Vincent Bronson

Guide to Mediterranean Diet Cookbook Vincent Bronson

Roughly speaking, the Mediterranean diet seeks to recreate the average nutritional intake of someone living in the Mediterranean region. Namely: 1960s-era Greece (especially Crete, Greece's largest island), Southern Italy, France, and Spain, whose inhabitants were found to have better heart health and longer life spans relative to their counterparts in the United States and Northern Europe, explains Dr. William Li, M. D., author of Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself. Although weight loss wasn't the original aim of the Mediterranean diet (as coined by Keys), shedding pounds was seen as a byproduct of adopting a healthier eating pattern that lowered cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality risk. What did this allegedly healthier eating pattern entail? "Fresh produce, fish, healthy fats like olive oil and nuts; small amounts of dairy, eggs, and poultry, and limited red and processed meats," explains dietitian and health coach Jessica Cording, MS, RD, CDN, Kettlebell Kitchen's nutrition consultant and author of The Little Book Of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety. This typically breaks down to a distribution of macronutrients (i.e., fat, protein, and carbohydrates) that's very different from traditional Western diets. Whereas Americans typically eat more saturated fats and simple carbohydrates thanks to our higher consumption of red meat and processed foods, the Mediterranean Diet relies more heavily on unsaturated fats and complex carbohydrates."Whole grains and legumes are recommended over refined grains, and concentrated sweets are kept to a minimum," Cording explains of the Mediterranean diet. "Moderate amounts of wine may also be included in this diet pattern-up to one glass per day for women and up to two per day for men."