When I started my first natural health course, it was the first time I encountered the Mediterranean Diet. The thing I immediately fell in love with was that it wasn’t a “diet”, per se. The gist is: “eat real foods”. Oh, and: “wine is good”. Now, that’s a plan I can get behind! In fact, through my next couple years of study in natural health and nutrition – both in pregnancy and not – I became so convinced of the benefits of the Mediterranean style of eating that this 20-year-long strict vegetarian began eating seafood!
The problem with “diets”, in general, is that there is almost always someone that is trying to gain from you choosing their particular eating plan. This leads to a lot of misinformation and half-truths that muddy the waters, and make it even more difficult for regular people like us to discern what constitutes healthy eating. Is it more protein? Less carbs? No carbs? No sugar – even fruit? Only cabbage soup all the time? That’s actually a thing! (*eye roll)
Recently, Dr. David Katz, from Yale University’s Prevention Research Center, was asked “to compare the medical evidence for and against every mainstream diet.” And it was fascinating. Unfortunately, to access the full text of his review, you have to subscribe to the journal in which it was published. However, you can find a well-written article on it from The Atlantic. It briefly discusses his findings on the diet/nutrition trends that are most popular in the US right now, and guess what! The Mediterranean Diet comes out at the top of the list!
For more info about the Mediterranean Diet, what it is and its benefits, OldWays is an excellent source of information and recipes. If you are ready to start implementing any Real Foods diet, check out this great article on 10 Easy Mediterranean Diet Swaps to Make Today. And remember to start making changes SLOWLY in order to make this a lasting change for yourself or your family!