Best Mediterranean Diet Menu or Meals Plan for Weight Loss

People who live in the Mediterranean region are known to be very healthy. People attribute this to their especially healthy diet, which involves less of meats and carbs and more vegetables and monounsaturated fats.

How it works: The pyramid of a typically Mediterranean diet shows the emphasis to be on eating more of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, beans, herbs, nuts, spices and olive oil. It also advocates eating healthy fish twice a week, along with cheese, yogurt, eggs and poultry. Sweets and red meat are to be eaten sparingly while red wine is good if you want to be physically active.

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By eating vegetables, fruits, rice and pasta, you have a low level of lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (bad cholesterol) that builds deposits in your arteries.

This diet lays great stress on cooking with olive and canola oils that are low in saturated facts, are sources of lean protein and do not contain any trans-fats. Therefore, they reduce your chances of developing heart disease to a great extent.

You can also avert the chances of developing several cancers, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

What to eat: Not only is the Mediterranean diet a healthy diet but it is also delicious. Here’s what you should eat, based on this diet’s pyramid:

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• Vegetables: Eat a cup of raw green leafy vegetables or half a cup of any other vegetables.
• Potatoes: Eat 100 gm of potatoes a day.
• Legumes: One cup of cooked dry beans is ideal.
• Nuts: Eat 30 gm of nuts per day as a snack or sprinkle it on your food. Nuts are rich in fiber, healthy fats and protein and are essential for you.
• Fruit: Eat fresh whole fruits such as an apple or an orange, a banana, 200 gm of melon or watermelon and 30 gm of grapes per day.
• Meat: Limit eating red meat to just once or twice a month. Choose lean meat and eat small portions of it. Don’t eat processed meat like sausages, bacon or salami. 
• Fish: Eating 60 gm of cooked fish or lean meat is good for you. Choose from fresh water or frozen trout, salmon, mackerel, tuna or herring and eat it baked, grilled, stir-fried or broiled but not fried or breaded.                                                                                                               Image by © the food passionates/Corbis
• Grains: Include half a cup of cooked rice or pasta or a slice of bread in your daily diet.
• Dairy: A cup of milk or yoghurt or 30 g of low-fat cheese provides the necessary nutrition.
• Eggs: The Mediterranean diet determines that you can eat one egg each day.
• Spices: Spice up your food with chilies to enhance its taste and let it act as a substitute for fat and salt in your cooking.
• Wine: A serving of 125 ml of good red wine is good for you as it keeps you physically active.

The rationale behind the Mediterranean Diet: This diet lays great stress on the following:

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• Exercise regularly
• Eat a lot of fish and poultry instead of red meat
• Eat more of vegetables and fruits
• Reduce your salt intake and increase use of spices and herbs for flavoring
• Cook with canola and olive oils that are low in trans-fats
• Limit your consumption of red wine for its health benefits

Health benefits: People who have adopted this diet have found these benefits:

• Increased lifespan: They have a lowered chance of dying due to cancer or heart disease. Often, the rate of reduced death risks at any age has fallen to about 20%.
• Lowered chances of developing serious medical conditions: Mediterranean dieters do not suffer from high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, elevated levels of blood cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.
• Reduced chances of being obese: The diet is structured in such a way that it stabilizes your body weight.