You can do this by replacing high-fat foods with those that are low in fat such as fruit, vegetables, unrefined carbohydrates and lower-fat dairy products, and by being more physically active.

It’s also important to watch the size of your portions. This can be difficult, because over time you can lose touch with what’s a sensible amount of food.

Meat, fish and alternatives

Meat, fish, eggs and alternatives, such as beans and lentils, provide protein, which is essential for growth and repair. These protein-rich foods, meat in particular, are also good sources of iron, selenium, zinc and B vitamins.

Lean sources of protein can also help to curb your appetite. To help reduce the calories you get from fat, remove the skin from chicken, cut off obvious bits of fat from lamb, pork and beef, and use minimum oil for cooking.

Aim to eat two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oily fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, sardines or trout.

You should have two portions of protein-rich foods every day. A portion is equivalent to:

• Meat and fish the size of a pack of playing cards
• Two eggs
• Four tablespoons of lentils or beans

Bread, cereals and potatoes

Starchy carbohydrate foods, such as bread, potatoes, rice and breakfast cereals, provide us with energy and other nutrients, including iron and B vitamins.

Starchy foods should make up about a third of your total daily energy intake.

Choose unrefined types that are higher in fibre. They’ll make you feel full for longer and help to control hunger.

A balanced diet should contain about five portions of starchy foods each day. A portion is equivalent to:

• Three tablespoons of breakfast cereal
• One large slice of bread
• One chapatti
• Three heaped tablespoons of pasta
• Two egg-size potatoes
• Two heaped tablespoons of rice

Fruit and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables provide essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals, and contain many other compounds associated with good health.

Everyone should aim to increase the amount of fruit and vegetables in their diet.

Because fruit and vegetables are bulky and contain a lot of water, they can help to control your calorie intake. Aim for at least five portions a day.

A portion weighs about 80g and can include fresh, canned, frozen and dried fruit and vegetables. A portion is equivalent:

• Two large tablespoons of vegetables, such as peas, carrots, swede or broccoli
• Whole fruits, such as one apple, one orange, one pear
• A handful of grapes
• Two tablespoons of strawberries or raspberries
• One small glass of fruit juice
• A handful of dried fruit

Milk and dairy foods

Foods such as cheese, yoghurt and fromage frais are an important source of calcium as well as providing protein and vitamins. Choose low-fat or reduced-fat versions to reduce the amount of calories in your diet.

Aim for around three portions of dairy foods a day. A portion is equivalent to:

• A medium-size glass of milk
• A small pot of yoghurt
• A small matchbox-sized piece of cheese

Foods containing fat and/or sugar

Fatty and sugary foods, such as crisps, spreads, oils, creamy dressings, sweets, cakes, biscuits and chocolate, and sugar-rich drinks, including alcohol, are high in calories but relatively low in nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals.

Eating healthily means including foods that are packed with nutrients rather than packed with energy.

You should reduce your intake of these foods as much as possible. You can do this by:

• Swapping sugary and fatty snacks for fruit, diet yoghurt or a slice of wholemeal toast with reduced-fat spread
• Choosing water, reduced-fat milk or low-calorie drinks instead of sugar-rich drinks
• Using only a scraping of spread on your bread and using an oil spray to limit fat when cooking

Alcohol contains around 7 kcal per gram. As well as adding calories to your diet, it can stimulate the appetite and weaken your healthy eating intentions.

A word about salt

On average, we eat over 50 per cent more salt than the recommended level and more than twice the amount we actually need.

We’ve become used to eating foods containing salt, so reducing the amount we consume often means adjusting our palates.

A lot of salt comes from processed foods, so look for low-salt varieties and check the salt content on the label. You can also cut salt by:

• Preparing foods from fresh ingredients as much as possible
• Avoiding salty snacks, such as crisps and salted nuts
• Choosing ‘unsalted’, ‘no added salt’ or ‘reduced salt’ foods

Articles from: Tree4Kilos

Sensible Weight Loss

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Beans
They’re low in fat, and packed with protein, fibre, and iron – nutrients crucial for building muscle and losing weight

Frozen berries, grapes or bananas
Frozen fruits are refreshing, satisfying, nutritious – and taste “smooth” like many fat-filled desserts.

Apples
Along with strawberries, oranges, peaches and grapefruit, apples contain pectin – a form of fibre that can make you feel fuller for hours.

Oats
These contain soluble fibre, which stays in your stomach longer than insoluble fibre. It also works like a bouncer for your stomach, showing troublemakers the door. For example, soluble fibre helps remove LDL (bad) cholesterol from your circulatory system.

