Make mine Mediterranean!

I blogged a few weeks ago that the Mediterranean diet was under threat - thanks to the financial constraints imposed on consumers by the GFC. 

But this new study, showing the Mediterranean diet is able to cut the risk of heart disease by 30 percent also makes it clear that these particular eating habits should be enshrined as a healthy legacy for all! Of course generations have lived by its precepts and many more regularly enjoy this fine cuisine in its multiple guises. This so-called “landmark” study, which began in 2003 was terminated in 2011, cut short because the findings were so significant and because those following the standard “low fat diet” as recommended by the American Heart Association were at such a disadvantage! How’s that for damning the dietary pundits ...?

Wondering exactly what constitutes the Mediterranean diet? Think ... Spanish, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Middle Eastern. Think ... very high in fresh vegetables and fruit (red, orange, purple, green), whole grains, legumes, seafood and mono-unsaturated fats from olive oil, olives and nuts such as walnuts and almonds. Also think ... much reduced meat and dairy!

Oh and along with food lovingly prepared from a cornucopia of fresh ingredients, you’ll usually find a fine glass of red wine and convivial surroundings in that Mediterranean mix!  

      

Mum was right - vegies are good for kids!

Would you believe it? Doctors have now shown that kids who eat a healthy diet with lots of fruit and vegetables have higher IQ levels. Kids who eat lots of processed and sugar-laden foods do much more poorly in the intelligence stakes. And the earlier that kids (and they studied 14,000) start on a healthy diet the better, with more pronounced effects during the first three years! Talk about reinventing the wheel! Weston Price’s seminal work “Nutrition and Physical Degeneration” published back in the 1930s demonstrated this pretty clearly, but logic should tell us that what Nature put on the earth for our sustenance would surpass the man-made junk that today masquerades as food. Of course I’d take that early start on healthy food back a couple of notches to include preconception for both parents and for Mum during her pregnancy! Not only guaranteed to deliver healthier eggs and sperm and foetus, but best way to ensure kids will eat those living greens, yellows, reds, oranges and purples without complaint!