1. Stock your pantry and cook at home. Do your best to cook more and use whole, unprocessed ingredients so you can control portion sizes, salt and calories. "We can’t ask people to make everything from scratch," says Oldways dietitian Nicki Heverling, M.S., R.D. Instead, she suggests stocking your pantry and freezer with Mediterranean-inspired staples like canned tomatoes, olives, whole-wheat pasta and frozen vegetables.
2. Get most of your protein from beans and fish. Swap out some of your meat and get your protein from beans, nuts and other plants. By displacing meat, you’ll lower your saturated-fat intake while adding healthful nutrients, like fiber and antioxidant-rich flavonols. Heverling recommends starting with a few small changes: aim to make a plant-based dinner, like meatless chili once or twice a week. Or make the focus of the meal whole grains and vegetables and think of meat as a flavoring; for example, use a little diced pancetta in a tomato sauce for pasta.
3. Make olive oil your staple fat. Give heart-healthy olive oil as well as other plant-based oils like canola and walnut oil star billing over saturated-fat-laden, LDL-cholesterol-raising butter, lard or shortening—even in baking. Or do as the Greeks do and sauté your vegetable dishes in olive oil (ladera, or "oily" style) to highlight their flavor. Learn to appreciate extra-virgin olive oils with plenty of flavor, advises Antonia Trichopoulou, M.D., from the University of Athens School of Medicine: "Look for a yellow or green olive oil with a rich smell and taste." Pale, odorless oils are fine for baking and frying and are still high in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, she adds, "but they are lacking in the more than 200 microcomponents that have beneficial effects on health." Microcomponents like oleocanthal, for example, which is a potent anti-inflammatory found in extra-virgin olive oils.
4. Enjoy a glass of wine with meals. Enjoy wine in moderation during meals, never drinking alone outside of the meal and never in excess. Drinking wine increases HDL (good) cholesterol, may help regulate blood sugar and can even help you digest your food and absorb its nutrients. Wines, especially reds, also deliver a dose of heart-healthy resveratrol. Take Trichopoulou’s advice and use wine "to enjoy life, not to forget life!"
Can the Mediterranean Diet endure today?
I think ancient food traditions will never truly go away; they’ve already survived for millennia. But just the thought of traditional ways under siege is enough to scare some countries into safeguarding their food heritage: Italy, Spain, Greece and Morocco recently launched an international campaign to win United Nations recognition by adding the Mediterranean Diet to its World Heritage List, and give it protected status just like historic sites.
In the meantime, I’m working on putting Dr. Trichopoulou’s advice into practice in my everyday life. Olive oil for dipping has become a staple on our dinner table and we regularly enjoy meatless meals along with our nightly glass of red wine. Mark and I are happily returning to Italy this fall with a plan to enjoy the old ways as much as we can. Salute!
For more great tips go to Click
2. Get most of your protein from beans and fish. Swap out some of your meat and get your protein from beans, nuts and other plants. By displacing meat, you’ll lower your saturated-fat intake while adding healthful nutrients, like fiber and antioxidant-rich flavonols. Heverling recommends starting with a few small changes: aim to make a plant-based dinner, like meatless chili once or twice a week. Or make the focus of the meal whole grains and vegetables and think of meat as a flavoring; for example, use a little diced pancetta in a tomato sauce for pasta.
3. Make olive oil your staple fat. Give heart-healthy olive oil as well as other plant-based oils like canola and walnut oil star billing over saturated-fat-laden, LDL-cholesterol-raising butter, lard or shortening—even in baking. Or do as the Greeks do and sauté your vegetable dishes in olive oil (ladera, or "oily" style) to highlight their flavor. Learn to appreciate extra-virgin olive oils with plenty of flavor, advises Antonia Trichopoulou, M.D., from the University of Athens School of Medicine: "Look for a yellow or green olive oil with a rich smell and taste." Pale, odorless oils are fine for baking and frying and are still high in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, she adds, "but they are lacking in the more than 200 microcomponents that have beneficial effects on health." Microcomponents like oleocanthal, for example, which is a potent anti-inflammatory found in extra-virgin olive oils.
4. Enjoy a glass of wine with meals. Enjoy wine in moderation during meals, never drinking alone outside of the meal and never in excess. Drinking wine increases HDL (good) cholesterol, may help regulate blood sugar and can even help you digest your food and absorb its nutrients. Wines, especially reds, also deliver a dose of heart-healthy resveratrol. Take Trichopoulou’s advice and use wine "to enjoy life, not to forget life!"
Can the Mediterranean Diet endure today?
I think ancient food traditions will never truly go away; they’ve already survived for millennia. But just the thought of traditional ways under siege is enough to scare some countries into safeguarding their food heritage: Italy, Spain, Greece and Morocco recently launched an international campaign to win United Nations recognition by adding the Mediterranean Diet to its World Heritage List, and give it protected status just like historic sites.
In the meantime, I’m working on putting Dr. Trichopoulou’s advice into practice in my everyday life. Olive oil for dipping has become a staple on our dinner table and we regularly enjoy meatless meals along with our nightly glass of red wine. Mark and I are happily returning to Italy this fall with a plan to enjoy the old ways as much as we can. Salute!
For more great tips go to Click
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