Mediterranean Diet

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Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean Diet is one that’s good for your heart. It’s a way of eating that uses everyday foods cooked in a way made popular by the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

This healthy style of eating focuses on creating recipes with local foods, but you don’t have to live near the Mediterranean to be able to eat the same way. This diet is a good one for people who want to lower their blood pressure, take care of their heart, lower their cholesterol or lose weight.

Along with dining on great tasting food, you’ll also be able to enjoy a glass of wine with your meal. You’ve probably noticed that the healthiest diets focus on eating things like fruits and vegetables and watching your fat intake.

This diet does that - but goes several steps further to teach you how to cook the meals in certain portion sizes so that you not only reduce your risk of cardiovascular diseases through lowering your LDL, but you get in the best shape of your life.

Studies have shown that the diet can also lower your risk of developing other diseases such as Alzheimer’s as well as some cancers. How the diet works is simple. You focus on building the main part of your eating plan around plant foods - which are mainly things like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

You’re encouraged to eat things like legumes and can have nuts on this diet as well. The diet guides users into switching out the fats that are bad for your heart and your weight with ones that promote health and can prolong your life.

That means using healthy oils such as extra virgin olive oil rather than cooking with butter. It does call for the reduction of salt, which in people who have hypertension is known to raise blood pressure because it makes the body hold on to extra fluid.

In the place of salt, you’ll use herbs and spices that are not only better for you, but give food an extra pop of taste as well. On this diet, you will have to cut back on red meat. Red meat isn’t that good for your heart and by replacing some of the consumption of that with things like poultry or fish, you’ll eat healthier.

What a lot of dieters like about this eating plan is that drinking red wine, which is good for the heart, is allowed. It’s easy to find success with this diet with some preparation that you can do ahead of time.

Make time to cook. That means if you have busy weeks, cook some meals on the weekend so you’ll have them ready when you’re too hungry or it’s too late to cook. Make enough of each meal for lunch leftovers for the next day. When you’re getting started with this eating plan, look for the quickest, simplest recipes first so you’ll find it easier to get started.