What Food Choices Make up a Mediterranean Diet?

mediterranean diet
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When you think about Mediterranean food do you think of pitta, lasagna, plenty of white bread, lamb and pizza? If so, you are missing the point.

The Mediterranean Diet, proved time and again to lead to less disease, a healthier heart, better brain function and a multitude of other health benefits, has been misrepresented in recent years. A true healthy Mediterranean Diet is based on the eating habits of Greece, Crete and Southern Italy of around 1960.

That diet is based on whole foods, plants and vegetables. To these basic essentials small portions of lean, healthy meat can be added, as well as seafood 2 or 3 times a week. The idea is that good fats replace bad ones, and you should always eat a breakfast rich in high-fibre foods, fruits and whole grains.Though allowed,daily products, are used in limited amounts.

Below are a few popular food choices which make up a healthy Mediterranean-style diet.

Whole wheat, whole grains and oats
Good fats like extra-virgin olive oil, sunflower seeds, nuts and avocados
Fish like salmon and sardines, tuna and herring
Shellfish, such as clams, oysters and mussels
Herbs and natural spices
Fruits and vegetables of all kinds
Whole foods (foods that are as close to their natural state as possible)
Foods you should avoid or eat less

An understanding of your eating options also means knowing what foods you should avoid, or simply cut back on. If you limit your intake of the following food items and components, and you will be making smart Mediterranean food choices.

Fast food and fried food
Processed and red meat
Products made with white flour
Refined sugar
Bad fats like hydrogenated oils, saturated fats and trans fats
Butter, margarine and lard
Salt
Monosodium glutamate (MSG is found in up to 80% of all processed food)the
Isn’t this rather too strict a diet?

It doesn’t have to be.You can see the above are foods to avoid or eat less of and are not all strictly forbidden. Eating red meat a few times a month is considered alright. And sea salt can be used in limited quantities since it is not processed like table salt. Essentially, it is important to focus on eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains, and less processed and refined food, salt, sugar and unhealthy fats.The wide variety of foods available and good for you means that the diet is not boring.

Gina Crawford has written a comprehensive guide to the real deal Mediterranean Diet with many delicious and easy to produce recipes.

Making smart food choices is the basis of the Mediterranean Diet. Before you prepare your next meal, be honest with yourself. Is your diet primarily whole food, plant and vegetable-based? Does it substitute healthy fats for bad fats? Will it ensure that you eat fish 2 or 3 times each week, and red meat no more than 2 or 3 times a month? If so, you are well on your way to choosing the foods found in a Mediterranean-style diet that lead to fewer diseases and better overall health.

 

7 Tips to help keep you well this winter

11th November 2010

· 7 Tips to help keep you well this winter
· How to become a well paid writer with five minute writing
· Will you be ready when your energy bills hit the doormat early next year?

Hi,

How are we to face the shorter days of winter, the awful weather, and the inevitable colds and sniffles? A recent Daily Mail report looks at practical ways to help us stay well this winter.

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7 practical ways to help keep you well this winter
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· Your mother knew best how to keep the common cold at bay

· Beat the bug

· Don’t feel SAD. As the nights draw in, a fifth of us have the winter blues …advice from the SAD Association

· What you need to know about the flu jab

· Use a range of herbal remedies and plants as the best defence to colds

· Boost your immune system with the 10 foods that are so beneficial to your health they are known as ‘super foods’.

· Have a very healthy Christmas

Read more: daily mail/health/article

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How to become a well-paid writer

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Becoming a well paid writer could be a dream you’ve cherished for years but never quite got round to fulfilling. Five minute writing is a serious way to make money writing, as you can find out below…

FIVE MINUTES IS ALL IT TAKES…

…to phone a friend…peel potatoes for dinner…make a paper plane…perhaps collect the grandkids from school…or write a few words that could earn you anything from a plastic apron or ballpoint pen, to a dream house in the sun, a top of the range sports car, or a magnificent hoard of cash prizes and luxury goods!
You can easily enter the fascinating world of The Five Minute Writer where:

· Even if a few minutes a day is all you can spare, you can still be a well respected, and regularly published writer.

· No special skills are required, you definitely don’t need a computer or word processor, a desk or phone.

· You don’t have to spend years learning your craft.

· Five minute writers are in great demand all over the world.

Why is it so profitable? Why do so many people enjoy five minute writing?

You can find out the reasons why and, also why publishers (and other regular clients) need your work at the five minute writer

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Will you be ready to receive your energy bills when they hit the doormat next year?

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Winter draws on! It’s the big switch on: lights, fires, heaters, and electric blankets. Now is the time to benefit from a little forward planning in this burn-now-pay-later season.

According to The Money Saving Expert, Martin Lewis:

“Many people on standard tariffs can currently save over £300 a year by switching to the cheapest online deals, plus get up to £30 cashback or a crate of wine for doing it.”

He says: “Switch NOW! Energy price HIKES are back – save £300…

And it’s no big deal: only price and customer service change; you get the same gas, electricity, pipes, meter & safety.”

He reports further that…”Scottish & Southern Energy (S&SE) has announced it’s hiking gas prices an average 9.4% on 1 Dec. Industry insiders now predict the other big six will follow soon, probably in the next few weeks if not by January at the latest…” Check the details out at the money saving expert

But do keep warm. Until next week.

Yours,

Mike Paterson,
The 60Life Weekly

[email protected]