Lean meat and fish
The news on protein is that the amino acid leucine, found in meat, poultry, dairy and fish, is essential for developing lean muscle mass and regulating hormones that control your appetite and help you burn kilojoules. Aim for two 55-85g serves a day

Spinach and other green vegies
It’s fibre rich, with high water content so it’ll fill your stomach. Pack a sandwich with the stuff, or stir-fry it with fresh garlic and olive oil.

Yoghurt
A University of Tennessee, US, study found that people who added three serves of yoghurt a day to their diets lost 61 per cent more body fat and 81 per cent more stomach fat over 12 weeks than people who didn’t eat yoghurt.

Olive or flaxseed oil
These cause the stomach to retain food for longer – so drizzle 1tbs on salads to make them more filling. Monounsaturated oils also help keep your cholesterol in check, by helping lower bad (LDL) cholesterol.

Dates or dried mango
These little gems have all the sweetness of lollies, with bonus vitamin C and iron. And because they require more chewing time, you’ll eat fewer.

Almonds
Perfect packages of protein, fat, and fibre. When dieters followed a 4190kJ-a-day diet for 24 weeks, those who ate almonds lost 18 per cent of their body weight, compared to 11 per cent lost by people who ate carb-based snacks.

Eggs
Think of them as little protein bombs. Plus, they’re a good source of iron, and lecithin, which is critical for brain health (so you can carry on making smart food choices). If you’re worried about cholesterol, leave out a yolk or two.

Wholegrain breads and cereals
You crave carbs because your body needs them – the key is to eat ones that have all their belly-melting fibre intact. Want to know if your cereal is wholegrain? Check the packaging: “Wholegrains contain at least 2g of fibre per serve,” says nutritionist Joanne Slavin.

Peanut butter
OK, it’s not low-kJ, but it’s packed with heart-healthy monounsaturated fats that increase your body’s production of testosterone, which can help melt fat and build muscle. Three tablespoons a day gives you the benefits, without overloading on the fat.

Low-fat dairy
A University of Tennessee study found that dieters who consumed between 1200 and 1300 milligrams of calcium a day lost nearly twice as much weight as those taking in less calcium.

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1. Drink lots of fruit juice, as long as it’s pure
   Fruit juice is concentrated, dissolved fructose (70%) and glucose (30%). The average 200ml pure juice contains approximately six fruits. The human body copes well with small amounts of fructose and glucose from eating single servings of fresh fruit, where the pulp slows down rapid absorption of these simple sugars. Juices place a burden on the body to produce insulin in an effort to cope with large amounts of quickly absorbable sugars. In other words, eat your fruit, don’t drink it.
2. Fat free is the only way to diet
   Health authorities have recommended “low-fat” or “fat-free” diets for almost four decades. The reasoning was that fat contains more kilojoules (38kJ per gram) than either carbohydrates or protein, containing 17kJ per gram.
   It makes mathematical sense that if you eat equal quantities of these nutrients, fat will be most fattening. But this equation discounts several important facts: fat offers the highest satiety value, and severely restricting it from your diet will lead to incessant hunger, and also make it a lot more difficult to stick to any diet.

   The second discounted point is the GI-lowering effect of fat with meals, and thirdly, the life-saving anti-inflammatory properties of omega-3 fats. By restricting all fats, we’ve probably increased our exposure to inflammatory conditions such as heart disease, abdominal obesity, hypertension, diabetes and certain cancers.

3. Base your meals on cereals and starches
   The Food Guide Pyramid has indeed become our tombstone. Many years of starchy eating (6 – 11 portions per day, as recommended) have fuelled our abdominal fat stores. This could lead to an increased production of insulin in response to chronic, large amounts of blood-sugar release from starches.
   Fresh fruit and vegetables are a healthier alternative to starchy eating, since their biochemistry call for less insulin release. Fresh fruit and vegetables should be used to substitute half of our starches. No diet based on starch will promote or sustain weight loss.
   
