Who should follow the Mediterranean diet?

November 18, 2013

The answer to the question, ‘’Who should follow the Mediterranean diet?’’ is: Everyone. Every single person should follow a healthy diet so that he or she would be healthy in body and in mind. You should remember that you do not follow a diet because it is a fashion or because you want to lose fast a couple of pounds. You follow a diet, because you want to have a healthy living. A diet is a way of living and Mediterranean diet has been such a diet. It has been the way of living for millions of people in the Mediterranean Sea and this kind of living has been ‘’discovered’’ recently by dieticians and nutritionists around the world, who now encourage people to follow it.

Is Mediterranean diet more suited for certain people? The answer is No. Mediterranean diet is for all people of all ages, races, and nationalities. It is as healthy for a white woman in Canada as for a Chinese man in Australia. Following the Mediterranean diet we get protection from the sun, we get protected from cancer and it helps us fight diabetes and other chronic diseases. Mediterranean diet is also good and ssuitable for Vegetarians.  Med diet is not a manmade diet. It is a diet which has matured through the years so that it would serve the tastes and needs of the nations in the Mediterranean Sea.

Women should follow the Mediterranean diet. Why? A recent Harvard study has shown that women who have adopted the Mediterranean diet and way of living, live longer and without disease! The study followed the dietary habits of about 10 thousand women who were in their fifties and sixties, 50s and 60s for 15 years. The results were amazing! Women, who followed the Mediterranean diet, eating lots of fruits and vegetables and other Mediterranean food, were more likely to reach their 70s healthy and free of chronic diseases like heart diseases and diabetes. The percentages and ratios were in favor of the Med diet and this is no surprise to most of us and it is certainly another piece of convincing data and supporting data in our efforts to convince the unconvinced!

women-eating-mediterranean-diet-food

If you want to beat Dementia later on in your life you should follow the Mediterranean diet as early as possible in your life, since Mediterranean foods are rich in omega-3 fatty acids which help us fight memory and cognitive decline. It was found that people who follow the Mediterranean diet are by 19% less likely to develop thinking and memory problems than people who were on any other diet. These results proved once more that a healthy diet is a healthy diet no matter how you look at it.

Are you obese? Are you overweight? Well the Mediterranean diet is definitely for you. Following the Mediterranean diet will not have an immediate effect on your weight. However you will definitely lose weight gradually, which is the right way to do it, in a healthy way and in a way which will become part of your life. So people who are overweight or suffer from obesity should definitely follow the Mediterranean diet There is a book by Dr Catherine Itsiopoulos called ‘’The Mediterranean diet’’ in which she explains how you can incorporate simple Greek eating habits and tricks in your diet so that you can make it healthier and tastier! You may try it.

Do you like yogurt? Do you love Greek Yogurt? If the answer is yes then you are ready to follow and adopt the Mediterranean diet. Greek Yogurt is part of the Mediterranean diet along with other dairy products, such as white cheese, and you can enjoy them in moderation. The benefits and nutritional characteristics of Greek yogurt are well known and this is why it has become so popular in the USA and it is now its popularity is expanding in other countries like UK, Canada and Australia. Greek yogurt is strained yogurt with much more nutrients and much less calories than the usual yogurt.

Can low income people adopt the Mediterranean diet? Off course! Mediterranean diet is neither for the rich nor for the city people. It is for everyone. As a matter of fact people in the villages of Spain, Greece, Italy, Morocco and Lebanon are not the richest people in their countries, yet they have been living on the Mediterranean diet for thousands of years. You can choose fruits and vegetables which are in season to make your meals. If you can, you can even grow your own vegetables and fruits. Legumes which can be consumed on a daily basis are not that expensive and there are many tasty Mediterranean diet recipes which you can use to make tasty and healthy foods.

The whole family should follow the Mediterranean Diet. This is the answer to the question as to who should follow the Mediterranean diet. It is very important to understand that if you are a mother or a father you would want your kids to adopt a healthy diet the earliest in their lives so that they would become accustomed to the way of life a healthy diet would dictate and the sooner they forget the fast and junk food others eat the better it would be for you and their health. You can replace unhealthy snacks with a healthy yogurt or some sticks of carrot or celery and you can certainly reduce the high consumption of red meat and burgers with healthier foods like fish, chicken, legumes and white cheese. In one of our recent articles, ‘’How the whole family can adopt the Mediterranean Diet?’’ we have given some helpful tips for the mothers and fathers who want to have a healthy family.

So in conclusion, we can clearly state that everyone should and must follow the Mediterranean diet. We owe this to ourselves, our families and our communities. We always say the prevention is better than cure and this is what you will be doing with the Mediterranean diet. By adopting the Med diet we stay healthier and thus we can live more years healthy pushing the chronic diseases further down and probably avoiding most of them. It should be noted here that the Mediterranean diet itself cannot make miracles. We need to exercise since physical exercise is the second and integral part of a healthy live. You can easily exercise by simply walking 30-40 minutes a day and this would enable you to be fit. So combine the healthy Mediterranean diet with physical exercise and you will live many and healthy years.


Andrea Aurelio
About the author

Andrea Aurelio adopted the Mediterranean diet and the Mediterranean way of living after evaluating a series of diets and realizing that the Mediterranean diet is a proven diet and the best way to adopt a healthy lifestyle. You can connect with him on Google+, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

{ 0 comments… add one now }

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: