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Choosing the Right Food to Reduce Cholesterol
We are very busy persons: we have things to do, problems to solve, people to talk to and it seems that we stopped having enough time to eat. More and more often full course meals get replaced for quicker snacks. Snacking does not necessarily...
Fast Diet Fraud
Under the theory that "seeing is believing", people continue to buy books and pills for dramatic weight loss in 7 days, or 4 weeks, or some other rather short interval. What should be checked is how much weight loss remains effective in one year. ...
Gum Disease Home Remedy In Your Kitchen
For those of us with a sweet tooth, there is good news on the
dental front. Despite the fact that raisins are sweet and
sticky, scientists at the University of Illinois in Chicago have
found them to contain compounds that prevent tooth decay...
Hypoglycemia (Low Blood Sugar), Diabetes Testing and Driving Your Car
Because hypoglycemia can effect your driving performance (even modestly low blood sugar can do this), if you are at all prone to hypoglycemia, I personally would strongly recommend you check out your blood sugar level each time you are about to...
Weight Gain in Adulthood -- Slowing it Down
The biggest problem we face in America today is not terrorism -
it is obesity. This is according to Dr. Julie Gerberding, head
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in America.
And it seems much of this problem is happening in a slow...
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The Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean Diet is now recognized as one of the healthiest in the world consisting as it does of large amounts of fresh fruit and vegetables, salads,nuts,seeds, omega-3 rich oily fish, olives and olive oil and being comparitively low in dairy products and red meats.
The people of the Mediterranean region, particuarly Greece and Spain, are very fortunate to live in an area where naturally healthy food is readily and cheaply available. The incidence of heart disease and cancer are lower here than anywhere else in the western world and experts now believe this is due in great part to what has become known as the Mediterranean diet.
Modern farming techniques and world wide transport has changed most peoples diets dramatically in the past centuary and it is now widely believed that such changes have had an exteremely detrimental effect on our health. Fortunately the impact of these developments has not had such a catastrophic effect in Mediterranean regions
where to a large extent traditional diets are still followed. Of course with the advent of Globalization and MacDonald's! this is sadly changing. However we can all learn alot form what has become known as the Mediterranean diet and by adopting it,vastly improve our health and longevity.
The foods that grow natuarlly and abundantly in that region and have always formed a part of the local diet are as follows:-
Olives, avocados, oranges, lemons, garlic, wild asparagus, walnuts, almonds,tomatoes, artichokes, figs, pomegranates, cherries, strawberries, grapes, plums, spinach,broad beans,peppers along with many other of the more common fruits and vegetables. These provide large amounts of vitamins, minerals and fibre along with a wide variety of
antioxidants and phytochemicals, the importance of which scientists are only now beginning to recognize as they discover more and more healthful benefits of including these elements in our diet.
Historically alot of the milk was produced from goats and cheese made from goats and ewes milk. Very little red meat is eaten and a large majority of the protein is supplied by oily fish such as sardines, mackerel, tuna, sword fish, boquerones and anchovies.
The main oil used is olive, traditionally cold pressed virgin, and this is used not only for cooking and in salads but also for putting on bread in place of butter.
All these foods provide a wide variety of nutriments which have an astonishing array of claims for improving our health such as lowering cholesterol, improving our immune system which thus not only fights infections but also helps to prevent cancer, increasing our metabolism, improving insulin sensitivity and thus lessening the risk of diabetes. It really has never been so true that you are what you eat. Certainly since moving to Andalucia and adopting the Mediteranean diet myself I have never been so healthy or managed to maintain my ideal weight so easily.
Of coures in addition to all the healthy components of this diet there is the added fact that honey is often used in place of sugar and little refined carbohydrates are eaten.
All in all most experts now agree that the Mediterranean diet is the optimum diet
About the Author
I am the owner of http://www.costadelsol-vacationrentals.com and specialize in holiday properties on the Costa del Sol and in Rural Andalucia. In addition you will find lots of information about Spain, Andalucia and the Costa del Sol on my site.
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