   
4. Jelly babies and marshmallows are fat free, and not fattening
   The food industry knows you confuse fats and sugars, and exploits this. If you think you can regularly, safely indulge in a packet of “fat free” jelly babies while you’re trying to lose weight, you’ve fallen in the trap. These products might be fat free, but contain concentrated sugar, with a high insulin-stimulating action. High insulin release is exactly what you want to avoid if you want lasting success with weight loss.
5. Eat at least five fruits daily
   This recommendation assumes that these five fruits will substitute extras in your diet, such as starches or desserts. It’s no use eating your daily junk diet, plus five fruits to soothe your conscience. Then even fruit is fattening.
6. Avocado pear is fattening
   This healthy fruit has been unfairly blamed as fattening for too long. Fruit is generally fat free, and the fat in avocado is not “high fat”, “bad fat” or even fattening. Also – it has no effect on your cholesterol or blood-sugar levels.
7. It’s what you eat – when is not important
   We often skimp on our food intake during the day, with the result that by late afternoon our need for blood-sugar replenishment overrides all reason. One of the main purposes of breakfast is to get a solid, slow supply of blood sugar going. Topped up by a sensible lunch and late-afternoon snack, your supper should be smallest of your meals.

   Breakfast has 16 – 18 hours to metabolise, lunch has 10 – 12 hours, and supper usually has two or three hours before we expect our sleeping bodies to cope with the digestion of the largest meal of the day. That’s why we should “breakfast like a king and supper like a pauper”.

8. Apple cider vinegar breaks down fats
   The only thing apple cider vinegar breaks down is the lining of your stomach. It will not make you thin, and what’s more, it could cause stomach ulcers if the vinegar is taken on a regular basis.
9. Breakfast cereal and breakfast bars will make you thin
   If you want to kick-start your insulin production to put your body in effective fat storage mode, try doing this. Having high-GI starch as your meals, plus bars loaded with sugars, harmful fats and more refined starch in between, will make sure that you become a yo-yo dieter. Be prepared to be a lot worse off than you were when you started this ridiculous diet.
10. Cream crackers, rice cakes and popcorn are ‘free foods’
    Firstly, the need for free foods means that your diet has little satiety value, or you’re stimulating glucose and insulin spikes in a self-perpetuating cycle by means of bad eating habits.

    Secondly, no refined starch-based foods are ‘free’. The term ‘free’ refers to the low-kilojoule content of these foods, but by frequently eating ‘free’ starches, you’re stimulating insulin production, and again, putting your body in good fat-storage mode. This has little to do with kilojoules.

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There are many areas in life where one must differentiate between the ideal (or dream) and reality.

Of course it would be highly desirable to lose every gram of excess weight that you’ve picked up over years of incorrect eating, splurging and doing very little exercise, but it’s essential to be pragmatic and take a good, hard look at what you can actually achieve and how long it will take you to reach a specific weight-loss goal.

Realistic goal
Research indicates that the most realistic slimming goal for the majority of overweight individuals is to try and lose 5-10% of their weight.

The researchers found that a 5-10% loss is not only more feasible than aiming for mega-losses, but that even such a modest decrease in weight can have very positive effects on a wide range of obesity-related risk factors (diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and many more).

Take this example:

Mrs X, a woman of 40 with three children, is 1.65m tall and weighs 87kg. Her BMI = 32, so she is classified as obese. She desperately wants to lose weight and has set her goal weight at 68kg, which would be within the normal range for her height.

This would mean that she has to lose a whopping 19kg, which could take up to 25 weeks or more if she maintains a weight loss of 0.5 to 1kg per week.

So, for nearly 6 months, Mrs X will have to stick to a very strict diet, exercise nearly every day and constantly motivate herself to maintain her resolve. This a tough prospect and it’s doubtful that she will achieve this kind of discipline. Mrs X is, after all, only human. To complicate matters, weight-loss statistics show that Mrs X’s chances of achieving her strict goal are very small.

Negative effects
If Mrs X sets herself such a highly idealistic, but practically unachievable goal, she may not succeed. This will have a devastating effect on her self-image. She will feel that she has failed and may sink into a depression and start overeating again.

All these reactions are very negative and may discourage Mrs X from trying to control her eating habits and exercising in future.

Positive effects of realistic goals
If, on the other hand, Mrs X had set out to lose a more realistic amount of weight such as 9kg or 10% of her starting weight, the chances are good that she will achieve her goal within a manageable period of about 11 weeks or 3 months.

Imagine how positive Mrs X is going to feel when she reaches her target weight of 78kg. She will feel proud that she has accomplished the goal she set out to achieve and will be motivated to stick to a balanced, low-fat eating plan and to continue with her exercise programme.

This will have positive spinoffs for maintaining her lower weight and gradually lead to further weight losses.

What’s more, research indicates that even modest weight losses of between 5% and 10% cuts the risk of death due to complications of obesity by 20%, the risk of obesity-related cancers by up to 50%, and the risk of deaths due to diabetes by up to 40%.

