If you intend to go on a diet for your digestive health, you can consult your doctor for a FODMAP diet. The Mediterranean diet has also been a long-time credible method for weight loss. Many pieces of evidence show how it reduces the risk of developing chronic conditions.
For example, it reduces the chances of developing cardiovascular disease and hypertension. You might even avoid getting Type 2 Diabetes in the process of this diet.
As the name implies, a Mediterranean diet revolves around people’s traditional eating and drinking habits. Let’s talk about this dietary method in depth below.
What does a Mediterranean Diet Consist Of?
Because of the Mediterranean sea’s vastness, there’s a natural variation of food. But the key principles of the Mediterranean diet are similar across regions. This involves cooking from scratch, avoiding processed food, and celebrating meals with loved ones.
You’ll find that the Mediterranean diet meal plan is based on seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables. Along with whole grains, beans, and legumes, the diet also involves nuts, seeds, fish, and olive oil, so it has many features that can help you succeed in weight loss.
The Mediterranean diet also involves daily physical activity. Coupled with sharing meals with others, there’s a profound effect on your mood and health. You start to foster a deep appreciation for the pleasures of healthy living.
This diet won’t just cut your weight but also keeps you healthy. You’ll see why Grecians have the lowest rate of chronic diseases and the highest life expectancy worldwide.
What are the Health Benefits of a Mediterranean Diet?
It Uses Healthy Fats and Prevents Heart Disease and Strokes
A Mediterranean diet prevents you from eating too much refined bread, processed foods, and red meat. Instead, it encourages you to drink red wine, which has all the factors to help you prevent heart disease and stroke. Even the fats used in cooking are healthy because they come from olive oil.
It Keeps You Agile
If you’re an adult approaching your fifties, a Mediterranean diet will greatly help you. It can reduce the possibility of developing muscle weakness and signs of frailty. The nutrients from their food and dairy will keep your bones healthy.
It Reduces the Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
The Mediterranean diet has been a topic of research for dieticians they’ve proven how it improves overall blood vessel health. With a Mediterranean diet meal plan, you can expect better cholesterol and blood sugar levels. The diet reduces your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
It Halves the Risk of Getting Parkinson’s Disease
The Mediterranean diet consists of food with high levels of antioxidants. The oxidative stress from the said diet is a process that prevents your cells from undergoing a damaging process. This cuts your risk of acquiring Parkinson’s disease in half.
It Protects You From Two Types of Diabetes
A Mediterranean diet consists of food rich in fiber which digests slowly. This prevents a huge increase in blood sugar, and it will help you keep a healthy weight. You will also have healthy levels of hemoglobin A1C, which marks long-term blood sugar control.
Prepared Meals Or Mediterranean Diet Meal Delivery?
The Mediterranean diet emphasizes plant foods compared to other diets. People who follow this dietary method usually cook their food in healthy fats like olive oil. The meals include small portions of fish, meat, or eggs, aside from vegetables and legumes.
You may consume moderate amounts of red wine to go with it. Additionally, you’re allowed to drink water or other unsweetened, zero-calorie drinks. It’s recommended that you stay hydrated all day in this diet.
Practicing meal planning and preparing your meals is a wonderful immersive exercise that will help you appreciate the dietary process. However, if you don’t have the time, ordering a Mediterranean diet meal delivery is also acceptable.
If you were to look for a Mediterranean diet meal delivery service, you need to consider a few things.
Quality of Ingredients
The ingredients need to be fresh and high quality because you’re aiming for unprocessed and organic food. It’s a huge plus if the ingredients are also sustainably sourced, so you’re supporting sustainable farming.
Is the Price Worth It?
Does the service they provide give a good value for their price? You’re paying for convenience and sustaining your lifestyle, so the price needs to be right. If they’re overpricing their ingredients and services but the quality is bad, the shop isn’t worth patronizing.
If they offer variety despite the price, then why not go for it? You can choose from several meal options and recipes suitable for your Mediterranean diet.
Sustainability Not Just for Ingredients
This sustainability doesn’t just mean ingredients but packaging and services. The meal delivery should use eco-friendly packaging that’s recyclable and reusable.
What are Vegetarian Mediterranean Diet Options?
The Mediterranean diet is low in red meat but big on fatty fish, like salmon, tuna, and mackerel. The question is how to turn it into a vegetarian Mediterranean diet, reaping the diet’s benefits without seafood. As a person, you still need protein, even without fish or meat in your system.
The health benefits of the diet mostly come from the vegetables and fruits in the diet. Vegetarians who want to try this diet can eat various nuts, beans, seeds, dairy, and tofu. Eggs and high-protein whole grains like quinoa will also greatly help your protein deficit worries.
Many of these foods can appear in your weekly rotation and meal planning. You can eat more beans and grains or have hearty meals with quinoa from time to time. You might notice that 20-30 grams of protein may help you feel more satisfied with your meals and gain healthy body weight.
Conclusion
The Mediterranean diet has been long proven to be good for weight loss because it involves a lot of vegetables and fruits. Even the fats used to cook the fish in the diet are healthy fats like olive oil. It might be difficult to succeed from the start, but you can adjust slowly since the diet has enough proteins.
Even if you opt for a vegetarian style of the Mediterranean diet, there are beans and whole grains for protein. If you can’t prepare your meals, you can go for a Mediterranean diet meal delivery.
Overall, the health benefits of a Mediterranean diet are long-term, like the prevention of heart diseases and dementia. You also reduce the risk of acquiring Parkinson’s disease and type two diabetes. Hence, the Mediterranean diet isn’t just good for weight loss but for your overall health as well.
