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T he Way
To E at Now
To lose weight naturally,takeyourcues
from the Mediterranean, where the food
traditions are both healthful and delicious.
BY
GALE M ALESKEY, R.D.
f you’ve ever dieted, you’ve tasted things that can only
charitably be classified as food. And you’ve found that
1
joyless eating is impossible to stick with long-term.
That’s why so many nutrition experts now recommend a
way of eating based on the traditional Mediterranean
diet—the foods of Crete, Greece, and southern Italy. Think
- seafood, extra virgin olive oil, produce, aromatic spices,
garlic, chewy bread, red wine.
U.S. researchers discovered in the 1950s that this way of eating was
perhaps the healthiest in the world. More recently, Harvard scientists
have taken up the cause, promoting this diet over the usual USDA-
sanctioned menu. There’s even a Mediterranean Food Pyramid,
developed by Old ways Preservation Trust, a Boston-based nonprofit
group that promotes traditional diets (see it at
oldwayspt.org).
Compared to the usual American fare, this way of eating has less
saturated fat and more fresh foods, says Oldways program manager
Nicki Heverling, a registered dietitian.
For people focused on weight loss, this diet tends to have a high rate
of compliance, says Kathy McManus, director of the Department of
Nutrition at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. In one study,
women on a Mediterranean-style diet lost an average 8.4 more
pounds of weight than those on a low-carb diet.
“Plus, the food is so good, you will never feel
deprived,” says Heverling.
Turn the page to get started.
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WEIGHT LOSS
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HEART HEALTH
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h e a l t h y y o u
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS FEBRUARY 2009
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