Mediterranean Diet: New Study shows It's Great For Weight Loss
And your Heart
The Mediterranean diet first became popular as a heart health
diet, but its role may be changing. In the 1960's it was
discovered that some people in the Mediterranean, particularly
those from Crete, had a significantly longer life expectancy
than people elsewhere in the world. Their diet, which is high in
vegetables, meat, pasta, beans, cereals, olive oil and wine,
seemed to have the ability to protect them from heart disease
and stroke.
Today, though, it may become known as a weight loss diet.
Spanish Researchers studying the eating habits of 1,547 men and
1615 women aged 25-74, recently found that the more closely
subjects followed the diet, the lower their body fat levels
became. This was surprising, because, in other studies it had
been seen that Mediterraneans were not exactly slim and that
contrasted sharply to the usual expectation that if you're fat,
you're more likely to die of a stroke or heart attack.
The Mediterranean diet, is lower in foods like pastas, cheese,
red meats, milk and lard than a common European diet, which some
believe account for the differences in longevity. But sticking
to lower glycemic carbs like the beans and cereals also causes a
lower insulin response which is linked to the storage of fat in
our bodies. Low carb advocates say that the Mediterranean diet
works even better when it