The (seemingly) magical Mediterranean diet

Posted 17 July 2008

We love dietary cure alls, especially when they’re as tasty as this

The Mediterranean diet has been purported to prevent everything from diabetes to asthma and just about everything in between. The latest report shows it could cut the risk of cancer.

Considering what it is comprised of, it’s no surprise. This is no faddy "cabbage soup diet" but really a culmination of what we already know - lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, legumes, unprocessed grains and lower amounts of red meat, dairy and alcohol. Oh yes, and the wonder ingredient, olive oil.

Oil me up

Olive oil’s magic comes from monounsaturated fat, which reduces the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) also known as the "bad" cholesterol levels in blood. This in turn can lower your risk of heart disease. Your best bet is to substitute olive oil for saturated fats, so try cooking with olive oil instead of butter. All olive oil is good, but "virgin" and "extra virgin" are least processed and contain more good stuff (polyphenols, a strong antioxidant).

The healthy effects of the diet were discovered when researchers noticed that inhabitants of Spain and Greece had noticeably lower rates of illness including heart disease. The researchers then looked at the predominant diet in these countries and discovered what we know - fresh and simple is best.

Another factor was the amount of exercise people in these countries participated in, not so much as gym going, but more that life’s work is more physical.

The M.E.D in the UK

This diet is fairly easy to mimic (minus the glowing sunshine and easily caught fish), in fact you don’t have to go all the way and suddenly pretend to be Greek - one study showed that just by consuming more "unsaturated" fats, like olive oil dropped cancer risk by 9%. And by eating more pulses and less red meat risk dropped 12%.

So instead of thinking of it as "diet" food, why not just imagine you’re on a lovely Greek holiday in Crete mmm...delicious.