Is a Mediterranean Diet Good For You?

According to this study, eating a 'Mediterranean diet' as opposed to a 'Western diet' will help you to maintain your weight and your overall health.

People who live in the Mediterranean eat more fish, unsaturated fat, nuts, legumes, fruit and vegetables. In the Western world, we eat more potatoes, white rice, cereals, white bread.

I have just come back from Italy and I have mixed views on the Mediterranean diet. Italians certainly do not believe in breakfast. My experience was white bread, maybe some fruit, and even cake, but mostly they would just have a coffee and a type of danish. So how do they recover from this? Here is what I think:

1. As mentioned above, for lunch and dinner the Mediterranean population do eat plenty of salad, fish and vegetables, and of course pasta which is low GI (I know I was surprised when I heard this first too...doesn't every diet tell you to avoid pasta!)

2. What I believe the Italians get right is their portion size. They have small portions...a little bit of antipasti, small bowls of pasta, a little dessert. We tend to overindulge on every course. We really do not need that much food to fill us up!

3. Lifestyle!!! Yes people, it's all about having something other than work to fill your life. Mediterraneans are big into family, socialising, siestas...ah yes siestas. I remember complaining to my friend because the local shop was not open at 2pm in the day. How dare they! I soon grew to love and embrace this and learned to RELAX a bit when I realised having a nap in the middle of a hot day is pretty nice :)

So the conclusion is ...
- eat more fish, nuts, legumes, vegetables;
- take time out for yourself your friends and family;
- and try eating smaller portions.