The essence and principles of the Mediterranean diet

 According to nutritionists, the popularity of this technique is due not only to its varied menu and high efficiency. The fact is that eating on this diet program, people can preserve youth, health and beauty for many years.

 For the first time the term "Mediterranean diet" was used in 1945 by the American nutritionist Enselem Kisom. This scientist investigated the effects of fats of vegetable and animal origin on the cardiovascular system of the human body. Ensel Keys, being on the coast of Italy, noted that local residents slender, among them little diabetics and hypertensive patients, and almost all of them are long-lived.

 In 1953, scientists published the book "About Tasty and Healthy Food: Mediterranean solution." It nutritionist tried to explain the relationship between nutrition and well-being, as well as the outside air of a man. Co-author of this useful book became a nutritionist wife Margaret Keys.

The Mediterranean diet, in addition to losing weight, has a beneficial effect on the human body:

 saturates antioxidants;

It reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease;

It prevents the occurrence of cancer, diabetes mellitus;

eliminates the development of Alzheimer's disease;

 reduces the risk of chronic diseases of the bronchi.

 To understand how this system of power acts on the body and leads to weight loss, you should consider the principles of the Mediterranean diet.

The technique is a food pyramid consisting of several stages. At the heart of the first stage are carbohydrates, the second - protein products, the latest - fats and simple carbohydrates.

 It includes a Mediterranean diet foods with a low glycemic index, which will not contribute to the deposition of fat stores in the body. Daily diet diet allows consumption of bread from wheat flour, the recommended diet is also pasta, brown rice, tomatoes, lettuce, corn, peppers, eggplant and onions.

The main principle of cooking on the Mediterranean diet - simple. Vegetables are best eaten raw, steamed or baked. Fish nutritionists recommend bake without breading. a small amount of wine can be enjoyed for lunch and dinner. For dessert, you can eat some fruit, sweets completely eliminated.

The essence of the Mediterranean diet is that people to lose weight and improve their quality of life should be longer to eat fruits and vegetables red, orange and dark green colors.

 There is one prerequisite, without which it is impossible to achieve the positive results of the Mediterranean diet - eating large amounts of fish and seafood. These foods are rich in essential fatty acids Omega-3 and Omega-6. Such food, popular among the inhabitants of the Mediterranean, is another name - Aphrodite diet .


In general, the principles of this diet method are as follows:

 1. Every day you need to eat meals containing carbohydrates and protein.

2. Try to always add the olive oil, it is desirable to give preference to the product cold pressed.

3. Include in the menu for more fresh fruits and vegetables as well as legumes.
 4. Drink a glass of wine during lunch or dinner.

5. If you want to sweeten the food to use honey instead of sugar.

 6. Try to drink as much water as possible, on the day it is recommended to drink at least six glasses.

With such a power supply system, familiar to the inhabitants of the Mediterranean, supposed to 4-5-minute one-time meal. Sometimes dietitians may recommend more frequent meals, it is necessary for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes.

If the Mediterranean diet observed a diabetic, the experts recommend that once a full meal and all subsequent frequent snacks throughout the day. In fact, people suffering from diabetes, the main burden should fall on lunch from breakfast best avoided by drinking a cup of black coffee without sugar ....

What foods you can eat at the Mediterranean diet

 Forming a Mediterranean diet menu, it is important to adhere to the correct balance and nutritional balance. The percentage of nutrients in the diet diet should be as follows: Carbohydrates - 50%; fat - 30%; proteins - 20%.

 Before you start to lose weight using this technique, you should know what foods you can eat with the Mediterranean diet, but from what should be abandoned. Suitable for daily use products containing starch, protein, and vitamin C, minerals, and phosphorus.

List of approved products consist of olive oil, cereals, potatoes, legumes, fruits, vegetables, milk and dairy products, herbs and dry red wine.

 Menu mediterranean diet for weight loss for breakfast usually consists of cereals, lunch - vegetables, noodles or rice. At dinner, people, losing weight by this method should eat protein foods. For dessert, you can afford to eat a little fruit, thus it is necessary to exclude the use of figs, bananas and grapes, the amount of juice also need to be minimized.

 Do not forget about dairy products, among them better to prefer skim milk and yogurt. You can eat cheese and durum, however, do not get involved with them. 1-3 times a week should eat foods from this list: sea fish; poultry or rabbits; chicken or quail eggs.

 During dieting should abandon harmful products. These include preservatives, foods with dyes, red sweet wine. No need to try to quickly get rid of the extra kilograms, this diet method so good that gradually rebuilds the body to proper metabolism, thereby lost weight does not come back soon .


Drinks at the Mediterranean week: wine, coffee and mineral water

The main source of liquid for the entire period of weight loss with this diet method should be non-carbonated mineral water. It is necessary to drink regularly throughout the day, the total daily amount of water you drink should be 1.5-2 liters.

