on water. Water flushes toxins out of vital organs, carries nutrients to your cells making it possible for every organ to do its job, and provides a moist environment for ear, nose and throat tissues. Water also helps convert food into energy, protects and cushions vital organs and joints, keeps the liver and kidneys functioning properly, helps to metabolize fats, removes and detoxifies waste from our system, and is the basis for all our fluid secretions. To have optimal health in your body, you must have just the right amount of fluid inside and outside each cell, a situation called fluid balance. Maintaining your fluid balance is essential to life. If too little water is inside a cell, it shrivels and dies and if there’s too much water, the cell bursts. Nothing is more important to your overall health on an ongoing basis than the proper amount of daily fluid intake.


You may be mildly dehydrated and not even know it!

According to the Nationwide Food Consumption surveys conducted in conjunction with the American Dietetic Association, a large portion of the American population has chronic mild dehydration without even knowing it! Dehydration is a condition that occurs when you don't have enough water in your body to carry out normal functions. Every day you lose water through your breath, perspiration, urine and bowel movements. For your body to function properly, you must replenish this water supply by consuming beverages and foods that contain water. Without replenishing your water reserves in a timely manner, your body quickly dips into a state of dehydration characterized by dizziness, headaches, fatigue, the sensation of extreme hunger, and fuzzy short-term memory. Even mild dehydration can drain your energy and make you tired.


Why should I drink pure clean water rather than other beverages?

Too often, in our modern society, to quench our thirst we turn to caffeine and sugar-laden soft drinks which only compound the problem of dehydration. It is true that beverages such as tea, coffee, wine, beer, soft drinks, sports drinks and juices contain water, but they also contain caffeine, alcohol, sugar, artificial sweeteners or other chemicals that act as strong dehydrators. The more of these beverages you consume, the more dehydrated your body becomes because the effects they create in the body are exactly opposite the ones that are produced by water. Beverages containing caffeine, for example, trigger stress responses that at first have strong diuretic effects, leading to increased urination. Beverages with added sugar drastically raise blood sugar levels. When beverages provoke such a response they trick the body into giving up large quantities of water. Regular consumption of such beverages results in chronic dehydration, which plays a part in every toxicity crisis (the body's effort to rid itself of accumulated toxins).


Chronic dehydration may lead to a “toxicity crisis” and disease.


If you have lived for many years without proper water intake, you are likely to succumb to the buildup of toxins in your body. Chronic disease is not only accompanied by dehydration but is, in many cases, caused by it. The longer a person lives on a low water diet and/or on a diet high in stimulating beverages or foods, the more severe and long-lasting will be the toxicity crisis. Heart disease, obesity, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, stomach ulcers, hypertension, cancer, MS, Alzheimer's, and many other chronic forms of disease are preceded by years of "body drought." Infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses cannot thrive in a well-hydrated body. Drinking enough water is, therefore, one of the most important disease-prevention measures you can take for optimal health and well being.

How much water should I drink each day?

Exactly how much water depends on how old you are and how much muscle and fat you have. Muscle tissue has more water than fat tissue. Because the average male body has proportionately more muscle than the average female body, it also has more water, and men need to drink more water. The Institute of Medicine advises that men consume roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day and women consume 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day.


Your diet will also determine how much water you need to drink. If you eat a healthy diet consisting of many servings of fruits and vegetables, you can cut back your water consumption a little because you will get 20% of your liquids from the fruits and vegetables in your diet but if you eat a diet high in protein you will require extra water to flush out the extra waste products created by an overabundance of protein.


Drinking enough water is a healthy habit.

If you are not in the habit of drinking at least eight 8oz. glasses of water a day, starting this habit and sticking to it is the most important thing you can do for your overall health and well being. Establishing a schedule of proper water consumption throughout the day is a dire necessity. Drinking all your water at once will not do you any good. The easiest way to establish a schedule is to drink one 8oz. glass of water every hour throughout the day. If you have a timer on your watch you can set to go off every hour to remind you, this will work well until a good habit is established. Another thing you should do is buy a stainless steel water bottle to carry with you at all times. Since I have started drinking the proper amount of water every day I have noticed I have more energy, get sick less often and my skin is healthier. Do yourself a favor and adopt this one habit for your long-term health and well being!