The Mediterranean Diet is a lifestyle. And so it’s not merely a set of dos and don’ts especially in relation to your eating habits. To benefit most from it, long time practice is needed. Because of this you have a lot of leeway in following the Mediterranean Diet. In terms of food you can simply have the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid as your guide and you will go a long way.

If there’s one diet plan which a lot of people look forward to following, that is none other than the Mediterranean diet. This is because the diet is based on the staple foods enjoyed by the people from Mediterranean countries. Not only are the food items tasty, but they also offer a multitude of health benefits.

Here, we will take a look at the food groups and the individual food items that you can get to enjoy by following the Mediterranean diet, as well as the health benefits that you can get to enjoy in addition to meeting your weight loss goals.

If you’re already a veteran follower of the Mediterranean diet, you might be familiar with the traditional healthy Mediterranean diet pyramid. The illustration indicates the food groups and individual food items that you should consume on a monthly, weekly and daily basis.

The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid

The pyramid also indicates the importance of getting daily physical activity and getting the daily beverage recommendation of six glasses of water a day. Wine can be taken in moderation; fruits, nuts, legumes and vegetables should be eaten on a daily basis – along with bread, pasta, rice, couscous, polenta, potatoes and other whole-grain foods.

Meat can be consumed monthlyl sweets, eggs, poultry and fish should be incorporated in your diet on a weekly basis. Similarly, cheese and yogurt are an important part of the Mediterranean diet.

How to Start the Mediterranean Diet?

Just like any other diet plan, there are rules that you need to follow with the Mediterranean diet. Here’s a basic glimpse at the rules:

• Follow the traditional healthy Mediterranean diet pyramid. When following the Mediterranean diet, there’s a helpful pyramid illustration which you can use as a reference. On top of the pyramid is meat followed by sweets, eggs, poultry and fish. These should be consumed monthly and weekly. The bottom part of the pyramid includes the food groups which should be consumed on a daily basis which includes cheese, yogurt, olive oil, fruits, beans, legumes, nuts, vegetables, bread, pasta, rice, couscous, polenta and other whole grains and potatoes.

• The proportions of what you are eating should be just right. Another rule to follow if you are a proponent of the Mediterranean diet is the proportion of the foods that you are eating. Make sure that your diet consists of 20% protein, 50% carbohydrates and 30% fats.

• The Mediterranean involves an intensive use of olive oil. As you can see from the list of foods included on the Mediterranean diet pyramid, they are mostly Italian or Mediterranean food staples. This is the reason why olive oil plays such a huge part in the diet, because of the health benefits that it brings. It contains antioxidants, oleic acid, vitamins, iron and poliphenols which help lower your cholesterol and blood pressure level.

• Substitute sugar with honey. Instead of sugar, sweeten your food and drinks with honey.

• Drink six glasses of water and make sure that you have plenty of daily physical activity. This is an integral part of the weight loss and healthy living program which is the Mediterranean diet. Make sure to drink six glasses of water, and get the daily physical activity that you need.

• Another important component of the Mediterranean diet is that instead of eating three square meals a day, you should consume five lighter meals. This includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks in between.

Mediterranean Diet Food List

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: This is the foundation of a Mediterranean diet. Instead of cooking with lard, butter or margarine, extra virgin olive oil is used. Olive oil is a great source of monounsaturated fats, vitamin E and phenols. Perhaps the best thing about using olive oil as a staple to any Mediterranean diet cooking is that it has that wonderfully fresh and light taste, making it a perfect ingredient for salad dressings, sauces for pasta and even as bread condiment.

• ‘Oily’ Fish: Tuna, mackerels, salmon and herring are some of the oily fish used in the Mediterranean diet, which are great sources of Omega 3 fatty acids to benefit your heart’s health.

• Fruits & Vegetables: Instead of going for sweet, processed desserts, why not enjoy the natural sweetness of fruits? Vegetables in omelets, as well as a multitude of spices and herbs are also a major part of the Mediterranean diet.

• Beans, Legumes and Nuts: Almonds, cashews, flaxseeds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and walnuts are also an important part of the Mediterranean diet. They can be used as part of a meal or as snacks and they are chockful of vitamins and minerals to benefit your health.

• Other Mediterranean Diet Food Staples: Eggs, poultry, red wine, fresh herbs and spices, cereals, grains – these are the other food items that you need to stock your pantry with if you want to take advantage of the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet.

Sample Mediterranean Diet Menu

If you are wondering if the Mediterranean Diet is for you, here’s a sample menu for a day on the Mediterranean Diet. This will give you a taste of what this diet is all about.

Start with a Great Breakfast

Start your day with a dose of zinc, calcium and vitamins A and C. But this does not have to be a boring breakfast. You will surely love yogurt with the nuts and honey. Simply prepare a ripe apricot pitted and halved. Of course, don’t forget 4 tablespoons of Greek or plain yogurt and the honey. Prepare a tablespoon of roughly chopped pistachios.

The preparation is quite simple so it’s so easy and convenient to prepare. Simply get the first half of the apricot and fill it with 2 tablespoons of yogurt and sprinkle it with honey and then with pistachios. If you want your ordinary yogurt to get a thick texture, you can sift it through a sieve with a coffee filter on. Then put the container with the yogurt in the freezer for about 6 hours before using it.

