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The Mediterranean diet food pyramid starts with a base of daily physical activity. Although the diet can help you lose weight and be healthier on its own, you’re going to need to be up and moving every day, whether it be taking a walk, going to the gym, or chasing your toddler at the park. Some sort of daily physical activity is essential to this lifestyle and only further benefits the goals of weight loss, heart health, and bone health.
The pyramid is divided into foods that you should eat daily, weekly, and monthly or occasionally only. The first section of the food pyramid is non-refined carbohydrates. This section is also in the daily category. Whole grains, pasta, rice, couscous, polenta, quinoa, and pita bread contain dietary fiber, vitamins, and minerals that are essential to our health. When foods are refined, that means that they are processed, which removes many of their essential nutrients, making them wasted calories for our bodies that get turned into fat. Enriched and bleached flour (which is in many of the breads on the grocery store shelf), white rice, sugary, cold cereal, refined pasta, and snack cakes should all be avoided. Eight servings per day is suggested for most people; however, if you are trying to lose weight quickly, you may want to discuss lowering this.
The second tier of the food pyramid is fruit, legumes and nuts, and vegetables. The Mediterranean diet is plant-based, so most of your flavors throughout the day will come from fruits and vegetables. Although carbs are the base of the Mediterranean diet with the highest number of recommended servings, the diet still feels much more fruit and veggie-based because the carbs can be something as simple as a piece of pita bread to go with your meal.
Everyone knows that fruits and vegetables are good for you, but many people forget how beneficial legumes are to the body. Legumes are rich in fiber, which aids digestive health and protects against cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses. The vitamins and antioxidants in fruits and vegetables further enhance the health benefits as well. Legumes must be cooked prior to consumption to eliminate any risk of toxins, but the cooking process also adds nutritional value to the legumes. Some of the best veggies to consume are those that are low in starch, including eggplant, cauliflower, and artichokes. You should be aiming for six servings of vegetables or legumes and three servings of fruit daily.
Olives and nuts are also part of this tier and are recommended 3–4 times per week but can be eaten more often as well. A handful of olives or almonds makes a great afternoon snack and can pair well with a small wedge of cheese or fruit as well. You can also sprinkle shaved almonds on top of salads for texture. Chestnuts, walnuts, cashews, and seeds are also very good for you. Try sunflower or pumpkin seeds, which provide lots of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and proteins. You should avoid salted or sugared nuts, however, as these can lead to high blood pressure and contribute to obesity.
The third daily tier is olive oil. The health benefits of olive oil have been thoroughly researched, and it has been proven that consuming at least 2 tablespoons of olive oil per day can greatly reduce your risk of heart disease, promote cognitive health, aid in digestion, add shine to your hair, promote healthy skin and nails, and much more. You can easily add olive oil into your diet by using it to dress salads and using it in your cooking preparations in place of butter and vegetable oil.
The fourth and final daily tier is cheese and yogurt. Goat cheese and Greek yogurt are two of the most frequently used dairy ingredients in the Mediterranean. You should be consuming two servings of dairy every day on the Mediterranean diet. Greek yogurt is an excellent source of protein as well as many vitamins and minerals. It is also easy to incorporate into breakfast or as a sour cream substitute. Many dairy products are high in saturated fats, so make sure that you are checking the nutritional labels on the cheeses you are choosing. Sticking to feta, mozzarella, and goat cheese is a way to play it safe. Also, if you don’t already drink skim milk, you should switch to it rather than whole milk.
The next section of the pyramid is foods that you should consume weekly. This means that you may not have these foods every day, and that is okay. Much of the Mediterranean diet is plant-based, so there may be some days during the week where you are eating a mostly vegetarian diet. The only meats that are typically used in Mediterranean dishes are seafood and chicken. You may also see some goat used in certain regions as well, but for the purposes of this book, we are going to focus on fish and chicken. Red meats and pork are very sparsely used and should be consumed rarely (they are at the very top of the pyramid).
