The Health Giving Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet.

It is a well established fact that people living in the Mediterranean

area have lower incidents of degenerative diseases such as cancer,

heart disease, arthritis and strokes as well as a longer life

expectancy than in other parts of the western world. Scientists are

now unravelling the reasons for this and for the most part they put it

down to the diet eaten in these areas. Find out how you can adopt it

and thereby improve your health and increase your longevity.



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


target="_blank">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,


title="boquerones" target="_blank">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.Its low saturated fat content and

conversely high oleic acid content are belived to be two important

factors that help to maintin heart health and protect against cancer.



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.











About the Author

Submitted by Ruth Polak the owner of
target="_blank"> www.costadelsol-vacationrentals.com

A site that specializes in holiday properties on the Costa del Sol and in Rural

Andalucia. In addition you will find lots of information about Spain,

Andalucia and the Costa del Sol on my site.