Mediterranean Diet: New Study shows It's Great For Weight Loss And your Heart

"Mediterranean Diet: New Study shows It's Great
For Weight Loss And your Heart by Karen Wild


The Mediterranean diet first became popular as a
heart health diet, but its role may be changing. In
the 1960's it was discovered that some people in the
Mediterranean, particularly those from Crete, had a
significantly longer life expectancy than people
elsewhere in the world. Their diet, which is high in
vegetables, meat, pasta, beans, cereals, olive oil and
wine, seemed to have the ability to protect them from
heart disease and stroke.

Today, though, it may become known as a weight loss
diet. Spanish Researchers studying the eating habits of
1,547 men and 1615 women aged 25-74, recently found
that the more closely subjects followed the diet, the
lower their body fat levels became. This was surprising,
because, in other studies it had been seen that
Mediterraneans were not exactly slim and that contrasted
sharply to the usual expectation that if you're fat, you're
more likely to die of a stroke or heart attack.

The Mediterranean diet, is lower in foods like pastas,
cheese, red meats, milk and lard than a common European
diet, which some believe account for the differences in
longevity. But sticking to lower glycemic carbs like the
beans and cereals also causes a lower insulin response
which is linked to the storage of fat in our bodies. Low carb
advocates say that the Mediterranean diet works even
better when it's modified to lower the carbs, believing it
will speed up the fat loss while continuing to provide the
positive heart benefits.

So get the best of both worlds. Eat like Crete, with a low
carb twist. And speed your way to quick weight loss and
a long healthy life.

About the Author
Karen Wild is an author and contributing writer for the
popular www.healthy-low-carb.com an online information
source for low carb diets, free low carb recipes, diet basics,
books, product reviews and informative up to date dieting
research.