Mediterranean diet's benefits confirmed

The Mediterranean diet, which has been famous for years now, about 2,000 to be exact, is really a collection of the traditional cuisines of the 20 or so countries that border the Mediterranean Sea. Salt is a critical part of the Mediterranean diet, which has a proven record of health benefits, including reducing heart disease, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia, and obesity.

Olive oil is the ingredient that most people associate with the Mediterranean diet. No other natural oil is as healthy for you as olive oil, but olive oil by itself is bland tasting and is almost always accompanied with a few shakes of salt, especially on salads and vegetables.

Whole olives, another important ingredient in the Mediterranean diet, are soaked in brine for weeks before they can be ready to eat. Codfish, anchovies, and capers are all packed in salt for preservation. Feta cheese is made with salt and then stored in it.

Other exotic sounding dishes that are a regular part of the Mediterranean diet are Greek taramosalata which is made from salted codfish roe; tzatziki - made from salted cucumbers that are added to yogurt; baba ghanoush - made from egg plant, tahini, olive oil and, you guessed it, salt. All these Mediterranean dishes have been a staple in the diets of the people who live in the Mediterranean area for centuries if not thousands of years. Why is it then that the people who live along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea have the lowest incidence of cardiovascular disease?

A study, called the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, confirmed what everybody already seemed to know, that the salt rich Mediterranean diet was healthier over all than the typical American diet and was effective in reducing blood pressure.

Of course, you want to follow your doctor's advice especially if you have been advised to reduce your intake of salt. What you do not want to do is unnecessarily be discouraged from trying the Mediterranean diet, not only because it has proven to be more healthy for you than the average American diet, but because the typical cuisine tastes so darn good.

I would like to introduce to a new ebook written by a Registered Dietitian that tells you all the reasons why a Mediterranean diet is the best thing you can do for your heart, and gives all the recipes you need to prepare these delicious dishes.

The Mediterranean diet has long been touted as healthy. Now a study released Monday of the effects of a diet rich in olive oil, nuts, vegetables, fruits and fish confirms that.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that the diet can reduce the risk of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases by 30 percent.

Such a diet may seem like common sense, but researchers say the findings are significant because of the study's size and scientific rigor. It followed more than 7,400 people at risk of heart disease for nearly five years and measured the effects of the Mediterranean diet against a group that was assigned a low-fat diet.
"This study backs up what we thought we knew with science, and the results were pretty dramatic," said Dr. Rita Redberg, a UCSF cardiologist specializing in heart disease in women. "If this were a pill, people would be clamoring for it."
Redberg, who was not involved with the study, said one of the diet's main benefits is that it's not only heart-healthy, but it also promotes a way of eating that people can follow for a lifetime rather than just a few months. "This is a diet that's pretty doable, particularly for people living in Northern California, where we certainly have access to plenty of fruits and vegetables and grains," she said.

Easy to follow
Dr. Cesar Molina, co-founder of the South Asian Heart Center at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, said the study promotes a diet that people can easily follow.
"You just have two fists of cooked vegetables per day; one fist - or the size of a tennis ball - serving of fruit each day," he said. He advised people to make olive oil their primary choice of dietary oil and have about 12 nuts daily - preferably walnuts, because they are a source of the healthful omega-3 fatty acid.
The study noted that some authors had financial ties to food, wine and other industry groups, and foods were supplied by olive oil and nut producers in Spain, as well as the California Walnut Commission.
Dennis Balint, chief executive officer of the California Walnut Commission, said walnut growers represented by his group provided a daily half-ounce of walnuts to the group that supplemented the Mediterranean diet with nuts.
Balint said he was surprised by the magnitude of the study's results, but not that the diet with nuts proved healthful. "Every nut has its strong suit. Our strong suit is the fact that walnuts have plant-based omega-3," he said.



https://www.shed-weight.info/2013/02/26/mediterranean-diets-benefits-confirmed/
#Weightloss
Weight Loss Plans