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EmailThe Mediterranean Diet is an ancient diet and lifestyle that has relatively recently acclaimed for its numerous health benefits.
Here you will find a plan into the Mediterranean Diet. Gourmed has also books that you can read about this unique diet.
The Mediterranean diet has been associated with longer life spans and lower rates of heart disease and cancer.
The traditional Mediterranean diet is characterized by a high intake of vegetables, legumes, fruits and nuts, and cereals (that in the past were largely unrefined), and a high intake of olive oil but a low intake of saturated lipids, a moderately high intake of fish (depending on the proximity of the sea), a low-to-moderate intake of dairy products (and then mostly in the form of cheese or yogurt), a low intake of meat and poultry, and a regular but moderate intake of ethanol, primarily in the form of wine and generally during meals.
It has become customary to represent the diet in the form of a triangle (“pyramid”), the base of which refers to foods which are to be consumed most frequently and the top to those to be consumed rarely, with the remaining foods occupying intermediate positions. In the food pyramid, frequencies rather than exact quantities in grams are indicated, because most consumers think in this way about the foods they consume. Consideration of frequencies, however, implies a standardized portion size, multiples of which are to be consumed. These portions have been variously termed “servings” or, when foods of similar origin or composition are considered, “equivalents”.
A total of about 22 to 23 servings are to be consumed daily, in three or four meals. So, one serving is equal to:
· one slice of bread (25g)
· 100 g potatoes
· half a cup (i.e. 50-60 g) of cooked rice or pasta
· a cup of raw leafy vegetables or half a cup of other vegetables, cooked or chopped (i.e. ~ 100 g of most vegetables)
· one apple (80 g), one banana (60 g), one orange (100 g), 200 g of melon or watermelon, 30 g of grapes
· one cup of milk or yogurt
· 30 g of cheese
· 1 egg
· ~ 60 g of cooked lean meat or fish
· one cup (i.e. 100 g) of cooked dry beans