Follow through Lunch

This time you would be enjoying the pita sandwich filled with Greek salad. For the salad, you would need a table of red wine vinegar and 3 tablespoons of extra virgin live oil. All you have to do is whisk these two in a bowl. Add salt and pepper for seasoning. Then you have to get the other ingredients and mix everything into the bowl. You would need a cup of diced cucumber and a cup of green bell pepper. Make sure you have 1 ¼ cups of chopped plum or cherry tomatoes, ½ cup of chopped radishes and ½ cup of chopped up Italian parsley.

You also need to include 2/3 cup of chopped red onion. And then stir everything in ½ cup of feta cheese. The salad can be done ahead. In fact, it would even be convenient so all you would have to do is put the salad into the pita bread and you’re done. You can prepare your lunch in just a matter of minutes. As you can see, the Mediterranean Diet focuses on plant food like vegetables. So, your diet is full of antioxidants and immune system boosters. The nuts are there also to provide you with sufficient protein too.

Your Choice of Dinner

You can continue your vegetable theme. Just whisk a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Gradually add and whisk in a half cup of extra virgin olive oil. Add and stir 3 pressed garlic cloves, a teaspoon of fresh basil and 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped into the bowl. Add some salt and pepper to season. Then cover the bowl and chill. In a separate large bowl, toss 2 halved and thinly sliced large red onions and ½ inch strips of red, yellow and orange bell peppers.

Then toss in a pound of ½ inch slices of eggplant, half pound of 1/3 inch thick yellow squash and half pound of 1/3 inch thick zucchini. To season, add a drizzle of coarse salt and pepper. Add the dressing until every part has been coated and place them into 2 large baking sheets for a 35-minute roasting in the 450 degrees preheated oven. With a consistent vegetable and plant food diet, you get to fill your stomach and you get to enjoy your meals too without sacrificing your health.

How Should I Cook Foods?

In following the Mediterranean Diet you should not only be careful in buying food produce in the supermarket. But you also have to be conscious on how you cook them. You may be buying healthy food but end up ruining the effects by cooking them incorrectly. This only means that to get the best results from the Mediterranean Diet you have to be careful from marketing to cooking and even to eating.

Not to worry though as a lot of the recipes for Mediterranean Diet are simple to prepare. But they are surely satisfying to the palate. Of course, it’s important that you know some basic cooking in order to produce delicious meals too.

For instance, grilling sounds so simple to do. But if you put your food too close to the fire if you put too much heat, you would not be able to cook it properly. Before the insides get done, the surface would already be burned.

Grilling is a great idea for wild mushrooms and seasonal vegetables. The trick is to put the grill or rack just about 4 inches direct above the hot embers. The direct heat would cook your food in time. Just make sure that you check it from time to time so as not to overcook one side of your food.

Frying is a common way of cooking. You simply need a skillet or a shallow frying pan. You put it on top of the stove and begin cooking. You will, of course, need oil. But if you are following the Mediterranean Diet you would have to use olive oil instead of lard and other cooking oil. Olive oil provides a thin wrapping around the food so it will not absorb so much oil. Olive oil also preserves the healthy nutrients of the food even at high temperatures. You can fry onion rings or your sardines and enjoy a simple but healthy meal or snack.

Alternatively, you can also bake bream in salt. This would be a good recipe that uses fish as a main ingredient so it conforms to the Mediterranean Diet. Baking it would be a healthy way of cooking the fish. You simply put salt and other seasoning on the fish and cook it under the dry heat in the oven.

Boiling is yet another healthy way of cooking. You can do this with your pasta and potatoes. Chick pea and rice is also boiled. Since there is no oil or butter in it, it is very healthy depending, of course, on what you are boiling.

You can also roast sweet peppers and eggplants over hot embers or ashes. This is referred to as Escalivar, a common Catalan method of cooking. You can basically do the same to other vegetables. Because of the wood and the flavors of the seasoning, the dish becomes rich in flavor and taste. You will surely enjoy your roasted vegetables. So, it is one creative alternative of cooking vegetables which are the main bulk of the Mediterranean Diet.

Will I Lose Weight With the Mediterranean Diet?

It’s not really just minimization of fat consumption that makes you lose weight. While fat is minimized in the Mediterranean Diet, what’s more important is that you eliminate the consumption of unhealthy fats and only include the healthy oils and fats in your diet.

With olive oil as a primary source of fat and limiting red meat consumption to a minimum, you are sure to lose weight. The Mediterranean Diet composes of vegetables fruits, nuts and legumes. Fish should also be included in your diet. The result would be high antioxidant levels in the body. So, your immune system is strengthened. You also avoid heart diseases because your diet is able to lower cholesterol and high blood pressure. The same mechanism helps you lose weight. In fact, a long term lifestyle of Mediterranean Diet would result to lower body weight and lower body fat. Even people who have the genetic tendency to grow large can benefit from the same effects.

The good thing about losing weight this way is it is safe and healthy. All food groups are taken in so your body receives complete and well-balanced nutrients. You even get to eat tasty food while on diet. And again, because of its high antioxidant and omega-3 content, it even helps you avoid certain heart diseases and cancer.