The first tier of the weekly section is fish. You should have fish six times per week. This means that you should try to use seafood in one of your meals every day of the week but one. If you are someone who doesn’t typically find yourself eating a lot of seafood, or you think you don’t like it, the Mediterranean diet will be great for you to try seafood in a new way through varied cooking preparations and flavor profiles. Some of the best sources of protein that are also low in fat include fish like cod, halibut, haddock, hake, and plaice. Oily fish such as tuna, salmon, shark, and swordfish are high in omega-3 fatty acids and several vitamins that all help to reduce your risk of heart disease and cancer as well as dementia. There have also been studies linking a high fish diet to lower rates of depression, anxiety, and stress. If you are pregnant or nursing, make sure to consult with your doctor about the best kind of fish for your diet.
The next tier is poultry with a recommended allotment of 4–5 servings per week. You should always remove the skin and trim off any fat that you see before cooking. You can also eat turkey and other lean white meat in the Mediterranean diet. These meats are packed with proteins and lower in animal fat than beef and pork.
The next tier is eggs, which are only recommended three times per week. Eggs are extremely good for you; however, their yolks are very high in cholesterol. If you want to have eggs more than three times per week, opt to use just egg whites instead so that you can cut out the cholesterol. Keep in mind also that if you are baking, the eggs that you use in these dishes count towards your weekly recommended servings.
The last section of the weekly tier is sweets. People in the Mediterranean love to eat socially, and many times, that can mean having dessert. We all know that sugar is bad for you, though, so if you are going to eat sweets, don’t eat them more than three times per week and in small portions. Many people use honey as a sweetener in desserts in the Mediterranean. Almond cookies are a favorite amongst many, and using fruit in desserts is popular as well. Baked apples with honey and cinnamon is a great substitute for pie. You can also make cheesecake with ricotta cheese rather than cream cheese for a healthier dairy option with less fat.
The very top of the tier is red meat. This is the only category for foods that should be eaten rarely or monthly. Save the prime rib for special occasions. Red meat like lamb, beef, and pork has a ton of protein in it, sure, but these foods also have a very high saturated fat content, which leads directly to obesity, high cholesterol, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses. There are super tasty Mediterranean recipes such as lamb stew that are great for special occasions and pack in lots of vegetables.
When it comes to your beverage choices, the Mediterranean diet offers two main options—water or red wine. Everyone should drink at least eight glasses of water per day for proper hydration. If you are especially active, you should drink even more than this on a daily basis. Red wine is the only alcohol that is part of the Mediterranean diet.
Diet Rules
The key to a good diet is proportions and knowledge of what is healthy and what isn’t. If you find a dietician and nutritionist, she can draw up a detailed plan for you that can suit your body type. Here are a few rules that are essential when following a diet.
Know the percentages: A proper diet should have 50 percent carbohydrates, 35 percent fat and 15 percent protein. You can get carbohydrates from fruits, legumes and whole grains, fat from healthy oils, nuts, seeds and fish and protein from dairy, poultry and eggs.
Count calories: Knowing what food contains how many calories is very important. Calculating the calorie intake will help you eat better. Ideally, 150-pound woman should consume about 1,400 calories a day.
Limit red meat and sweets: Lean meat is more essential and beneficial to health. Meat like beef and lamb should be consumed sparingly. Sweets too should be consumed maybe once a week. In case you have sweet cravings, try and have frozen fruit or yogurt.
Consume eggs, fish, and poultry, but not every day: Limit the consumption of poultry and fish. They can be eaten twice a week, but not every day.
Switch to non or low fat dairy: Dairy and dairy products should be limited. Yogurt and milk can be consumed in 8 ounce servings. Butter and cheese should be limited.
Focus on healthy fat and carbs: Did you know that there was something called good fat? Nuts, avocado, olive oil and fish have good fat in them. White rice and white flour should be eaten sparingly. Whole grain bread, brown rice and cereal are a good source for carbs.
Having set aside the rules for a diet plan, here is the actual diet you can follow.
