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What the Mediterranean Diet Can Do for You
by Peggy Fisher
When there is plenty of wine, sorrow and worry take wing.
-Ovid, The Art of Love
-Eat, drink & be merry.
Cheers!
Mediterranean civilizations have flourished for centuries using olive oil as a dietary staple, offering to the gods, for cosmetics, fuel and medicine. Homer elevated its status, renaming it liquid gold. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, called it the "great therapeutic." His surviving works list more than 60 medical uses. Today science confirms these old remedies and discovers new ones for this miraculous green gold.
If you enjoy food and savor fine wine, you will be delighted to discover many delicious foods and drinks can please your palate, elevate your spirit, make you healthier and add years to your life.
Canadians need only look abroad and study the long-lived peoples in the cradle of Western civilization to get first-hand lessons how to improve our lifestyles and our lives.
An Epicurean's Delight
This month's prescription is an Epicurean's delight: eat, drink and be merry!
The news doesn't get better than this. Science has recently shown red wine offers incredible benefits. Enjoying wine and the Mediterranean diet is a powerful script for healthier and happier living. It is the perfect antidote to the blizzard of fast-food disasters which are making us ever fatter, as Boomers, Seniors and particularly children, gain weight at alarming rates.
The Mediterranean diet is a centuries-old tradition associated with people of Greece, France, Italy, etc. These people live long lives with little coronary heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other chronic conditions.
France, Spain and Israel see fewer than three deaths per 1000 from heart disease. This is the Number 1 killer in Canada where cardiovascular diseases claim more women's lives than all cancers combined. Russian men and women are eight times as likely to die from heart disease as French men and women.
The Mediterranean diet is low in saturated fat and high in fiber. Many researchers believe it can reduce your risk of heart disease better than any other diet, including the American Heart Association's low-fat diet.
Savor Succulent Mediterranean Cuisine
Traditional sun-drenched, succulent Mediterranean cuisine focuses on savory dishes using fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, fish and olive oil. It includes dairy products like hard cheeses and yogurt, eggs, and small amounts of red meat. People from the Mediterranean relish a glass or two of red wine with their meals. They enjoy fresh fruits and cheese for dessert or baked goods sweetened with sugar or honey a few times per week.
They incorporate activity into their daily lifestyle which helps maintain good health and optimal weight.
An Oxford University study reports olive oil provides potent protection against colon cancer. Countries with the highest olive oil intake have the lowest rate of this disease. High olive oil consumption decreases the risk for breast, lung, and skin cancers.
Healthy fats sustain your energy levels longer and are more satisfying than high carbohydrates, helping you lose weight and maintain weight loss.
A high intake of fiber- and antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables protects against cancers of the digestive and respiratory tracts, as well as those related to hormones.
A diet rich in complex carbohydrates and fiber and high in monounsaturated fats lowers cholesterol and the risk of heart disease.
Research is also discovering the powerful benefits of wine.
A 10-year study of over 100,000 nurses revealed that women who consumed 1-2 alcoholic beverages a day were 58 percent less likely to develop adult-onset diabetes.
Harvard geneticist Dr. David Sinclair has found a way to duplicate the benefits of restricted calories with resveratrol in red wine.
Dr. Sinclair has been interviewed by every major news network for his amazing discovery that this antioxidant can lengthen longevity by 70 percent, up to 50 years. A 125-year human lifespan would become possible. Resveratrol activates enzymes that prevent cancer, staves off cell death and boosts cellular-repair systems. It inhibits fungal infection, raises HDL (good) cholesterol, lowers male PSA levels, increases immunity, controls blood pressure, prevents blood clots, inhibits inflammation and fights heart disease and age-related brain disorders.
Until now, the only unequivocal method for prolonging life has been Draconian calorie restriction. Most people would find near-starvation an unacceptable deprivation to possibly increase their life spans.
Grape juice, raisins and supplements provide little, if any, resveratrol. White wine has ten times less resveratrol than red, which today is its only reliable source.
So whip up a fresh Greek salad with dark leafy greens, bright red tomato wedges, onions, feta cheese and warm pita bread dipped in virgin olive oil. Savor a glass of merlot, and enjoy for your body and soul.
Opa!
*Peggy Fisher is a syndicated columnist who features safety, fitness and environmental stewardship. She has had work published in newspapers, magazines and websites in over 100 countries. She offers free weekly Seaside Scoop email with Word for the Week and fitness, conservation tips and inspiration from the sea at: writingbyfisher@bellsouth.net.
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