What is the Mediterranean Diet?

The Mediterranean diet is a delicious and healthy way to eat. Many people who switch to this style of eating stick with it and say they'll never eat any other way. It is possible to take small steps and slowly transition into this lifestyle if it all seems like too much change all at once.

The Mediterranean diet is a lifestyle plan of eating and physical activity which is inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of southern Italy, Greece, Spain and Morocco.

Check out The Mediterranean Diet Book on amazon.com

The diet is based on replacing solid fats such as butter and margarine with extra virgin or virgin olive oil. It also focuses on including several servings per week of legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits, and vegetables. It also includes  moderate to high consumption of fish and moderate consumption of dairy products (mostly as cheese and yogurt). This eating plan allows for  moderate consumption of wine, restricts consumption of meat and meat products to just a few ounces per month and allows  zero to four eggs per week. 
The Mediterranean diet also excludes processed foods such as white pasta and rice, fast foods, and mixes.  It eliminates gooey, sugar laden desserts and replaces them with fresh fruit. Total fat in this diet is 25% to 35% of calories, with saturated fat at 8% or less of calories.

The Mediterranean diet also places emphasis on eating seasonally and taking time to relax and dine with friends and family. It also includes 30 minutes of moderate, daily exercise.

The Mediterranean diet is based on studies by Dr Walter Willett of Harvard University's School of Public Health from the mid-1990s and  food patterns typical of Crete, much of the rest of Greece, and southern Italy in the early 1960s.