Mediterranean Diet Research Paper

The Mediterranean diet stems from the fact that individuals in the Mediterranean region are known for outliving Americans and living healthier, free from heart and brain diseases as well as cancer. Choosing to follow a Mediterranean diet can promote weight loss, diabetes control, and a reduced risk of heart diseases while maintaining a variety of options. Since the Mediterranean is a region with diverse cultures, ethnicities, and agricultural economies there is no single “Mediterranean Diet” but overall the plan and eating lifestyle consists of high consumption of vegetables, legumes, and good unsaturated fat (olive oil) with more moderate consumption of proteins.

One of the many benefits to following a Mediterranean diet is the variety of foods you have to choose from. Mediterranean diets encourage eating copious amounts of fruits, vegetables, bread, potatoes, beans, nuts, and seeds with more moderate consumption of dairy products, fish, poultry, and red meats. As a result the Mediterranean diet is very wholesome offering a bit of each macromolecule.

Through fruits, beans, potatoes, pasta, and other grains one is exposed to carbohydrates. These carbohydrate-based foods are split into three main groups; starches, sugars, and fibers. Starches get a bad wrap but Mediterranean folks turn the table by implementing whole grains over refined

grains thus including important nutritious elements like vitamins and minerals in their diet. As a result it is not uncommon to find peas, garbanzos, and couscous in dishes. While the Mediterranean diet is relatively low in sugar intake there are some sugars nonetheless. Fruits naturally contain sugars called fructose and Mediterraneans traditionally use apples, apricots, avocados, cherries, grapefruits, grapes, olives, oranges, peaches, pears, pomegranates, strawberries, and tomatoes. Lastly, fibers have a prominent role in the Mediterranean eating lifestyle as well. While much of the fiber we consumed goes undigested most Americans do not consume enough fibers. Mediterraneans have incorporated legumes, nuts, and whole grain bread to get the necessary amounts of fiber we need.

Next up is proteins, also found prominently in Mediterranean diets through fish, legumes, eggs, nuts, and seeds. Proteins are important to our diets because they make up a lot of what we are and carry out life essential tasks. Protein is what gives us our hair and nails, enzymes and hormones, and lean muscle. Protein in the Mediterranean diet predominantly comes from legumes and whole grains with eggs, nuts, and fish or seafood coming second. Tree nuts such as almonds, pecans, pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts, macadamia nuts, and lichee nuts are consumed as snacks or as complementary parts of a larger dishes.

Mediterranean diets make good use of lipids, using healthy unsaturated fats over saturated fats.

In fact most Mediterranean diets shun dairy products like cheese and butter instead aiming for unsaturated fats like olive oil and omega-3 (found in fish). As a result, fish is eaten frequently by natives of the region and dishes are traditionally accompanied by olive oil whether it be to dip the bread in or to dress the salad. Unlike harmful saturated and trans fats that raise cholesterol levels and increase blood pressure, unsaturated fat are easier to breakdown, less dense, and less likely to clump up causing arterial

plaque.

The final macromolecule is the nucleic acid and while it is very important to organisms it poses no nutritional value. You will find nucleic acids in every item within the Mediterranean diet with the exception of water that is abiotic and as such has no need for nucleic acids.

The Mediterranean diet really has no calorie goal instead emphasizing the consumption of fruits and vegetables over meats and dairy products as sources of energy. As part of the diet regime, exercise and drinking plentiful amounts of water (optionally, wine is accepted at low to moderate levels) is strongly recommended. For those who have losing weight in mind curving calorie intake or including exercise is the best way to go. Dieters are also encouraged to stick with the diet for at least six months to begin seeing progress in weight loss. Finally, portions as with other diets is key to living healthily.

Research in the mid-twentieth century pointed to the Mediterranean diet’s health benefits (disease prevention and control as well as long life expectancy) and with its variety, freedom for experimentation, and palatability it quickly became popular soon after. The Rockefeller Foundation was the first to investigate the Mediterranean’s diets when it studied dietary intake in Crete after World War II in 1948. People’s selections reflected very low fat and sugar intake with cereals, vegetables, fruits, and olives making up the majority of the diet. Much of Crete’s intake was a result of what the region was like, abundant in vegetation but lacking animals. As a result the Rockefeller Foundation’s conclusion was that inhabitants needed a diet with a higher amount of food derived from animals.

Overall, the Mediterranean diet has little notoriety. Depending on where one lives food products may be more expensive or limited in supply but unlike other diets the Mediterranean diet doesn’t limit you to a certain food group, offers variety, and is child safe. As touched upon above, the Mediterranean way of eating is among the healthiest that exists. In fact, a recently published study by Harvard Medical School that has been tracking health data since 1976 found that middle-aged women who practiced a Mediterranean diet had longer telomeres than women of the same age that followed other diets. Telomeres are found at the end of chromosomes preventing them from unraveling. As DNA replicates and people age, telomeres shorten. Once the telomere becomes too short, the cell can no longer divide and it becomes inactive and dies. This makes the Mediterranean diet a very exciting and interesting diet to follow with science behind it backing reduced chronic cardiovascular diseases and now longevity.

In conclusion, the Mediterranean diet offers individuals attractive (and proven) health benefits while providing a fun meal plan that is varied and tasty.