To live a long and healthy life, it is important not only to eat healthy foods but to combine them correctly. And the best type of food in this regard is the Mediterranean diet.
Mediterranean type of nutrition
Long-life has been a dream of people since time immemorial, but also important to live not just for a long time, but also in good physical and mental condition. Doctors are increasingly focusing not only on healthy food but also on the correct combination of it: the Mediterranean type of nutrition is recognized as the best in this regard. The results of a study by Italian scientists are published in the journal Nutrients.
Why Mediterranean diet so beneficial?
Doctors note that the Mediterranean diet is not a diet, but a model of a balanced, healthy diet. Nutritional research in recent decades has focused on food combination patterns rather than individual foods.
Various dietary patterns are associated with health benefits, but most of the evidence in the medical literature relates to traditional dietary habits and lifestyles in the Mediterranean region.
Scientists again analyzed the nutrition of residents (moreover, different groups of the population) of seven countries that adhere to the Mediterranean diet. And they noted that this type of nutrition is most useful in terms of prevention and treatment of age-related non-communicable diseases. Namely, diseases of the heart and blood vessels, metabolic disorders, that is, disorders in metabolic processes, age-related changes in the brain, depression, cancer, colds, and even fractures.
In addition, the Mediterranean diet is environmentally friendly: doctors call this type of nutrition an intangible world heritage of healthy living with respect for the environment.
What foods are included in the Mediterranean diet?
Most of the diet in such a diet is fruits, vegetables, vegetable fats, and proteins, and sweets and fatty meats are avoided.
Losing weight
With the Mediterranean diet, you can also lose weight, but slowly and without harm to health. The process of losing weight is slow, but without the feeling of hunger and stress: in addition, with this type of diet, it is also recommended to engage in feasible sports.
Menu of the inhabitants of the Mediterranean:
- seafood and non-fatty fish;
- chicken, turkey, lean beef, rabbit;
- dairy foods but only without additives (that is, unsweetened) and with a low percentage of fat;
- fast carbohydrates, that is, sugar, sweets, are replaced by slow ones: whole grain pasta, wholemeal bread;
- alcohol is also limited, except dry wine no more than a glass a day.
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