- (Dr I.V. van Heerden, DietDoc, updated September 2008)

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How much weight should you lose?

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• Have you tried dieting and/or exercising in the past? Yes (1) No (0)
• Did you regain weight you lost in the past? Yes (1), No (0)
• Do you need to lose more than 5kg? Yes (0), No (1)
• What sex are you? Male (0), Female (1)
• Are you going to use a balanced, low-fat diet? Yes (0), No (1)
• Are you going to use a crash or fad diet? Yes (1), No (0)
• Are you going to use a starvation diet? Yes (1), No (0)
• Are you going to use shakes and meal replacements? Yes (1), No (0)
• Are you going to combine your diet with exercise? Yes (0), No (1)
• Are you going to exercise regularly? Yes (0), No (1)

Scores

• 0-3: You will lose weight successfully and keep it off.
• 3-6: You may lose weight, but you may not maintain your weight loss.
• 6-10: Your chances of success are limited. Tackle some of your obstacles if you don’t want all the effort to be in vain.

Articles from: Tree4Kilos

Slimming Success Quiz

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In each one of the Survivor series, food has played a crucial role and often determined the outcome of survival for individual participants. There are many diet lessons we can learn from it.

Dramatic weight loss
One of the most striking characteristics of the Survivor programmes is that the Survivors have always lost masses of weight. In each series, the Survivors start out looking well-fed, sleek and healthy, but after 40 days in the wilderness, with limited food supply, they become thin to the point of emaciation.

This is the most important diet lesson viewers can learn from the Survivors: if you want to lose weight, then you must cut down on your energy intake. It’s as simple as that.

Low fat intake = weight loss
In the Survivor Africa series, participants basically survived on maize meal, or “mielie pap”, as we call it. Their fat intake was very low and the kilograms melted away. The diet lesson is obvious: if you want to lose weight, cut down on fat intake, and not on carbohydrates.

Fat contains 37kJ of energy per gram, which is more than double the energy content of carbohydrates and protein, which only supply 17kJ of energy per gram.

So, by restricting fat intake, you’ll achieve weight loss more efficiently than if you cut out all carbs. This is also the reason why a low-fat, high-fibre, high-carbohydrate diet has been found to be more successful in weight loss programmes than low- or zero-carbohydrate or high-protein diets.

A balanced diet is essential
The Survivor series has also underlined another important diet truth: if you want to be healthy and full of energy, you need to eat a variety of foods as part of a balanced diet.

Survivors often exhibit symptoms of nutrient deficiencies. For example, in Survivor Africa, Kim Senior suffered from peripheral oedema – her legs were swelling up. This was probably due to a protein deficiency, as that group of Survivors were not able to supplement their monotonous diet of maize meal with fish or pork, like their Australian counterparts.

This shows us that we need to eat a variety of foods, including protein derived from animals (meat, fish, milk, cheese, yoghurt and eggs). Vegans should take this lesson to heart and switch over to a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet instead.

Vitamin deficiencies
To prevent yourself from getting deficient in vitamin C and beta-carotene, as often happens on Survivor, remember to eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables every day.

Vitamin C is found in fresh citrus fruits, strawberries, guavas, pawpaw, kiwi fruit, mangoes and spanspek, as well as vegetables belonging to the cabbage family, sweet green peppers and tomatoes.

Beta-carotene, which is turned into vitamin A in our bodies, is found in yellow peaches, pawpaw, mangoes, pumpkin, butternut and yellow sweet potatoes. So, stock up on these fruits and vegetables every day.

Diet and mood
In some of the previous series, the Survivors became very lethargic and often appeared depressed. I reckon they were all suffering from vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and that this was responsible for their gloomy outlook and lack of energy.

The B vitamins, as well as iron and calcium, play pivotal roles in keeping our bodies healthy and our nervous system functioning normally.

If you’re feeling down and blue, check your diet for deficiencies. You may need to take a vitamin B supplement or switch over to unprocessed cereals, whole grains and wholewheat bread, legumes, and plenty of green leafy vegetables, and increase your milk intake to provide those missing B vitamins.

We can all be survivors, and winners, if we follow a balanced diet.

- (Dr Ingrid van Heerden, DietDoc, updated July 2009)

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1st place

Almonds
Per 30g serving: 725kJ
15.2g fat

Almonds have nearly nine times more (healthy) monounsaturated fat than dangerous saturated fat, says Dr Joan Sabaté, chair of nutrition at California’s Loma Linda University, US. With plenty of protein, fibre, calcium and iron and no cholesterol, almonds are also one of the best sources of vitamin E, which protects against stroke and cancer.

