The people who live in the Mediterranean basin are healthy, so it was only natural to create a Mediterranean diet for others to follow. The Mediterranean basin includes portions of Italy, France, and even the Sahara Desert - a generally mild winters with long, hot summers.
The most known form of the Mediterranean diet was created in the mid-1990s by a Harvard health professor named Walter Willett. In addition to physical activity the diet proposes eating a lot of dairy, fish, and meats along with a healthy dose of olive oil and plant food. The diet strictly control fat so that only a total of about 35% of calories come from fat. It's considered a low-fat high dietary fiber diet. It has been around since 1945 when the version of the Mediterranean diet was first published Ancel Keyes who lived in Italy. But it did not become popular until the 1990s.
Whereas American diets rely on animal fats, the Mediterranean diet utilizes olive oil. The benefits of olive oil are well known - it helps control blood pressure and blood sugar. Olive oil is also good for treating ulcers and for lowering the risk of many types of cancer. Antioxidant elements in red wine, an important part of the Mediterranean diet, are also beneficial.
The American Heart Association recommends diets like the Mediterranean diet . However, the AHA frowns on the amount of fat allowed by the Mediterranean diet. They say obesity is a growing health concern in the Mediterranean basin. However, the American Heart Association does like the fact that most of the fat in the Mediterranean diet comes from olive oil, mono saturated fat, that doesn't raise cholesterol. That's a good thing for heart health, but healthier hearts in the Mediterranean areas may be more due to increased physical activity rather than strictly to diet.
A Google search is a great source of information on the Mediterranean diet. - 16004
The most known form of the Mediterranean diet was created in the mid-1990s by a Harvard health professor named Walter Willett. In addition to physical activity the diet proposes eating a lot of dairy, fish, and meats along with a healthy dose of olive oil and plant food. The diet strictly control fat so that only a total of about 35% of calories come from fat. It's considered a low-fat high dietary fiber diet. It has been around since 1945 when the version of the Mediterranean diet was first published Ancel Keyes who lived in Italy. But it did not become popular until the 1990s.
Whereas American diets rely on animal fats, the Mediterranean diet utilizes olive oil. The benefits of olive oil are well known - it helps control blood pressure and blood sugar. Olive oil is also good for treating ulcers and for lowering the risk of many types of cancer. Antioxidant elements in red wine, an important part of the Mediterranean diet, are also beneficial.
The American Heart Association recommends diets like the Mediterranean diet . However, the AHA frowns on the amount of fat allowed by the Mediterranean diet. They say obesity is a growing health concern in the Mediterranean basin. However, the American Heart Association does like the fact that most of the fat in the Mediterranean diet comes from olive oil, mono saturated fat, that doesn't raise cholesterol. That's a good thing for heart health, but healthier hearts in the Mediterranean areas may be more due to increased physical activity rather than strictly to diet.
A Google search is a great source of information on the Mediterranean diet. - 16004
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