BACK ON MY SOAP BOX

Now here is a "diet" that I like the sound of. Interestingly there are no wild claims and promises for ground breaking weight loss but more commentary on its health benefits. Lets take a look at its key features:

1. High consumption of virgin olive oil. Fantastic. Good fats are filling and tasty. No more feeling hungry a couple of hours after eating because the meal was uber low in fat. You'll have healthy skin, shiny hair and healthy insides.



2. High intake of vegetables and fruits and legumes. Does this even warrant a comment? To me its basic commonsense. If you're not familiar with legumes, buy a vegetarian cookbook and experiment. There's a whole new world of very delicious foods to be explored ... oh and they're good for you.


3. Use of non refined carbohydrates (portions to be adjusted to physical activity). Well worth the effort to substitute with non-refined instead of what is otherwise known as "processed crap". Again, this is a no-brainer.


4. Consumption of fish, specially oily (or “bluish” one) three or four times a week Atlantic salmon is one of my favourites so this is a pleasure to follow. But I think some clarification may be required .... this does NOT include battered and deep fried from the local take away (remember the Mediterranean peasants didnt have a Barnacle Bills to rely on for a Friday night take-away)


5. Consumption of milk and derivates, cheese and yogurt (the original cheese was fresh goat cheese). Keep an eye on the saturated fats of the dairy products. Not too much! I like the flexibility here. By all means have dairy foods ... just NOT TOO MUCH.


6. Three or four eggs per week. I'm sure that unlimited egg whites would be appropriate as we all know thats not where the saturated fat lies. But again up to 4 eggs a week is fine so there is flexibility here.


7. Moderate consumption of meat and saturated fats. Now this is where all the figure athletes are tuning out (on the meat issue, not the SF issue). And thats ok. If your sport requires a particular diet then thats what you need to eat. I'm looking at this from a general health and wellbeing aspect ... something that COULD be a lifestyle beacuse its easy to maintain and promotes good health. I know that with the addition of legumes to my diet, I could easily cut right back on the meat. Again I like that its not totally banned.

8. One or two small glasses of wine a day, preferably red and at the main meals. White wine and beer are alternatives. Now this is what has sold the diet to me 110%. Pass the cab sav and cheers :-)


9. Nuts as snacks As much as I (secretly) love some junk food and do indulge from time to time, I love nuts as much if not more. I see this as taking something away (the less healthy or "junk" food) and replacing it with something equally as tasty but healthy. I'm sold.

So today our local paper had a short article on the benefits of the Mediterranean Diet hence my inspired post. What is painfully obvious though is that the Dukan Diet with all its unrealistic promises, rules and restictions and sensational claims got a 4 page spread on Sunday whilst the MD got 5 paragraphs on page 9 (admittedly with a great picture to take up 1/3 of the page).

Sad that society still promotes the sensational (at the expense of our health and wellbeing) over the sensible. Is it any wonder that there are still many very confused individuals who struggle to know what to eat to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

OK stepping off my soap box now and going to buy some nuts for my afternoon snack :-)

Magda