Heart Healthy Mediterranean Diet

Thank you for the post Sue.

I have heard quite a lot about the benefits of the Mediterranean diet.

Here is some additional information from the Mayo Clinic

The Mediterranean diet is thought to reduce your risk of heart disease. In fact, a 2007 study conducted in the United States found that both men and women who consumed a Mediterranean diet lowered their risk of death from both heart disease and cancer.

Eat natural peanut butter, rather than the kind with hydrogenated fat added.

Use butter sparingly. "Low fat" or "cholesterol-free" on the label doesn't mean a product is necessarily good for you. Many of these items are made with trans fats.

Eat a variety of whole fruits and vegetables every day. Ultimately, strive for seven to 10 servings a day. Keep baby carrots, apples and bananas on hand for quick, satisfying snacks. Fruit salads are a wonderful way to eat a variety of healthy — and tasty — fruit.

Use canola or olive oil in cooking. Try olive oil for salad dressing and as a healthy replacement for butter or margarine. After cooking pasta, add a touch of olive oil, some garlic and green onions for flavoring. Dip bread in flavored olive oil or lightly spread it on whole-grain bread for a tasty alternative to butter.

Substitute fish and poultry for red meat. Avoid sausage, bacon and other high-fat meats.

Limit higher fat dairy products such as whole or 2 percent milk, cheese and ice cream. Switch to skim milk, fat-free yogurt and low-fat cheese.

Eat fish once or twice a week. Water-packed tuna, salmon, trout, mackerel and herring are healthy choices. Grilled fish tastes good and requires little cleanup. Avoid fried fish, unless it's sauteed in a small amount of olive oil.

Keep walnuts, almonds, pecans and Brazil nuts on hand for a quick snack.

If it's OK with your doctor, go ahead and have a glass of red wine at dinner with your pasta or fish. If you don't drink alcohol, you don't need to start. Drinking purple grape juice may be a healthy alternative to wine.

Once you experience the delicious and healthy choices the Mediterranean diet has to offer, it just might become your favorite diet.

Thank you Sue for your post.



The McMaster University studies agree with this information. Their studies confirm the benefits of the Mediterranean diet.



Love,
yoko

Thank you Sue.

We also eat a lot of fish, fruit, and vegetables, but I think our diet has a little too much white rice. We need to change that.

Love,
Vicky

Thank you for the post Sue.

The Mediterranean diet is an excellent one.
I grew up on it, more or less, except for the amount of butter that we use in French cooking. I have cut out butter now because of health reasons.

I see a lot of fast-food places, full of young people.
I wonder how healthy they will be when they reach middle age. They may never experience a comfortable and productive old age.

Sincerely,
Gisele

Thank you everyone for your replies and beautiful images.
Enjoy the benefits of the Mediterranean diet.

Vicky, the oriental diets are very good as well, maybe you could substitute white rice for brown rice. Your diet includes a lot of fruit and veggies as well, and not all that much red meat. The occasional seving of lean red meat is fine, as long as we don't get carried away with it.

Love,
Sue





This is good, except brown rice might be better.

I am looking for some new Mediterranean Diet recipes as I don't have anything new to cook. So share some of your favorite ones with me.

Dear Adriana,

Go to MayoClinic.com. They will give you the healthiest recipes for Mediterranean food.

Love,
yoko

Add this to your healthy diet:

From the Mayo clinic:


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Key components of the Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes:
Getting plenty of exercise
Eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts
Replacing butter with healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil
Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods
Limiting red meat to no more than a few times a month
Eating fish and poultry at least twice a week
Drinking red wine in moderation (optional)

Thank you for bringing back this topic.
Mediterranean restaurants, especially Italian, are now very popular in Japan.

Love,
yoko