translated from Spanish: What really is the Mediterranean diet?

you’ve surely heard that the Mediterranean diet is good for your health. But do you know exactly what is and how it benefits your body?
A typical Mediterranean diet includes plenty of vegetables, fruits, legumes, cereals and products rich in carbohydrates such as bread, pasta and brown rice.
It also contains moderate amounts of fish, white meat and some dairy products.
And also it is used for cooking and mostly drizzle olive oil.
Consume less meat and moderate amounts of fish and chicken are key habits in the Mediterranean eating habits. Seems the combination of all these foods provide health benefits, says Victoria Taylor, a dietician from the British Heart Foundation.
What benefits does health?
Many research on the traditional Mediterranean diet has shown that this type of food may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, which are three risk factors for heart disease .
Eat to the Mediterranean is linked to a good blood pressure, a low cholesterol, a healthy weight and a longer life. In addition, several studies found that people who faithfully follow the Mediterranean diet have a higher life expectancy and a lower probability of being overweight.
What is the Nordic diet recommended by the who, next to the Mediterranean, to improve your health?
Are you a “reducetariano” and not know it?
Why it works so well for our body?
According to Taylor, “it is the combination of foods, rather than individual ‘superfoods’, which makes this way of eating as healthy.”
One of the key aspects is the inclusion of healthy fats, says.
Present in the Mediterranean diet healthy oils are associated with levels of cholesterol lower. Replace the butter with the olive oil, which has monounsaturated fats, helps keep cholesterol levels, says the clinic may, an American medical international reference center.
The diet also frequently includes other types of beneficial, the polyunsaturated fats, which are present in nuts, seeds and fatty fish.
In addition, Mayo Clinic highlights the benefits to the health of other eating habits, such as: reduce salt consumption, replacing it with herbs and spices to flavor dishes limit red meat consumption to no more than a few times a month to eat fish and p ollo at least twice a week all these are elements of the diet in different countries of the Mediterranean Sea.
The traditional diet of the Greeks, for example, includes very little red meat and a daily average of nine servings of vegetables and fruits rich in antioxidants.
It would improve your health if you did you vegan?
How what you eat can affect your mental health how can follow a more Mediterranean diet?
You can consume alcohol, provided it is in moderation. If your diet is unhealthy and is full of processed foods, then it is unlikely that add a single item, like olive oil, it will mark a significant change in your health, said Taylor.
“However, if you adjust all your diet and eat a little less meat and more fish, choose healthy fats and eat more fruit and vegetables, then change Yes could generate a significant difference”, said.
Lately there has been much debate about whether the worst element of our contemporary diet is fat or sugar.
“But if we focus on individual components of the diet run the risk of not seeing the entire scene,” said the expert.
Olives are a classic in the diets of the Mediterranean countries.” While it is important to understand how different foods and nutrients affect your health, assess the diet as a whole is an approach much more useful to rethink our choices and habits”, added the nutritionist.
Living near the warm waters of the Mediterranean, with bright, fresh fish and delicious dishes in any corner certainly helps to follow this diet naturally.
But if you propose it, sure that with some adjustments also you can do it from a distance.

Original source in Spanish