My people, the Italians, have known for centuries that the Mediterranean diet keeps you fit and trim. It's about time the rest of the world caught up. Fannulloni!
The Mediterranean diet includes foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, olive oil, and moderate amounts of fish and wine, but very little saturated fats, like eggs, red meat, dairy products, and poultry.
And a new study says people who follow a Mediterranean diet may avoid putting on extra weight as they age.
Published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers asked 10,000 university graduates in Spain, men and women, average age of 38, to fill out a food survey. The participants were then tracked for six years.
Individuals who followed the Mediterranean diet were 10% less likely to become overweight or obese, and were 24% less likely to gain more than 11 pounds over the first four years of the research.
Average weight-gain among participants during the study was a half pound. But, the people most closely following a Mediterranean diet gained less weight, compared to study participants who deviated from a Mediterranean diet.
The researchers insist sticking to a diet long term is an effective way to prevent weight gain, and called the Mediterranean diet "user friendly."
I have to agree. If you look at my family's holiday dinner table the only scary thing you'll find is big-freaking octopus tentacles in the salad. It's like the Adam's Family, except all the grandmothers look like Uncle Fester.
Image credit: Futurama Wiki
No comments:
Post a Comment