Mediterranean Diet for Weight Loss

The Mediterranean Diet is often praised for its ability to reduce heart disease and cancer, as well as to extend the lifespan.
And of course these are all noble aims! Most of us would consider these to be very good things and would probably be more inclined to eat any diet that could improve our health in those ways.
At the same time though, many of us also start diets because we want to lose weight. And in a lot of cases, this might actually be the stronger motivating factor and the real reason we adopt a new diet to begin with. Not always, but often!
So how is the Mediterranean Diet when it comes to weight loss? Is this all about nutrients and fats? Or can you actually expect to cut some calories and see your weight go down as well? Let’s take a closer look…
The Good and the Bad
The reason that some people might not think that the Mediterranean Diet is effective for weight loss, is that it doesn’t involve counting calories, cutting carbs or cutting fats.
You’re still eating everything you normally would, with no control in terms of the amounts that you’re allowed to eat. How can this possibly contribute to weight loss?
What’s more, is that the Mediterranean Diet is very focussed on fats – with lots of olive oil added! Seeing as fat contains 9 calories per gram (versus 4 for other types of food), this is a concern.
But then there’s good news too. For starters, the Mediterranean Diet keeps you feeling much fuller for longer. Why is that? Simply because it contains those fats and it contains lots of nutrients.
This is you giving your body real food and the kind of real food that it actually needs. As such, you don’t find yourself craving food all the time and you actually get to feel full! This aids considerably with weight loss.
What’s more is that many nutrients actually improve weight loss. For example, you will be getting things like CoQ10 from the meats and fish which will improve your energy metabolism. Garlic does the same. So do B complex vitamins!
So is this diet good for weight loss or not?
The answer is definitely yes! This is a diet that helps you to eat healthier and when you do that, weight loss will come naturally.
At the same time though, you can’t simply rely on this diet on its own to help you shed pounds.
Rather, you need to ensure that you work hard to lose weight on it as well. The fortunate thing is that the meals are delicious and the lifestyle is practical… so this is a diet you actually can be strict with!