2nd place

Walnuts
Per 30g serving: 855kJ
17g fat

Walnuts are unique among nuts because they’re loaded with the same heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids as salmon (but these taste better with chocolate). In more good fat news, walnuts also have an abundance of polyunsaturated fat, which may protect against type 2 diabetes.

3rd place

Pistachios
Per 30g serving: 700kJ
13.3g fat

Recently reported to have the highest level of LDL-lowering plant sterols (they help regulate cholesterol) by researchers at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, US, pistachios are a great source of potassium. They’re also high in monounsaturated fat, with nearly as much as almonds.

4th place

Peanuts
Per 30g serving: 712kJ
14.8g fat

Research finds that these legumes (they’re not actually nuts) are good for keeping cholesterol levels at bay. These impostors also provide more protein (7.7g per serving) than true nuts.

5th place

Hazelnuts

Per 30g serving: 789kJ
18.2g fat

Along with one of the highest ratios of good fat to bad, hazelnuts are packed with folate, a vitamin that protects against birth defects and possibly cancer and heart disease.

6th place

Pecans
Per 30g serving: 867kJ
21.6g fat

Dr Sabaté points to these as a good choice for fighting high cholesterol – they’re high in unsaturated fat and lower in bad saturated fat than other nuts. Er, no, that’s not the case if you get your dose via pecan pie.

Nut nugget
With their high fat content, nuts turn rancid quickly unless stored in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. In the fridge they’ll keep well for four months; in the freezer they’ll go six, says Sharon Natoli nutritionist and director of Food & Nutrition Australia. If you’re chewing a rancid nut – you’ll be able to tell because they taste foul – spit it out. Stale nuts can cause problems like irritation of the stomach and intestines, and they may be carcinogenic. So we say buy ‘em like you should eat ‘em… in small amounts.

Articles from: Tree4Kilos

Put Nuts in your Diet

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• An abundance of food from plant sources, including fruits and vegetables, potatoes, breads and grains, beans, nuts, and seeds
• Emphasis on a variety of minimally processed and, wherever possible, seasonally fresh and locally grown foods (which often maximizes the health-promoting micronutrient and antioxidant content of these foods)
• Olive oil as the principal fat, replacing other fats and oils (including butter and margarine)
• Total fat ranging from less than 25 percent to over 35 percent of energy, with saturated fat no more than 7 to 8 percent of energy (calories)
• Daily consumption of low to moderate amounts of cheese and yogurt (low-fat and non-fat versions may be preferable)
• Twice-weekly consumption of low to moderate amounts of fish and poultry (recent research suggests that fish be somewhat favored over poultry); from zero to four eggs per week (including those used in cooking and baking)
• Fresh fruit as the typical daily dessert; sweets with a significant amount of sugar (often as honey) and saturated fat consumed not more than a few times per week
• Red meat a few times per month (recent research suggests that if red meat is eaten, its consumption should be limited to a maximum of 12 to 16 ounces [340 to 450 grams] per month; where the flavor is acceptable, lean versions may be preferable)
• Regular physical activity at a level which promotes a healthy weight, fitness and well-being
• Moderate consumption of wine, normally with meals; about one to two glasses per day for men and one glass per day for women. From a contemporary public health perspective, wine should be considered optional and avoided when consumption would put the individual or others at risk

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The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid

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“Your blood sugar can fall too low after just 4 hours of not eating,” says Valerie Berkowitz, M.S., R.D., nutrition director at the Center for Balanced Health in New York City. So you search the fridge, food court, or seat cushions for carbohydrates, which will provide a quick boost.

Trouble is, fast-rising blood sugar triggers your pancreas to release a flood of insulin, a hormone that not only lowers blood sugar but also signals your body to store fat. And in about half of us, insulin tends to “overshoot,” which sends blood sugar crashing. “This reinforces the binge, because it makes you crave sugar and starch again,” says Berkowitz.

The most effective way to keep blood sugar in check is to avoid foods that are made with added sugar — soda, some fruit juices, baked goods. You can eliminate those entirely. As for foods that contain high amounts of starch–pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, or any other flour-based food — we’ll admit they’re delicious, and they can also provide vitamins and fiber. But you should limit yourself to 30 to 40 grams (g) of total carbohydrates at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and 10 to 20 g at any given snack. (Check labels.)

In addition, follow these three rules.

