• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Mediterranean diet curbs diabetes

R

Rach79

Well-Known Member
Messages
285
Dislikes
Poverty, violence, manipulative or materialistic people and too much bad weather such as wind and rain.
Hi there, just wanted to point out this link, have only just heard about this diet and how all us brits should be eating it. It doesn't just curb diabetes but also significantly reduces risk of dying from cancer, getting cancer, heart disease, parkinson's disease or alzheimer's disease:-

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2008/05May/Pages ... betes.aspx

Mediterranean diet: a high ratio of monounsaturated:low saturated fatty acids, moderate intake of alcohol, high intake of legumes, high intake of grains, high intake of fruit and nuts, high intake of vegetables, low intake of meat and meat products, moderate intake of milk and dairy products and high intake of fish (not fried). You have to eat extra virgin olive oil too, avoid trans fats or hydrogenated fats as very harmful (have pointed this out through research in one of my threads here before).

Here's to a healthier us :-)
 
I've heard that too, but seen no evidence.
 
The study was only conducted on healthy young males with no health problems.
 
No my mate is training to be a nurse and last night she told me of this diet and how a supposed 5 year study (I think on the Isle of Man but could have been UK) was carried out between those eating a typical "british" diet and others with "mediterranean" diet. After two years they stopped the study because of the participants that were eating the british style diet. The reason being it was actually considered unethical and posed too many risks to peoples health. These are the things that aren't widely reported in the media. I looked up some info on the NHS and found this. I am going to give it a whirl anyway. The way I see it is 'what harm can it do to try' and I generally think it makes sense to eat a lot of veg and fish as it was what our ancestors ate so, although I am interested in hearing varying opinions, I think it's worth thinking about anyhow :-)
 
http://www.mediterraneanbook.com/themediterranean-diet

If you read this link it is not suitable for diabetics because of the high level of starches involved.
This diet is not new and has always been touted as the healthy heart diet. Ratios of food are, 20%protein,30%fats and 50% carbohydrates. It might be suitable for people with no health problems but not for diabetics. I suppose you could try and adapt it.
 
There was a study done in Italy some years ago, comparing the Souhern (olive oil and tomato) diet with the Northern ( high dairy). I thin they decided it was unethical to continue with the northern diet. However, the pasta in the Southern diet would be too much for me and it isn't Dreamfields :D
I now use more cream than ever before.
 
Think how much more effective the diet could be if they eliminated all those Healthy Whole grains <G>

One of the Greek Islands showed significantly greater longevity and lower disease incidence, their diet inculded high levels of "horta", locally picked greens. It's possible that wild vegetables pull more trace elements out of the soil than commercially grown annual crops.
 
if its that healthy why do they all get a bit podgey after a certain age. Certainly saw a number in Spain and recently in Cyprus.

Dave P
 
I bought a book on the mediteranean diet and the author does say that if you are already diabetic you should cut the recommended carbs, but if you aren't diabetic it's ok and may actually keep the diabetes at bay...so may be a little late for us but I do think that the principle is right. More fruit and veg and fish :)
 
Horta grows wild in Corfu and the locals pick it from the roadside whenever they see it. It tastes like strong spinach and has long green leaves. The diet in Corfu is becoming more Westernised but if you find an elderly local he will be eating the classic Med diet; bread, cheese, fish, tomato, oil, wine, veg, a little chicken and so on. It doesn't take much to get used to it. I lived there for some years and that is about all I ever ate.
Now I look in the supermarket and am astounded by the sheer variety of food on offer. Just what do we need all that stuff for?
Save the planet, eat locally grown.
 
rubik, there are plenty of edible plants which grow wild in Britain, as well as commercially grown crops. It has to be said, though, that while they'll keep you alive, not all of them are particularly toothsome. Dandelions, daisy leaves, ransomes, bittercress, shepherd's purse, nettles and many more can be made into salads or cooked, yet few bother because they taste bl**dy awful!

I suspect most would become very tired of foods produced excusively from British produce in short order; my relatives who survived the two world wars certainly did.
 
Back
Top