The World's Healthiest Diet

The March, 2010 issue of the Ladies Home Journal has declared: The more doctors test it, the more they find that eating Mediterranean is the absolute best way to lose weight ~ based on the cooking and eating styles of Italy, France, Greece, Spain and other Mediterranean countries, the plan features olive oil, fruits and vegetables, nuts, legumes, fish and poultry, whole grains and yes, wine! It’s high in heart-healthy fats and unlike other diets, doesn’t forbid any food group. "It’s hard to stay on extreme diets," says Harvard Nutrition expert Walter Willett, M.D., PhD, whose book Eat, Drink and Be Healthy popularized the approach in the United States. "This diet has lots of variety and wonderful flavors so people stick with it." This is what I have been saying since I wrote my book, "Make Eating A Lifestyle Change." Now we know that the greatest of all pharmacists is our Creator. The reason it works is that it is balanced and delicious and the people who eat this way look healthier, live longer and more productive lives.
My Sicilian mother made salad the first course of every dinner. It was a green leafy salad tossed with green peppers, chunks of chicken breast, dandelion, red onions, a dash of grated Pecorino Romano Cheese (made from Sheep Milk). The only dressing on the table was a metal cruet rack or holder with only two items: Extra virgin oil or first pressed olive oil, and apple cider vinegar. Books have been written on the benefits of olive oil and apple cider vinegar and yet, I meet Italians who have never bought a bottle of this special elixir of life. For my grandfather, it was often replaced with red wine from his own vineyard. Oregano was a must and was usually sprinkled on the tomatoes. I couldn’t get enough of it and would often make sandwiches of this special salad. Today, we are careful to eat fish that are small and we look forward to the run of Pacific Red Sock-eye Salmon with edible bones for the calcium. Dad loved to fish and often brought home a bucket of smelt, yellow perch or he would open a small can of sardines, herring or mackerel. He loved hot peppers and my research confirms that the capsaicin in the hot peppers accounted for his pain free life~free of inflammation. Chick peas or garbanzo beans were another item we would add to our salads. Bursting with flavor, I couldn’t resist this wonderful salad that kept me regular and provided all the antioxidants I needed to live a healthy life.
The latest research makes claim to a reduced Alzheimer’s risk for those eating Mediterranean. The Journal of American Medical Association, in a new study claims that eating Mediterranean cuts your chances of getting Alzheimer’s by 40 percent and those who added exercise to their diets, a whopping 60 percent were less likely to get the disease.
Longer Life: A recent meta-analysis in the British Medical Journal found the diet significantly improved health and led to a 9 percent reduction in death from heart disease, cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Other studies have found that the diet’s healthy fats may lessen the inflammation and pain of rheumatoid arthritis and cut the risk of getting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease) by 60 percent.
NUTS AND SEEDS: They’re high in antioxidants and heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, which have a steadying effect on sugar and keep you feeling full. Since they’re also high in calories, combine with other foods; for example, by serving almonds with steamed veggies and walnuts with oatmeal. (1 - 1 ½ ounces a day).
BEANS: All varieties are excellent sources of low-fat protein, vitamins, minerals and fiber. Include kidney, black, red fava, garbanzo, cannelini or any other type in soups and salads, stews or mash with herbs and spices as a dip for vegetables.
HERBS AND SPICES: Oregano, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, basil, anise, garlic and pepper not only add Mediterranean flavor, they also contain healthy antioxidants. "Just half a teaspoon of dried oregano has as many antioxidants as 3 cups of spinach," says dietician Wendy Bazlian, Dr. P.H., R.D. Use liberally, to taste, at every meal.
LASTING WEIGHT LOSS: How can a diet that features nuts, oils, pasta, bread and wine help you lose weight? Because it makes you feel full and therefore holds hunger at bay. The healthy fats and protein in the Mediterranean diet keep your glucose (blood sugar) level on an even keel, which means you’ll be less apt to hunt down chips, cookies or fast food to get through the day. Just ask my wife, who has kept off 60 pounds for five and a half years and is designated as a KOPS (Keep off pounds sensibly.)
BETTER EYESIGHT: The diet could help stave off or prevent macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss after age 54. The condition which affects more than 10 million Americans, destroys the part of your retina responsible for the clear central vision you need to read, drive and recognize faces. A recent study linked eating fish and vegetables to a reduced risk of getting it early and the omega-3 fatty acids in fish can lower the risk of the disease altogether. Also, the lutein in green leafy vegetables and wild blueberries cuts your chance of cataracts and boosts retinal health, says Dr. Willett.
You don’t just lose pounds—the Mediterranean diet also helps you feel better and live longer.
HEALTHY OILS: The monounsaturated fats in olive and other healthy oils like canola, sesame, walnut, peanut and grapeseed are good for our hearts.
WHOLE GRAINS: They contain more vitamins, minerals and protein than white-flour products and have a stabilizing influence on blood-sugar levels. Experiment with nutrient-dense, nutty-tasting exotic whole grains such as barley, amaranth, quinoa and faro. I love large flake oatmeal as a starter with diced apples, cinnamon, raisins, and frozen wild blueberries (heated for breakfast). The oatmeal is known as the "drano" of the arteries and lowers your cholesterol while cleaning up your arteries for a better blood flow and a lower blood pressure.
Eat cantaloupe, watermelon, red and green grapes, strawberries, cherries and you won’t need a dessert.
Make eating a life long way of keeping your body strong while fighting off the free radicals that cause aging. Strengthen you immune syste to ward off any attacks by eating the Mediterranean way.

