Following Mediterranean Diet for Weight Loss

One of the most popular diet plans, Mediterranean diet is one of the balanced as well as nutritional diets. Millions of people all over the world that includes Italians, Spanish, Greek, and above all; French; use this diet for weight loss and fat burning.

Positive Aspect

One of the positive aspects of using Mediterranean diet is that users have shown lower rate of heart diseases.

  • Mediterranean diet users have shown lower rates of cardiovascular problems.
  • It is a high fat diet and yet it results in excellent health conditions for the people.
  • 40% of the energies of users come from the intake of fats.
  • It is the quality of the diet that helped in healthy condition of the user.
  • Extensive use of olive oil is one of the major ingredients in the diet plan.
  • Positive effects is the result of considering the calorie intakes and consuming fewer calories than burnt.

Mediterranean Diet Food Pyramid

Mediterranean diet uses a food pyramid for implementation of the diet plan. Some of its features are –

  • Extensive use of fruits, grains and vegetables in the diet. Those using the diet plan consume low quantity of red meat while eating no less than nine servings of vegetables and fruits that contain anti oxidants, per day.
  • Other main ingredients in Mediterranean diet plan are olive oil, canola oil, and nuts that also has oily contents in it.
  • Principal fat contents in the diet plan are olive oil.
  • Nuts that are high in fat components are major ingredients of the diet plan. Tree nuts, wall nuts, hazel nuts, and almonds are those components that are high in fats.
  • The diet plan puts nuts in the same category of vegetables and fruits.

Mediterranean Diet Benefits

  • Since the oil contains monounsaturated fat and helps lowering bad cholesterol and enhancing good cholesterol. It helps save arteries from being clotted with bad plaques.
  • It helps reduction of blood pressure and helps control blood sugar.
  • Highest amount of plant containing compounds that have many antioxidant effects.
  • Nuts are low in saturated fats while walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids. In fact the nuts offer one of the best and easily accessible foods in the cold winter months.
  • Dieter should stop using salty or honeyed fruits and nuts in diet plan.

Sparing Use of Fish and Meat

Dieters that use the diet plan should reduce the red meat consumption to only 15% of the usual and the consumption should be on monthly basis instead of weekly basis. Fish is much better food so far as the dieter is concerned. However, there is also one cliché. Due to excessive pollution in the seas and rivers fishes are also getting contaminated. Yet in terms of fatless diet, fish is far better in comparison to red meat.

Basic features of Mediterranean diet for weight loss are emphasis on unsaturated fats, nuts, olive oil, and vegetable and fruits. Despite having fat it helps weight loss as it contains only healthy fat.