The Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet model is appreciated all over the world and can be represented with symbolic imagine of a pyramid, where most important aliments are in the lowest parts. These are aliments to eat most, like cereals and potatoes.

Going up there are fruits and vegetables (two or three portions every day) full of fibres, together with olive oil (but not too much). Milk and yogurt should be taken every day.

In the middle of the pyramid there are those aliments that should be taken not daily, but more times in the week, like fish, meat, eggs and fresh cheese. Legumes are very important too, full of proteins.

At the top of the pyramid there are aliments that should not be taken often, like sugar, wine, fats (except olive oil) and sauces.

In the Mediterranean diet there aren’t forbidden aliments, but only foods which should be taken often or not.

It’s very important to drink 1.5 or 2 liters of water every day and to combine some physical activity.

One of the most popular food is pasta that has to be eaten together with cheese and meat. With this food we have a complete meal, if it is not together with many fats and

if it’s a good quality there is the 10% of vegetables proteins too.

The recommended portions are: Milk/yogurt 125 grams Fresh cheese 100 gr Seasoned cheese 50 gr Meet 100 gr Fish 150 gr Eggs 1 egg Fresh legumes 100 gr (raw) Dray legumes 30 gr (raw) Bred 50 gr Pasta/rice 80 gr (raw) Potatoes 200 gr (raw) Salads 50 gr Vegetables 250 gr (raw) Fruits 150 g

The advantages of the Mediterranean diet are a good balance between incoming calories and outgoing energy. By the way we must remember that no food is perfect by itself for a correct diet. To be in a good shape is needed a regular physical activity and a correct life style, in fact our grandfathers used to eat many more calories than us, but their physical activity was stronger then ours.

written by : Francesco Bartesaghi ( free2@itcgbianchi.it )