Eat regularly - approximately every 3 hours. This allows you to eat smaller meals without becoming hungry.

Have protein and fat (meat, cheese, nuts, or eggs contain both) at every meal. This slows the digestion of carbohydrates, which helps prevent spikes in blood sugar.

Go whole grain. Shop carefully for carbs. Make sure any bread, pasta, or rice that you eat is 100 percent whole grain. Because whole grains contain fiber, their effect on your blood sugar is reduced.

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Through my extensive studies, I’ve discovered that people living in Mediterranean countries are healthier than Americans. They have almost half as many deaths from cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and obesity as people living in America.

So, if the Mediterranean diet has worked for its people for centuries in protecting them from chronic diseases plaguing us now, why not copy it?

The good news is: if you start emulating the lifestyle of the Mediterranean world now, you will attain newfound health. Here’s how.

How Mediterraneans have kept a healthy heart for centuries

1. Watch what type of fuel you feed your body
Why do many people buy Super gasoline even though it’s more expensive?

If they bought the least expensive gas, they could save a lot of money. But only in the short run. Car engines run more efficiently with high-quality fuels and the parts deteriorate much faster when you use cheap fluids.

Like your car, your body is comprised of different parts and your heart is the engine. The fuel you use to keep your heart and other body parts running makes a difference in your performance, whether you’re at work, at school, or with your family. The Mediterranean diet is proven to be the best “fuel” available to keep our “parts” running well until old age.

2. Cut down on processed foods and load up with fruits and vegetables
To have a healthy heart like the Mediterraneans, and maintain normal blood pressure, your diet should be five times higher in potassium than in sodium. Unfortunately, in the typical western diet, the amount of sodium is five times higher than potassium.

Why do we have it so backwards?

Because seventy-five percent of the salt we eat comes from processed foods. Since the American public consumes an excessive 4 000mg of sodium per day, the American Public Health Association recently called for a 50 percent sodium reduction in the nation’s food supply over the next ten years. It’s estimated that such a reduction would save at least 150 000 lives in this country annually.

By eating fruits and vegetables, you are also replacing other foods in your meal that may be high in sodium. Plus fruits and vegetables provide high amounts of potassium, calcium and magnesium so you can have a normal heart beating and low blood pressure.

3. Give yourself a daily dose of olive oil
Butter is rarely consumed in the traditional Mediterranean diet and margarine was completely unknown in the area until recently. People in the Mediterranean countries use extra virgin olive oil, one of the best sources of monounsaturated fat, the kind of fat that does not stick to your arteries. Extra virgin olive oil is also an excellent source of many antioxidants such as vitamin E.

Many people take vitamin E in capsules thinking that they can get the same health results. However, studies have shown that capsules can never replace the real thing. Researchers for the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation Study found that people who received 265 milligrams of vitamin E daily in the form of supplements did not have fewer hospitalisations for heart failure when compared to those who received a placebo.

That’s why nutrition authorities recommend 2 to 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil a day as prevention.

4. Eat more legumes
By legumes, I mean dry beans, lentils, chickpeas and garbanzo beans. Legumes, a staple food in the Mediterranean diet for centuries, are packed with fibre as well as minerals such as iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorous, zinc, potassium, folic acid and some of the B-complex vitamins. They are low in fat and sodium.

Legumes are also very high in soluble fibre that helps you easily get rid of your cholesterol. And to top it all, legumes can help balance your budget because they are very inexpensive. If legumes are not part of your regular diet, you are missing an almost perfect food.

5. Eat more aromatic herbs, garlic and onions
To add the Mediterranean flavour to your meals, replace salt with garlic and aromatic herbs. Garlic is a true wonder of nature. It has been used for thousands of years as both food and medicine. People around the world, especially those who enjoy few chronic heart diseases, use it extensively in their daily diets.

Why?

Because more than 200 chemical compounds that might protect our bodies have been found in garlic. It has recently been shown that garlic can significantly reduce cholesterol and triglycerides, lower blood pressure and prevent the formation of blood clots. It can also protect our bodies through its antioxidant properties.

Onions and other aromatic herbs work very similar to garlic. They contain about 25 active compounds that appear to help combat heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure and cholesterol.

Mediterranean diet closing thoughts
Scientific studies have associated good health not only with the ingestion of healthy foods, but also with a lifestyle linked to family life, leisure time, regular physical activity and traditional habits such as taking a nap. A 10 to 15 minute nap at midday will help keep stress at bay. So why not take 15 minutes after you’re done eating and have a snooze?
(Emilia Klapp)

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