The Mediterranean Diet - What Must You Avoid?

Red meat (Allowed only in very limited quantities)

Butter and lard

Fried foods (most are prepared in soy oil which is an omega-6 fat

Rich dairy products (ice cream in small quantities only)

Processed or manufactured foods

Sweets containing refined white sugar

White bread

Heavy sauces

Hydrogenated trans-fat containing foods such as in margarine

Refined carbohydrates

Tips for Staying on the Mediterranean Diet

Keep plenty of nuts and fresh fruits around. If you feel like a snack, grab a handful of nuts or a peach. (Walnuts are a good choice)

Flavor your foods with herbs instead of the usual salt.

If you experience a “sweet tooth”, think fruit.

Try to concentrate on how good you’re feeling rather than what you’re denying yourself.

Use “virgin” olive oil in place of other cooking oils

Use olive oil in place of butter. Dip your bread in it or eat bread plain as the Italians do.

Replace red meat with fish. Broiling, baking and poaching are best. Tuna, salmon, trout, mackerel and herring are the best choices.

Have a salad with vinegar dressing before each lunch or dinner.

Replace desert pastries with fruit, a fruit salad or a fruit cup

Replace cooking lard with olive oil when possible

Yogurt is your best dairy food

The Mediterranean Diet and Your Brain

“Eating a diet rich in healthy fats and limiting dairy and meat could do more than keep your heart healthier. It could also help keep you thinking clearly.” -  CNN Health, Feb 8, 2010

After a few weeks on the Mediterranean Diet you may notice some improvement in the speed of your memory recall and the accuracy of your short-term memory. You may also notice that you can learn and retain new information more easily.  

Not only does the Mediterranean diet help protect against Alzheimer’s disease, it also reduces your risk of mild cognitive impairment doctors call MCI. People with MCI can usually go about their lives but struggle with minor memory problems.   

A study done at Columbia University conducted by Nikolaos Scarmeas, MD, found that the Mediterranean eating plan reduces the risk of MCI 28% in those who stayed with it most closely.

In those who didn’t adhere to the diet as well, the reduction was 17%. The study theorized that the diet reduces the level of inflammation in the brain which most researchers believe is involved with the development of Alzheimer’s disease. 

But you should be aware that most of the benefits of this kind of diet will be realized in the future. It’s like a savings account in which you accumulate savings by making regular deposits. The longer you stay on the diet the more profound and longer-lasting the benefits.

Science and the Mediterranean Diet

In a 2007 Columbia University study scientists found that individuals who stuck with the Mediterranean Diet moderately well had a 29-35% reduction in overall death rate, while those who were able to follow the diet more strictly had a whopping 67-73% reduction.

One unique benefit of the Mediterranean approach is that the diet increases the level of good cholesterol (HDL) in the blood. This is important as HDL cholesterol effectively counters the health-damaging effects of the bad cholesterol (LDL). The only other proven way to increase HDL is through strenuous exercise.

Diets that include plenty of natural foods have proved beneficial to a number of groups including Seven Day Adventist (vegetarians) men who live 7.3 years longer while their women live 4.4 years longer.

The Mormons who eat more natural foods have overall death rates that are 70-80% lower than average Americans. Their men live 11 years longer while their women enjoy 7 additional seasons.