The Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean diet has been praised for decades as one of the healthiest in the world.
For centuries, the inhabitants of Italy, Greece, France and other Mediterranean cultures had eaten a diet high in omega-3 fats, vegetables, whole grains, fish, fruits and red wine.
American researchers first began studying the Mediterranean Diet in the 1970s, and study after study has shown that strictly following it leads to a myriad of health benefits, including lowered risk of heart disease and many types of cancer.
The Mediterranean Diet is most famous for staving off heart disease.
But there’s growing evidence that the eating pattern — heavy on vegetables, fruits, olive oil and fish — offers some protection from a surprisingly broad list of health problems.
Among them: Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, certain cancers, diabetes, weight gain, and perhaps even infertility.
Mediterranean Diet
To rate how closely your eating habits fit the Mediterranean Diet, use the following scale
(adapted from the diet score created by Antonia Trichopoulou and colleagues at the University of Athens Medical School, Greece, with U.S. data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.)
Give yourself 1 point for each yes answer, and 0 for each no.
Vegetables: 4 or more servings a day
Legumes (a class of vegetables that includes beans, peas and lentils): 1 or more servings a week
Fruit: 3 or more servings a day
Nuts and seeds: 1 or more servings a week
Whole grains: 1 or more servings a day
Fish: 4 or more servings a week
Fats: More unsaturated fats, such as olive oil, than saturated fats, such as butter.
Alcohol: 1/2 to 1 drink a day for women; 1 to 2 for men
Red and processed meat: Fewer than 2 servings a day for women, fewer than 3 a day for men
Totals of six or higher put you in the range of highest benefit.
Scores less than four mean you are getting little or no protection.
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