Crack The Fat Loss Code Ebook

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Is The Mediterranean Diet Healthy

By Ron George

The Mediterranean diet is a diet based on consuming the foods individuals who live in the Mediterranean basin eat. The Mediterranean basin includes portions of Italy, France, and even the Sahara Desert a generally mild winters with long, hot summers.

The most known form of the Mediterranean diet was created in the mid-1990s by a Harvard health professor named Walter Willett. The diet calls for regular physical activity, along with abundant plant food, fresh fruit as a dessert, olive oil, dairy products, fish and poultry, up to four eggs each week, red meat in small amounts, and wine.

The fat in this diet is controlled, only up to 35% of calories, saturated fat at less than 8% of total calories. For this reason it's categorized as a low fat, high fiber diet. It became popular in the 1990's, but the Mediterranean diet has been around since 1945.

The Mediterranean diet substitutes olive oil in place of animal fats used by many Americans. Olive oil is known to lower cholesterol levels in the blood, as well as blood sugar and blood pressure. Studies show that olive oil helps prevent ulcers and is an effective treatment for certain types of ulcers, as well as important for preventing cancer. Antioxidant elements in red wine, an important part of the Mediterranean diet, are also beneficial.

The Mediterranean diet is really a series of diets partially recommended by the American Heart Association. The association is uneasy about the high amount of fat in the Mediterranean diet. The AHA points to the growing obesity problem in the Mediterranean region.

The AHA does take comfort in the fact that mono saturated fats such as those found in olive oil don't raise cholesterol levels. It could be that increased health in the basin comes from increased physical activity, rather than from diet.

A Google search is a great source of information on the Mediterranean diet. - 17268

About the Author:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home