The Daily Telegraph featured a great story on Wednesday 26th April titled: Have a Big Fat Greek Shedding, Oz diet out, Mediterranean eating in. I love that the article took up almost a whole page and discussed a few research findings that were to be presented at The Australian Biology of Ageing Conference in Sydney on the same day.
Some of the points mentioned:
- That in general, Greek and Italian migrants suffer poorer health when they swap Mediterranean eating to following the Australian dietary guidelines
- That eating high carbohydrate could be a key to living a longer life
- A specific study at Concord Hospital of 800 Greek and Italian men, “didn’t do well”, when following the Australian dietary guidelines
I have been helping clients for many years to move towards Mediterranean eating, and including more plant based foods, and I have see the positive effects. This style of eating was part of the inspiration behind our own BJC Cookbook, Anti-Inflammatory Eating, Recipes from your Dietitian’s Kitchen.
The aim of Mediterranean eating includes:
- Eating wholegrain breads and cereals
- Eating vegetables with every meal and fresh fruit daily
- Eating 2-3 legume based meals per week
- At least two serves of oily fish per week (salmon or sardines for example)
- Having nuts as a snack or as part of meals
- Limiting the intake of animal protein to a small portion, no more than once or twice a week
- Using extra virgin olive oil as your main fat
- Eating yoghurt and cheese in moderation (preferably unsweetened natural yoghurt and goats cheese)
- Limiting sweets and processed food
- Consuming wine in moderation with meals (if you drink)
Thank you to The Daily Telegraph in helping to get the health message out there.
If you are inspired and need some recipes to help you, please download our eCookbook here or order a hardcopy from our website.