 Under the ban are drinks such as soda, lemonade, any drink containing a sugar - juice, fruit drinks, fruit drinks. Do not abuse the fresh juices and home-made, because they contain large amounts of fructose. If the substance is ingested separately from the fiber, it leads to the formation of fatty deposits.

A useful wine to the Mediterranean diet is considered to be only dry red.

 The Mediterranean diet does not approve the use of coffee in large quantities. If you can not do without the morning cup of coffee, you can afford every day a small portion of espresso without sugar.

Mediterranean Diet Menu for the week has several varieties.

This feature allows you to slimming techniques a person choose the best diet diet for yourself.

That's about the Mediterranean diet menu, designed for five days :

First day

 Breakfast. Oatmeal on the water with fruit.

 Lunch. Low-fat yogurt with chopped banana.

 Dinner. Vegetables cooked in the oven - eggplant, zucchini, red and green peppers.

 Snack. Fruit salad - orange, kiwi, seasoned with lemon juice.

 Dinner. Tomatoes with mozzarella.

 Second day

 Breakfast. Bread, 2 small tomatoes.

 Lunch. A slice of bread with mozzarella, tomato half.

 Dinner. Lamb meat, grilled, with vegetables and rice.

 Snack. Boiled rice with grapefruit.

 Dinner. Papaya with cheese and nuts, a slice of bread.

 The third day

Breakfast. Fruit, fruit tea.

 Lunch. Sandwich with ham, a slice of bread with a teaspoon of low-fat butter.

 Dinner. Vegetable stew with nutmeg and mozzarella cheese.

 Snack. Honey-vegetable drink - carrot juice or artichokes with lemon juice and honey.

 Dinner. Toast with cheese and shrimp.

 Fourth day

 Breakfast. Sandwich with ham, flavored fat-free yogurt, lemon juice and pepper, a glass of tomato juice.

 Lunch. Sweet cheese with a slice of pineapple.

 Dinner. lamb meat, fried in butter, pasta, zucchini and tomatoes.

Snack. Sandwich with ham, leaf lettuce, sweet pepper.

Dinner. Vegetable salad of tomatoes, radish, leek, pepper, olive oil and wine vinegar. A piece of bread.

 Fifth day

Breakfast. Sandwich with low-fat cheese, a glass of carrot juice, 1 ch. L. wheat germ.

 Lunch. Salad with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

Dinner. Salmon with sour cream and greens, a handful of brown rice sauce.

 Snack. Fruit salad - 1 orange, a handful of grapes, 1 kiwi fruit, seasoned with lemon juice.

Dinner. Tomato soup with fried bread and onion .

The Mediterranean diet: the recipes of soups every day

  Among the techniques for weight loss program known food "3 soup", is designed for three weeks. Main dishes of the Mediterranean diet "3 soup" - soups. Diet menu consists of three kinds of soups - gazpacho, pesto and minestrone. They are used for lunch and dinner, it does not repeat throughout the day .


Recipes Mediterranean diet "3 soup":

1. Gazpacho.

To prepare the soup will need these ingredients: 500 g tomatoes, 1 cucumber, sweet pepper, a couple of cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tbsp. l. wine vinegar, salt. All vegetables must be washed and cleaned, remove the beans and cut into pieces. Grind the onion and garlic, all placed in a blender and blend until smooth, add the oil and vinegar.

 2. Pesto.

Take 250 g daikon and carrots, 2 pcs. onions, 200 grams of celery, 2 tablespoons vegetable or beef low-fat broth, olive oil and spices. For garnish you will need 120 g of chopped onions, tomatoes, and green beans.

For the sauce should take 50 grams of pine nuts, basil leaves and olive oil, chopped garlic and 100 g of grated Parmesan cheese. For the preparation of all gravy ingredients whipped in a blender until smooth. In broth put all the vegetables and cook until done. Garnish cooked in a double boiler. Before serving, put the vegetables in a bowl and pour the sauce on top.

 3. Minestrone.

 To make this soup will need the following products: 1 onion, 2 stalks of celery, two carrots and tomatoes, ? head of cabbage, 2 potatoes, zucchini and eggplant, 85 grams of green peas, 100 grams of spinach 2 cloves of garlic, 6 tablespoons of olive oil 2 liters of chicken broth, a pinch of salt.

To cook a delicious soup diet, the oil is heated in a pan, fry the onion, carrot, cabbage, celery. Add the remaining chopped vegetables and spices, poured into the broth and cook until tender.

 During these three weeks, except soups periodically you can have low-fat cottage cheese, lean meat and a small amount of nuts.

 The first week you can prepare soups only vegetable broth, the next two - in meat broth. However, for dinner for 3 weeks are allowed to cook the soup just vegetable broth. These recipes for dishes from the Mediterranean diet like losing weight is not only people, but also the rest of the family ....