Mediterranean Diet Research Paper

The Mediterranean diet stems from the fact that individuals in the Mediterranean region are known for outliving Americans and living healthier, free from heart and brain diseases as well as cancer. Choosing to follow a Mediterranean diet can promote weight loss, diabetes control, and a reduced risk of heart diseases while maintaining a variety of options. Since the Mediterranean is a region with diverse cultures, ethnicities, and agricultural economies there is no single “Mediterranean Diet” but overall the plan and eating lifestyle consists of high consumption of vegetables, legumes, and good unsaturated fat (olive oil) with more moderate consumption of proteins.

One of the many benefits to following a Mediterranean diet is the variety of foods you have to choose from. Mediterranean diets encourage eating copious amounts of fruits, vegetables, bread, potatoes, beans, nuts, and seeds with more moderate consumption of dairy products, fish, poultry, and red meats. As a result the Mediterranean diet is very wholesome offering a bit of each macromolecule.

Through fruits, beans, potatoes, pasta, and other grains one is exposed to carbohydrates. These carbohydrate-based foods are split into three main groups; starches, sugars, and fibers. Starches get a bad wrap but Mediterranean folks turn the table by implementing whole grains over refined

In fact most Mediterranean diets shun dairy products like cheese and butter instead aiming for unsaturated fats like olive oil and omega-3 (found in fish). As a result, fish is eaten frequently by natives of the region and dishes are traditionally accompanied by olive oil whether it be to dip the bread in or to dress the salad. Unlike harmful saturated and trans fats that raise cholesterol levels and increase blood pressure, unsaturated fat are easier to breakdown, less dense, and less likely to clump up causing arterial