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Low Carb Mediterranean Diet


The Mediterranean Diet is a diet that promotes the healthy way of eating of a region that is known for its longevity. It promotes eating smaller, healthy meals and learning the role food plays in your life. There are some primary goals or rules for a Mediterranean diet. All your protein is plant-based protein. There is a Mediterranean diet food pyramid you can use as a visual reference.

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The bottom of the pyramid is whole grains and starches which include couscous, bulgur and potatoes. The top of pyramid has animal protein and sweets, both of which should be eaten in smaller quantities. In between these two extreme choices lie all the vegetables and fruits, beans, legumes, cheese, olive oil, eggs and poultry.

Familiarization with the Mediterranean food pyramid is very important. This pyramid apportions plant-based proteins, dairy, fruits and vegetables and therefore helps making menus. Once you learn to substitute plant-based proteins with animal proteins, you will realize that with proteins, you are also getting lots of vitamins and minerals. Plant-based proteins are sourced from nuts and seeds. Getting familiar with the Mediterranean Diet food list is also very important so it becomes easy to make substitutions when you do not find any one particular item. The Mediterranean diet emphasizes more on portion control and ensures that you get enough fiber. While it is not inherently a low carbohydrate diet, a low carb Mediterranean diet is not a very difficult adaptation. Low carb Mediterranean diet plan include recipes that have fewer whole grains in the daily and weekly diets.

In a Mediterranean diet plan, the recipes are easy to make. First step while planning the Mediterranean diet menus or looking for recipes is looking for foods that are low in fat or recipes where you can substitute the fats with healthy monounsaturated ones like olive oil or sesame oil. Low carb Mediterranean diets will also mean that you find ways to reduce your carbohydrate intake completely. The low carb version of these diets tend to be very effective on people who’re diabetic. There have also been studies that have shown the low carb Mediterranean diets tend to be very effective for weight loss. This diet even emphasizes the use of herbs and spices instead of salt and insistence of fish and poultry in animal-based protein at least twice a week. It is also one of the few diets that allows up to two glasses of red wine in a week and insists on exercise every day. 

Submitted on April 12, 2011
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