The Mediterranean Diet Healthy and Satisfying
For years, many people have been looking for the ideal, healthy diet and it may have been in plain sight the whole time. The Mediterranean Diet is one of the newest health food crazes because it allows people to take care of themselves while still feeling satisfied after a meal or snack. People who follow the Mediterranean diet faithfully eat a variety of vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, oily fish, olive oil, and other foods that are low in saturated fat. A minimal amount of wine may also be on the menu for some.This diet has been shown in recent studies by the American Heart Association (or AHA) to reduce many peoples’ chances of heart attack or stroke. This is surprising since many products that were not allowed by heart doctors before have now been given the ok and are a major part of the Mediterranean diet. Products that are high in unsaturated fat, like olive oil, are among those that are now acceptable for recent heart attack victims. These products have been shown to reduce the risk of Type-2 Diabetes, cancer, and even Alzheimer’s disease as long as meats and dairy products are eaten minimally.
In order to prove the validity of the Mediterranean diet the AHA performed a study which involved splitting 202 heart attack victims up into three groups. The first group was only given the normal advice that a heart attack survivor receives from their doctor when leaving the hospital, the second group was given a low-fat menu, and the third group was given eating standards equal to the Mediterranean diet.
When the groups were studied again four years later, it was found that those who were put on the Mediterranean diet and those who were put on the low-fat diet survived further health risks 30% more of the time than those who were given the usual doctor’s orders. The fact that native Mediterranean’s have a low occurrence of heart disease backs up these studies.
The American Heart Association has proven that it is not fat itself that causes heart attacks and strokes, but that for many it is only a certain type of fat - saturated fat – that is dangerous. Because of these findings, more people can now enjoy foods like nuts, oily fish, and olive oil that were once taboo.
Mediterranean Diet, healthy diet
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