The Wonderful Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet.

The Mediterranean Diet is now recognized as one of the healthiest in
the world consisting as it does of large amounts of fresh fruit and
vegetables, salads,nuts,seeds, omega-3 rich oily fish, olives and
olive oil and being comparitively low in dairy products and red meats.

The people of the Mediterranean region, particuarly Greece and Spain,
are very fortunate to live in an area where naturally healthy food is
readily and cheaply available. The incidence of heart disease and
cancer are lower here than anywhere else in the western world and
experts now believe this is due in great part to what has become known
as the Mediterranean diet.

Modern farming techniques and world wide transport has changed most
peoples diets dramatically in the past centuary and it is now widely
believed that such changes have had an exteremely detrimental effect
on our health. Fortunately the impact of these developments has not
had such a catastrophic effect in Mediterranean regions
where to a large extent traditional diets are still followed. Of
course with the advent of Globalization and MacDonald's! this is sadly
changing. However we can all learn alot form what has become known as
the Mediterranean diet and by adopting it,vastly improve our health
and longevity.

The foods that grow natuarlly and abundantly in that region and have
always formed a part of the local diet are as follows:-
Olives, avocados, oranges, lemons, garlic, wild asparagus, walnuts,
almonds,tomatoes, artichokes, figs, pomegranates, cherries,
strawberries, grapes, plums, spinach,broad beans,peppers along with
many other of the more common fruits and vegetables. These provide
large amounts of vitamins, minerals and fibre along with a wide
variety of antioxidants and phytochemicals, the importance of which
scientists are only now beginning to recognize as they discover more
and more healthful benefits of including these elements in our diet.

Historically alot of the milk was produced from goats and cheese made
from goats and ewes milk. Very little red meat is eaten and a large
majority of the protein is supplied by oily fish such as sardines,
mackerel, tuna, sword fish,
boquerones
and anchovies.

The main oil used is olive, traditionally cold pressed virgin, and
this is used not only for cooking and in salads but also for putting
on bread in place of butter.

All these foods provide a wide variety of nutriments which have an
astonishing array of claims for improving our health such as lowering
cholesterol, improving our immune system which thus not only fights
infections but also helps to prevent cancer, increasing our
metabolism, improving insulin sensitivity and thus lessening the risk
of diabetes. It really has never been so true that you are what you eat.
Certainly since moving to Andalucia and adopting the Mediteranean diet
myself I have never been so healthy or managed to maintain my ideal
weight so easily.

Of coures in addition to all the healthy components of this diet there
is the added fact that honey is often used in place of sugar and little
refined carbohydrates are eaten.

All in all most experts now agree that the Mediterranean diet is the
optimum diet.
Article submitted by Ruth Polak the owner of http://www.costadelsol-
vacationrentals.com A web site specializing in holiday villas and
apartments on the Costa del Sol and in Rural Andalucia. You will also
find lots of information about Spain and Andalucia, in particular.

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