Step by Step Mediterranean Diet Info
The Mediterranean Diet: Introduction
Over the last thirty years the media has disseminated literally thousands of columns on nutrition information and how to eat healthy. The problem is that there have been so many different (and often over-simplified) messages: avoid fat, avoid trans-fats, eat whole grains, avoid all carbohydrates, all meat is bad, all meat is good, sugar is bad, don’t eat anything white, only a vegan diet is healthy, we should eat like Neanderthals…. Some of that…
The Mediterranean Diet IS a Diabetic Diet!
Over the years there have been a number of different strategies for diabetic diets. For a long time diabetics were taught to use exchange lists. That method worked well but was cumbersome for a lot of folks. More recently the training has focused on counting carbohydrates at each meal or snack. For diabetics who take insulin being careful with regulating when and what they eat is key and counting carbs works well for them.…
Mediterranean Diet Score: Vegetables
Do you consume more than 3.5 servings per day if you are male or 3.65 servings per day if you are female? A serving is… Yellow squash or zucchini 1 cup sliced Broccoli 1 cup chopped or florets Cauliflower 1 cup chopped or florets Green or wax beans 1 cup cooked Spinach 1 cup cooked Carrots 2 medium or 1 cup baby carrots Sweet potato 1 large baked (2 1⁄4” or more diameter) Score:…
Mediterranean Diet Score: Legumes
Do you consume more than 1/5 servings per day if you are male or 1/6 servings per day if you are female? A serving is… Dry beans and peas 1 cup whole cooked Peanut Butter 1 Tablespoon Tofu 2 ounces Peanuts 1/4 cup Hummus 2 Tablespoons Refried Beans 1/4 cup Score: Give yourself 1 point if you eat more than the recommended servings of legumes (on average) per day. Give yourself 0 points for…
Mediterranean Diet Score: Fruit or Nuts
Do you consume more than 3.5 servings per day if you are male or 3.6 servings per day if you are female? A serving is… • An orange or apple the size of a baseball • Seven 2 1/2 inch strawberries • 1 cup of dried fruit • 12 grapes • 24 almonds • 15 pecan halves • 14 walnut halves • 18 cashews Score: Give yourself 1 point if you eat more than…
Mediterranean Diet Score: Cereals or Grains
Do you consume more than 3.5 servings per day if you are male or 3.7 servings per day if you are female? A serving is… Oatmeal 1/2 cup cooked Popcorn 3 cups popped Brown Rice 1.2 cup cooked Cornbread 2 1/2 inch square piece Whole Wheat Pasta 2 ounces Whole Wheat Bread 1 slice Score: Give yourself 1 point if you eat more than the recommended servings of whole grains (on average) per day.…
Mediterranean Diet Score: Seafood
Do you consume more than 0.6 servings per day if you are male or 0.7 servings per day if you are female? A serving is… about the size of a deck of cards. Score: Give yourself 1 point if you eat more than the recommended servings of seafood (on average) per day. Give yourself 0 points for less than the recommended servings of seafood (on average) per day. Why is this important? Question 7:…
Mediterranean Diet Score: Oils & Fats
Most people think of olive oil when they think of the Mediterranean diet, but it is the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fats that is most important. In most studies the ratio of saturated to unsaturated fat is higher. A ratio of 1.6 to 1, with consumption of higher levels of unsaturated fats, adds a point to the score. The Mediterranean Diet is especially high in monounsaturated fat. Healthy fats include… Olive oil Canola…
Mediterranean Diet Score: Dairy
Do you consume more than 1.4 servings per day if you are male or 1.3 servings per day if you are female? A serving is… Milk 1 cup Yogurt 6 ounces Cottage Cheese 1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese 1/2 ounce Kefir 6 ounces Swiss Cheese 1/2 ounce Score: Give yourself 1 point if you eat less than the recommended servings of dairy (on average) per day. Give yourself 0 points for more than the recommended…
Mediterranean Diet Score: Meat
Do you consume more than 4 ounces per day if you are male or 2.8 ounces per day if you are female? A serving is… Most people think that a serving of meat is much larger than it should be. Four ounces of beef, chicken, pork or lamb is about the size of a deck of cards. Take time to look at the package or, better yet, ask the butcher to cut your choices…
Mediterranean Diet Score: Alcohol
Do you drink between 5 and 25 grams of alcohol per day (10 and 50 grams for men)? 25 grams is the equivalent of about one drink: One twelve ounce beer One 5 ounce glass of wine One 1 ounce shot of spirits Score: Give yourself 1 point for between 5 & 25 grams per day (between 10 & 50 grams per day for men). Give yourself 0 points for less than between 5…
Mediterranean Diet Score: Conclusion
