Healthy Mediterranean Diet 地中海饮食 最为健康

The Mediterranean diet

The benefits of the Mediterranean diet have been heavily documented. It's heralded with helping to prevent cancer, diabetes, asthma and dementia. Best of all it's a plan that's delicious, easy to stick to and doesn't cut out fat.

The science behind it
Analysis from an eight year study at Harvard University has shown that eating more monounsaturated fats such as those in olive oil, than saturated fats such as those in chips, biscuits and cakes, could lower overall cancer risk by 9%. But the diet doesn't place any emphasis on one superfood. All you need to do is adapt your own diet with a few simple touches.
The Harvard team found that making any two changes to your diet, for example eating more peas, beans and lentils and less meat, reduced the risk by 12%.

Variety is the spice of life
In the Mediterranean diet butter is most often replaced by the use of extra virgin olive oil, there are no synthetically produced fats and processed foods are avoided. Red meat and dairy products are consumed in moderation, and cheese is most often feta, Parmesan or goat's cheese etc. Meat is used sparingly in the typical Greek and Italian diet, placing more of an emphasis on fish instead. Variety is the key, alongside the everyday use of natural fresh local seasonal plant foods that gently balance that intake of fish, meat and poultry.

A social gathering
Remember, it's also not what you eat but how you go about it. The diet places more emphasis on eating as a social get-together, where everyone takes enough time for their food to adequately digest. A relaxed spirit of enjoying a meal with friends or family over a long time period promotes a feeling of well-being, proven to make you healthier in itself.

Recipe suggestion: Tuscan peasant salad
Why not try this hearty and wickedly simple salad with crusty bread dipped in a little olive oil?

1 ham slice—finely chopped

2 tomatoes—diced

2 eggs—hard boiled and sliced

1 scallion (spring onion)—thinly sliced

3 cups roughly torn romaine lettuce

1 cup canned cannelloni beans—rinsed and drained

¼ green pepper (capsicum)—diced

4 mushrooms—thinly sliced

3 tablespoons of Italian vinaigrette

Place all of the ingredients, except the dressing, in a salad bowl. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss gently to combine just before serving. Simple as that!

You can find more delicious Mediterranean (and Asian) recipe ideas at Mediterranean.