Infammation - Arthritis, Asthma, Diabetes

Inflammation within the body may occur in response to cigarette smoking or eating large amounts of saturated fat and trans fat. In overweight or obese people, excess fat cells can float through the bloodstream and cause inflammation. Although inflammation can help the body it can also hurt.
Certain dietary fats cause more of an inflammation response than others. Trans fat and the saturated fat in animal foods stimulate inflammation. To a smaller extent, polyunsaturated fat in foods such as safflower oil, sunflower oil and corn oil trigger inflammation, as well. Again, this is where olive oil helps. Olive oil’s phytonutrients— in this case phenolic compounds called squalane, beta-sitosterol, and tryosol—don’t cause the inflammation that other fats do.
What is Inflammation?
Inflammation is the immune system’s first line of defense against injury and infection. When an injury occurs, such as a simple cut on the finger, a set of events take place within your body that forms a blood clot, fights infection, and begins the healing process. Inflammation is painful because blood vessels dilate upstream of the injury to bring more blood and nutrients to the injured area, but they constrict at the injury site. These actions result in fluids from the bloodstream pooling in tissue around the injury, which causes swelling and pressure that stimulate nerves and cause pain.
In some individuals the immune system gets confused and begins to view some of the body’s own healthy cells as "foreign invaders." It therefore directs an immune response—complete with inflammation—at healthy tissues, harming or even destroying them. This misdirected attack results in what’s called an autoimmune disorder ("auto) meaning self). Rheumatoid arthritis and certain types of thyroid disease an autoimmune disorders. Asthma, too, is the result of inflammation gone awry.
When inflammation continues unabated for long periods of time, damage can occur in organs, such as the colon, or in the blood vessels. Indeed, chronic inflammation within the body is looking more and more like a serious contributor to cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) disease. Inflammation may damage the inner lining of the blood vessels, which encourages plaque deposits to form. Inflammation may also cause plaque in arteries to break off and travel downstream, where it can become lodged and stop blood flow to a crucial artery that provides oxygen to important body parts, such as your heart or brain. When this happens, a heart attack or stroke (respectively) can occur.
Chronic inflammation within the body can wreak havoc on other body parts besides arteries. A team led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution found that chronic inflammation of the colon might increase the risk of colon cancer. A ten-year study of more than 20,000 patients suggested a link between chronic inflammation and this disease, although a direct cause-and-effect relationship has not yet been established. These preliminary findings were discussed in the February 2004 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Scientists have discovered that inflammation can be reduced with low daily doses of aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which in turn appear to reduce the risk of diseases caused by inflammation. Fortunately, not only does olive oil not prompt the kind of inflammation other types of fat can, it actually has some ability to reduce inflammation, thanks to those helpful phytochemicals (squalane, beta-situsterol, and tyrosol). So consuming olive oil on a regular basis may help decrease the risk of conditions linked to inflammation.
Yet another condition that appears to be linked to inflammation is type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes that affects an estimate 20 million Americans. Having excess body fat seems to increase inflammation. As inflammation increases, so does insulin resistance. As insulin resistance increases, blood glucose levels rise and the risk of type 2 diabetes skyrockets.
An article published by Philadelphia researchers in the September 2005 issue of Nature identified a compound in olive oil called olecanthal that has anti-inflammatory action. Their studies revealed that this compound can act like ibuprofen and other anti-inflammatory medications.
Future research will probably tell us more about olive oil’s function in battling oxidation, inflammation, and all the multiple diseases and health conditions associated with them. In Spain, Italy and Greece, where olive oil is used in most households, cancer incidence is much lower than in norther Europe and the United States, where olive oil use isn’t as widespread.
A study published in the March 2005 issue of the Annals of Oncology showed that Oleic acid, the principal monounsaturated fat in olive oil, dramatically decreased the growth of aggressive forms of breast tumors in test tubes. When oleic acid was combined with the commonly used breast cancer drug Herceptin, the effectiveness of the drug was vastly improved. In addition, the researchers reported an inverse relationship between the disease and oleic acid: The more oleic acid a woman ate, the lower her risk of breast cancer.
For more information: The Healing Power of Garlic, Vinegar & Olive Oil by Gayle Alleman, M.S.,R.D. is recommended reading.