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Mediterranean diet is essentially the dietary traditions followed by the people of Greece, Spain and southern Italy who live round the Mediterranean . it's been studied by an American Dr Ancel Keys when he landed in Greece in 1945. He discovered that the people of Greece and Spain had longer anticipation and didn’t have any major ill health .
Their diet mainly consists of many food from plant sources freshly eaten minimally processed, locally grown, and seasonal and really little food from animal sources
Foods mainly are fresh fruits, vegetables, sea cannon fodder , herbs, bread, grains, nuts and seeds, non refined oils like vegetable oil which is 25% to 35% of fat consumed and low consumption of saturated fats, moderate consumption of cheese and yoghurt, honey and fresh fruits for desserts, many cannon fodder and non refined cereals.
Vegetables consumed should be a minimum of 1 pound and meat consumed sparingly only. many physical activity and consumption of wine if taken should only be 1 glass for ladies and a couple of glasses for men daily with meals.
Fruits are mainly grapes, raisins olives, avocado, strawberries, raspberries, currant, blue berries grapes, black olives, orange, apple, pear, figs, pomegranates, dates, passion fruits, cherry, apricot, grapefruit, peach, prunes, quince, bergamot and plums.
Vegetables are spinach, lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli, white peach, bell pepper, carrot, beetroot, tomato, onion, shallots, scallions, scallion , celery, eggplant, capers, cucumber, lemon, Zucchini, white and red cabbage, mushroom, grapevine leaves, artichokes, potatoes, sweet corn and gherkin.
Grains are mainly pasta, couscous, rice, polenta, bulgur etc.
Legumes are carob, peas, beans, lima beans, chickpea and lentils.
Herbs and spices used are anise, basil, bay leaves, borage, peppercorns, garlic, chilies, chamomile, chervil, chives, dill, fennel, lavender, marjoram, mint, nutmeg, oregano, parsley, sesame seeds, rosemary, sage, savory, sorrel, tarragon, and thyme, vanilla, mahaleb, red saffron, masticha, cinnamon, clove, coriander, cumin and caraway.
Cheese used are mainly from sheep and goats milk - bocconcini, edam, feta, halloumi, kasseri, kefalograviera, kefalotyri, roquefort cheese, mozzarella, mitzithra, manouri, manchego, peciino toscano , mascarpone, parmesan, and pecorino, anthotyro, xynotyri, ladotyri, anevato and batzos.
Nuts are almonds, fennel, poppy, sesame, pistachio nuts, peanuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts and chestnuts.
Fish and fillets are herring, salmon, trout, tuna, anchovies, sardines, mackerels, cod, and carp. Sea foods like octopus, clams, mussels and squids also are eaten.A wide sort of these foods consumed daily has been found to be excellent for the guts also .