Mediterranean Diet For Weight Loss

A filling weight-loss diet rich in flavorful, aromatic foods? You've probably heard that promise before. But the Mediterranean diet is not like other weight-loss programs. It is a regional cuisine with a long history and deep cultural roots. If you love to eat well-prepared whole foods, learning to dine Mediterranean style may be the weight-loss answer you've been looking for.

Foundation

Mediterranean cuisine knows how to turn vegetables into satisfying and delicious main courses that will fill you up on fewer calories and minimize your consumption of saturated fat. To follow the diet, fill your plate with in-season vegetables cooked in heart-healthy olive oil and seasoned with fresh herbs or spices, such as basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme or fennel. To this, add a little fish, cheese, eggs, poultry or beans.

Benefits

In addition to contributing to weight loss, the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk for heart disease, diabetes, depression, Alzheimer's disease and some types of cancer, according to extensive research dating back to the 1950s. Health experts believe the health benefits of the diet come from its emphasis on fresh foods rich in nutrients, antioxidants, fiber and heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Problem/Solution

Many Mediterranean staples already enjoy great popularity in the United States and worldwide. A delicious, satisfying diet rich in these healthy, whole foods may help curb your cravings for cheap convenience foods loaded with sugar and fat, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Give this diet a little time and you may discover you've achieved that lifestyle change nutritionists so often recommend for permanent weight loss.

Tips

Challenge yourself to change the way you think about vegetables. Experiment with vegetable-based recipes such as soup, eggplant roulades, kabobs, stuffed peppers, asparagus with eggs, broccoli rabe with hot peppers and the many bean dishes popular in the Mediterranean region. You may still indulge in pasta, meat and cheese, but find recipes that add these foods to dishes dominated by lower-calorie vegetables. This will help you get beyond Americanized Mediterranean meals featuring heaping bowls of noodles, high-fat cheeses, pizza, lasagna and breaded meats, fish or vegetables.

Considerations

Thirty to 40 percent of the calories in the Mediterranean diet come from fat. Because of this, the American Heart Association does not yet recommend this diet for health. The organization does, however, applaud the Mediterranean diet for a saturated fat content well within its guidelines.

Expert Insight

The fat content of Mediterranean meals is key to their flavor, according to cookbook author Nancy Harmon Jenkins. Using less olive oil is especially compromising for the vegetable-based dishes that may provide many of the benefits associated with this diet. However, the New England Journal of Medicine reports that subjects following a Mediterranean diet lost more weight during a two-year period than those following a low-fat diet.