Two Recommended Reads

James McWilliam’s Just Food: Where Locavores get it wrong and how we can truly eat responsibly

Walter Willet’s Eat Drink and Be Healthy

believe the mediterranean hype

I just got back from a two-week Mediterranean diet binge. This type of “diet”, largely defined and studied from populations of Greece and Southern Italy, consists of:
•    abundant plant foods and fresh fruit
•    olive oil as the principal source of fat
•    dairy products (principally cheese and yogurt)
•    fish and poultry consumed in low to moderate amounts
•    zero to four eggs consumed weekly
•    red meat consumed in low amounts
•    wine consumed in low to moderate amounts

fall harvest in rome

The total fat in this type of diet consists of 30% of fat calories with low amounts of saturated fat or trans fats (partially hydrogenated vegetable oils). Dr. Walt Willett of Harvard University, has been one of the pioneers on emphasizing the Mediterranean diets importance on health and has since proven its benefits through many studies include the Nurses Health Study. Dr. Willett has written “Epidemiologic evidence has supported beneficial effects of higher intakes of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish, and daily consumption of moderate amounts of alcohol. Together with regular physical activity and not smoking, our analyses suggest that over 80% of coronary heart disease, 70% of stroke, and 90% of type 2 diabetes can be avoided by healthy food choices that are consistent with the traditional Mediterranean diet.”

Regarding the diet’s impact on weight loss, a 2008 New England Journal of Medicine study compared different diets with the goal of measuring weight loss. Over 300 obese subjects were put on one of three diets and tracked for two years: low-fat, restricted-calorie; Mediterranean, restricted-calorie; or low-carbohydrate, non–restricted-calorie. The Mediterranean diet group consumed the largest amounts of dietary fiber and had the highest ratio of healthy fats, monounsaturated, to saturated fat. This group lost 4.4 kg of body weight – very similar to the low-carbohydrate group, and more than the low-fat group.

And of course, you will live longer on this type of diet. A recently published meta-analysis of 12 cohort studies, showed that those consuming a Mediterranean diet had reduced risk of mortality including cardiovascular, cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease incidence (Sofi et al, 2008).

cheese, pears, balsamic...yum

But there must be something about the air and culture of the mediterranean that impacts health. When we were there, we walked a lot, ate lighter meals, and savored each dining experience, usually outside, taking in the piazzas and beautiful people. When we did eat meat, it was in very small amounts, and the red wine was always flowing. So were the espressos. And maybe a limoncello or two…We also didn’t consume too many sweets – we were too full on the other stuff, like olives, anchovies and artichoke salads.