Nutrition
for Life After Mashed Potatoes
Mediterranean Diet
Various
diets have been studied as more healthy alternatives to the diet of most
Americans. The one that seems to be generally recommended, and the one
we more or less follow in our household, is the Mediterranean Diet.
There
are other possibilities: Paleolithic Diet, Raw Foods Diet, Traditional
Japanese Diet, "Asian Diet", Vegan Diet, Okinawa Diet. Dr.
Andrew Weil discusses all these in his book, Eating Well for Optimum
Health, listing advantages and disadvantages of each.
Strictly
on a health basis, each of the others has major drawbacks, according to
Dr. Weil. The Mediterranean Diet has only two nutritional disadvantages,
both easily corrected.
One
is that possibly not enough iron will be provided for growing children
and pregnant women. This can be corrected by emphasizing foods rich in
iron.
Secondly,
not enough calcium may be provided. The correction: emphasize foods rich
in calcium. If you dont wish to do this, use supplemental calcium.
Advantages
The
advantages of the Mediterranean Diet, at least to us, are overwhelming.
The diet itself is intrinsically appealing. Moreover, a large number of
truly delicious recipes have been developed over the centuries, and are
available to us today.
To
top it all, preparation is simple, a contrast to Japanese and other
Asian cuisines. And, shopping is simple, since ordinary ingredients can
be used.
With
this diet, or indeed any which emphasize vegetable, you can eat more,
and still not gain weight.
What Is the Mediterranean Diet?
These are the characteristics, a composite as listed by Dr. Weil and
others:
lots of whole-grain products
few refined carbohydrates such
as typical in the Western diet
little meat, more poultry,
fish, and legumes
little animal fat; much olive
oil or other monosaturated fat, plus lots of omega-3 fatty acids from
fish, nuts, seeds, and vegetables
inclusion of some cheese and
yogurt
great variety of fruits and
vegetables
emphasis on fresh foods,
de-emphasis on processed foods
Two non-nutritional features:
much physical activity
eating with family and taking
pleasure in food
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