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Eating doesn't mean stuffing oneself with food: it is an experience that has connotations of history, culture, conviviality, pleasure, reassurance, respect for traditions.
In the Mediterranean culture no food illustrates these links more than olive oil.
To rediscover this precious food, to acknowledge its merits and irreplaceable contribution to man's diet is also to pay tribute to an important part of Mediterranean civilization.
The Mediterranean Diet for every age In the '50s Professor Ancel Keys left the United States to begin the Seven Countries Study, a comparative survey of the diets of 14 sample groups of persons aged between 40 and 59, for a total of 12,000 cases, in 7 countries on 3 continents (Finland, Japan, Greece, Italy, Holland, the United States and Yugoslavia). The data collected and further confirming evidence from other researchers clearly show that among the populations of the Mediterranean area, that feed mainly on pasta, fish, fruit and vegetables and season their foods almost exclusively with olive oil, the death rate for ischemic cardiopathy is much lower than in subjects from countries like Finland or Holland, where the daily diet includes many foods containing saturated fats (butter, lard, milk, red meat, etc...). Today practically all doctors concur in recommending a diet modeled on the Mediterranean diet that provides optimal distribution of the daily caloric intake of different nutrients, in order to avoid the so-called "prosperity ailments", caused by an overindulgent life style: thrombosis, arteriosclerosis, heart attack, diabetes, hypertension, digestive disorders and obesity.
Click the icons below to get useful suggestions for correct application of the principles of the Mediterranean diet during different stages of life. |
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We frequently attribute a negative meaning to the word "diet", because we relate it to overeating, or the consequence of a health problem or being fat "overweight". Actually the word was derived from the ancient Greek term meaning "life", "way of life", "lifestyle".
Proper nourishment is a basic necessity of life, and a better knowledge of it can help us to live better and longer.