Conclusion and Your Score There is no passing or failing grade for this test. The higher your score, the better. A “perfect” Mediterranean style diet would be a score of 9, and if you’re living on snack food and soda, it’s likely your score will be closer to zero. Improving your score can have a dramatic impact on your health. One of the largest Mediterranean diet studies showed that a two point increase in…
Legumes Really Satisfy
Get the latest health and diet news – along with what you can do about it – sent to your Inbox once a week. Get Dr. Gourmet’s Health and Nutrition Bites sent to you via email. Sign up now! Legumes Really Satisfy Legumes, which include beans (such as red beans, navy beans, soy beans), lentils, peas, and edible pods (such as okra, snap peas and snow peas) are one of the nine tenets of…
Mediterranean Diet Advantages Not Limited to Normal Weight
Get the latest health and diet news – along with what you can do about it – sent to your Inbox once a week. Get Dr. Gourmet’s Health and Nutrition Bites sent to you via email. Sign up now! Mediterranean Diet Advantages Not Limited to Normal Weight A lot of articles about research studies make it sound like overweight or obesity is a direct cause of conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. This…
Just a little olive oil
Get the latest health and diet news – along with what you can do about it – sent to your Inbox once a week. Get Dr. Gourmet’s Health and Nutrition Bites sent to you via email. Sign up now! Just a little olive oil makes a big difference Olive oil has a well-deserved reputation for helping to reduce the risk of heart disease. Most of that reputation is from research into the Mediterranean Diet,…
Research Articles - The Mediterranean Diet
‘Normal’ BMI may mask risk in non-whites
Much of the talk about the obesity epidemic centers around Body Mass Index (BMI), a mathematical means of describing the interaction between height and body weight that allows public health researchers to class large groups of people into categories that are described as “underweight,” “normal weight,” “overweight,” and “obese.” The trouble with BMI, of course, is that its usefulness is limited for those who are extremely tall or short or who are particularly muscular.…
Macronutrients vs. Overall Diet: Which is More Important?
Get the latest health and diet news – along with what you can do about it – sent to your Inbox once a week. Get Dr. Gourmet’s Health and Nutrition Bites sent to you via email. Sign up now! Macronutrients vs. Overall Diet: Which is More Important? It’s an axiom among dietitians that “people eat food, not macronutrients.” That’s one of the reasons that I find fad diets to be so silly: so many…
Mediterranean Diet Good for More Than Your Physical Health
Get the latest health and diet news – along with what you can do about it – sent to your Inbox once a week. Get Dr. Gourmet’s Health and Nutrition Bites sent to you via email. Sign up now! Mediterranean Diet Good for More Than Your Physical Health If you’ve been following Dr. Gourmet for a while you know that following a Mediterranean-style Diet can help reduce your risk of many chronic diseases, from…
Mediterranean Diet and Alzheimer’s Disease
Get the latest health and diet news – along with what you can do about it – sent to your Inbox once a week. Get Dr. Gourmet’s Health and Nutrition Bites sent to you via email. Sign up now! Mediterranean Diet and Alzheimer’s Disease Being able to reproduce the results of a study is key to verifying any conclusions drawn from research. A number of years ago a group of scientists claimed to have…
Mediterranean Diet and Breast Cancer Risk
Get the latest health and diet news – along with what you can do about it – sent to your Inbox once a week. Get Dr. Gourmet’s Health and Nutrition Bites sent to you via email. Sign up now! Mediterranean Diet and Breast Cancer Risk In the past I’ve reported on the links (or lack thereof) between soy and breast cancer (good for breast cancer survivors [Bite 12/09/09], may help reduce overall risk [Bite…
Mediterranean Diet and Esophageal Cancer
Get the latest health and diet news – along with what you can do about it – sent to your Inbox once a week. Get Dr. Gourmet’s Health and Nutrition Bites sent to you via email. Sign up now! Mediterranean Diet and Esophageal Cancer Less than 10% of those in Iran who are diagnosed with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma survive for 5 years or more past diagnosis. (By way of comparison, 84% of women…
Mediterranean Diet and Quality of Life
Get the latest health and diet news – along with what you can do about it – sent to your Inbox once a week. Get Dr. Gourmet’s Health and Nutrition Bites sent to you via email. Sign up now! Mediterranean Diet and Quality of Life We know that following a Mediterranean style diet can help prevent a number of chronic diseases and conditions – from improving insulin levels and cholesterol scores to preventing heart…