By Peggy Sue McRae
Journal contributor
If you are looking for a sane and sensible way to eat healthier, the Mediterranean diet has a good track record and proven results. Recently, my cardiac team recommended the Mediterranean diet to me as a heart-healthy way to eat. For health, for your heart and for longevity, you might well consider incorporating this wisdom from the classical world into your daily life.
One reason doctors recommend the Mediterranean diet and why it remains so popular and successful is because it is not a strict regime. Most people are able to adapt it to their own lifestyles. Yes, you can have a piece of cake … on your birthday. Sweets are tucked up into the tippy top of the Mediterranean food pyramid; in other words, to be indulged in seldom or on special occasions, but they are not forbidden.
The key to the Mediterranean diet is making sure that you are getting plenty of fruits and vegetables. They make up the broad base of the Mediterranean food pyramid. They say a good way to get started is to begin by adding more fruits and vegetables to your regular meals. Locally produced foods are a plus, and this time of year, our local farmers are producing plenty of fresh greens. Soon we will have fresh tomatoes! The next rung up the pyramid features whole grains, including brown rice, whole-grain bread, pasta, oats and quinoa. You don’t have to cut out carbs, just the refined and processed ones.
Beans, fish, eggs and poultry are recommended sources of protein. Eating fish twice a week is recommended. No, not deep-fried with a side of fries and extra tartar, but the Mediterranean way: sauté your fillet in extra virgin olive oil. On the Mediterranean diet, extra virgin olive oil is your friend. One of the heart-healthy things about the Mediterranean diet is getting those good, unsaturated fats, fish oil, olive or nut and seed oils. This also means staying away from saturated fats like butter, palm oil and coconut oil. Red meat goes just below the top of the Mediterranean pyramid in the “OK once in a while” category.
What about dairy? What about cheese? I purchase feta cheese from Lum Farm on Orcas almost every week. What could be more Mediterranean than locally made goat cheese? Taking a closer look at feta cheese, I discovered it is lower in saturated fats than most other cheeses (OK), is a good source of protein and calcium (good) but can be high in sodium (uh-oh). As a heart patient, sodium is an issue. My solution to salty cheese is to use it as if it were salt. I’ve already been using Parmesan cheese to “salt” my food.
This is, of course, just a brief snapshot of the Mediterranean diet. There are vast amounts of information about it on the internet. Be advised, most of it is trying to sell you something. To take a more comprehensive look, I recommend the website of the Mediterranean Diet Foundation, https://dietamediterranea.com/en/.
To your health!
