The Food Medic - Ask Dr. Hazel E6: THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET

Episode Date: February 11, 2022

This week's listener question covers the mediterranean diet - what it is, some example meals, and what is not included. If you loved this episode make sure to give it a review, rating (hopefully 5 stars) and share it with your friends and family. @thefoodmedic/www.thefoodmedic.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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exclusions and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over deliver. Hi, Hazel. My question is, it's very well known that the Mediterranean diet is one of the most healthy. Could you provide some ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner items? And can you confirm what kind of proteins and foods are included in the Mediterranean diet and sort of what are the misconceptions around it and items that are not included in the ideal healthy Mediterranean diet thank you thanks for your question as you've mentioned time and time again the one diet that is scientifically backed in terms of offering us the greatest health benefits and also longevity seems to be the Mediterranean diet. But a lot of people ask me, what does that actually mean? What is a Mediterranean diet?

So this dietary pattern is rich in colorful fruits and vegetables, legumes such as beans, peas and lentils, whole grains, olive oil, nuts and seeds with low to moderate amounts of dairy, eggs, fish and poultry and minimal amounts of red and processed meat, alcohol and sugar. The Mediterranean diet also places emphasis on cultural and lifestyle elements such as cooking, physical activity and also traditional local and environmentally friendly products as well as biodiversity and seasonality. So it's not just about the food that we eat it's also how we eat and where we're sourcing our foods from. In terms of meal ideas I don't want you to approach this as a strict diet or a meal plan per se because the benefits of the Mediterranean diet

are related to this eating pattern as a whole and not from the single foods or nutrients but because you asked and to start you off thinking about breakfast perhaps greek yogurt with fruit nuts or perhaps muesli you could have whole meal or whole grain toast with eggs or with cheese and tomato and some olive oil or porridge oats with fruit and honey lunch maybe in the warmer months you might be thinking about a salad with tomato dark leafy greens such as spinach maybe some pulses or chickpeas, beans, perhaps some feta with extra virgin olive oil as a dressing. A frittata or an omelette with some salad would be another great option or for something a bit more filling maybe a pita

with salad and hummus. You could also add in some tuna, cheese or chicken. And then for dinner, wholemeal pasta with some vegetables cooked in a tomato based sauce. You could try replacing some or all of the red meat with canned lentils or beans or something simple like grilled salmon with green beans and lentils or maybe a chicken breast stuffed with feta cheese, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. Or for a veggie alternative, you could do the same but use bell peppers instead of the chicken. So there are some ideas to kind of get you off on the right start. But again, I just want you to focus on the dietary pattern as a whole, as opposed to getting too focused in on the individual foods or nutrients.

And then you also mentioned protein. So the Mediterranean diet places emphasis on plant-based foods primarily so getting most of the protein from pulses whole grains nuts and seeds that kind of thing and then choosing fish as the preferred animal protein so aim to include one portion of oily fish per week if you consume it and then other animal proteins such as poultry eggs and dairy like cheese and yogurt should be eaten in kind of smaller to moderate amounts across the week and the meats that you want to limit are red and processed meats like deli meats and so it's not

to say you can't have them but just eating them less often and then I guess your third question in terms of misconceptions or items that are not included, I guess red wine often comes up quite a bit in that people think you can drink as much red wine as you like because it's in that Mediterranean style diet and it's heart healthy as they say but sadly that's not the case. so while it's true there are some compounds in red wine that acts as antioxidants to to reap the benefits of that you'd need to drink quite a lot of alcohol which can be detrimental to health so for people who choose to drink alcohol it's fine to drink wine in small amounts with your meal but I wouldn't drink it purely for the health benefits the good news is though you can find the same compounds in

grapes, blueberries, mulberries, cranberries and peanuts. I guess the other misconception is that it's all about pizza, pasta and cheese. While these foods are definitely part of it, the diet is very diverse with a variety of foods as I've just discussed. So feel free to include these foods but the emphasis should be placed on whole foods that are minimally processed and then final thing which I've already sort of mentioned it's not really a diet per se it should be adaptable to you and it shouldn't feel restrictive it's also not the only healthy eating pattern that exists and that's backed by research. So other cultures have their own healthy eating patterns which are similar in that they promote variety, moderation, a focus on

plant-based foods and whole foods in general. So it's important to think about what foods you enjoy and are accessible to you and that fit in your lifestyle. But hopefully that answers your question. Thank you so much for sending it in and if anyone listening would like to submit a question of their own please send your audio recorded questions to elliottthefoodmedic.co.uk and I'll see you again next time.