How to Create a Mediterranean Diet Menu Plan

A Mediterranean diet is an overall recommendation for how you should eat, rather than a specific, regimented weight loss plan. When you embrace this diet, you will learn a way of eating that people throughout the Mediterranean regions have been practicing for centuries, resulting in rich health benefits.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Watch your fat intake and the oils in which you grill and sauté your foods. Create a diet filled with healthier monounsaturated fats, also known as fatty acids. Replace animal fats with unsaturated olive, sesame or canola oils. Even though olive oil is healthy, try and limit how much you put on your foods since it is high in calories.

2. Receive much of the protein in your diet in the form of plant foods. While learning how to eat the Mediterranean way, you will consume a large amount of plant foods, rather than foods derived from animal sources. If you eat more nuts, seeds, fruits and beans, it will increase the bounty of vitamins and iron in your system while keeping the amount of saturated fats at lower levels.

3. Familiarize yourself with the Mediterranean diet pyramid so you can craft a well-balanced menu. This model serves as a guide for what you eat on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. A traditional Mediterranean pyramid is based on a blend of plant-based foods, along with dairy products, meat and grains. Create your own food pyramid, or download a copy from the Oldways website, and hang it in your kitchen to help you plan your meals (see Resources below).

4. Create a plan to set up your own portions. The diet pyramid is only designed to be a visual map of the relevance of Mediterranean foods in your diet. This is not a step-by-step guide and is geared toward healthy adults. If you are severely overweight or have certain health conditions, another diet might be better for your physical makeup.

5. Explore what you should eat more and less of when you follow this eating lifestyle. Both red meat and pork are at the small level (or tip) of the pyramid and whole grains, olive oil, rice and pasta are at the large end (or base) of the pyramid. You will incorporate a wide range of foods from countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, but you don't have to travel to Italy or Greece to get the most out of your diet. At the Mediterranean Food website, view a diet pyramid, menu suggestions and connect with others who enjoy this healthy lifestyle (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• Drink at least 6 glasses of water per day, as well as red wine in moderation, to get the most benefits from your new diet plan.

Resources

• See menu items and diagrams at Mediterranean Food.
• Visit Oldways for the Mediterranean diet pyramid.

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