The Mediterranean Diet
When someone says “Mediterranean diet” do you picture falafel and hummus, or feta and olives in a fresh Greek salad? Although these are typical plates ordered at a Mediterranean restaurant, there’s more behind the diet than these standard dishes.
What Do I Eat?
- Vegetables throughout the day – not potatoes
- Fruit throughout the day
- Legumes including beans and peas
- Whole grains mainly whole wheat, as a daily staple
- Nuts regularly
- Olive oil as the main culinary oil and to replace butter
- Fish and poultry a couple of times per week
- Alcohol with meals
What To Avoid?
- Saturated fats from butter, meats and egg yolks
- Red meat rarely
- Deli meat, cured meat and cold cuts
- Refined sugars and sweets rarely
- Processed foods and fast food
*To simplify, refer to the chart below.
Evidently, this diet is not “low-fat”, rather heart healthy fats are frequently consumed on a daily basis. These include olive oil, nuts, olives, hummus and more.
The one thing this diet eliminates are our modern North American enemies: fried food, fast food and packaged foods – more simply, junk food. Although it would be nice to pull an “Eat, Pray Love”, pack up your things and move to Europe to embrace their food habits, you can easily do so by adopting this lifestyle and way of eating. There are many cultural grocery stores and restaurants around the GTA offering these menu items. Although it’s okay to indulge at the drive-thru at times, it’s best to maintain a diet filled with quality and wholesome foods.
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