Healthy Mediterranean Dietary Tips You Should Try

The Mediterranean diet was elected the best diet overall for the year 2020 by U.S. News & World Report. This was the third year in a row that this incredible diet got the first place in the U.S. News ranking, a decision that they reached after consulting a panel of health experts. The diet also won first place in many other categories in the past, including diet for healthy eating, best plant-based diet, best diet for diabetes, and easiest diet to follow.

The widespread praise given to this diet is not without cause. Many studies found that following it helps people have stronger bones, healthier hearts, less body weight, and longer lives. Following a Mediterranean diet can also reduce the risk of diabetes, high cholesterol, dementia, memory loss, depression, and breast cancer. No wonder this diet was considered the best overall.

If you want to get some of those benefits yourself, here are some tips on how you can use principles of the Mediterranean diet to be healthier.

1 – Eat more fish

Red meat rarely makes an appearance in Mediterranean food. Instead, their meals and dishes make heavy use of fish. It is their primary source of protein, and they often make use of fatty fishes such as salmon, sardines, and mackerel.

Fatty fishes are richer in omega-3, which are good for the functioning of both brain and hearth. The high levels of omega-3 is one of the things that makes the Mediterranean diet so healthy across the board.

2 – Use a lot of olive oil

Olive oil is a major staple of the Mediterranean diet, and it comes with a very large list of health benefits. It has antioxidant properties, anti-inflammatory properties, it is rich in monounsaturated fats (which is the type that is good for you), it protects against heart diseases, helps prevent strokes, and much more.

Not only that, olive oil is also a very versatile food item. It can be used for cooking in place of vegetable oil and coconut oil. It can be used in salad dressings, vinaigrettes, can be drizzled on top of finished fishes or chickens to enhance the flavor, and can be even used in place of butter to make mashed potatoes. It even goes well on sandwiches.

If you really want to follow Mediterranean principles, make sure to only use extra-virgin olive oil.

3 – Cook more vegetable recipes

The Mediterranean diet relies heavily on dishes made around vegetables. Instead of a side-dish, vegetables are the main event here. They serve roasted vegetables, broccoli rabe, chickpeas, eggplant parmesan, among many other delicious dishes.

The tip here is to look into doing that yourself. Find dishes that make vegetables the main attraction, that make them beautiful and delicious. If you are not sure where to start, looking for traditional Mediterranean recipes is a good first step. You can also look for vegetarian or vegan meal plans. You don’t have to stop eating meat, just give vegetable dishes a chance to enter your list of favorite foods. You may be surprised to find how good some of the recipes will taste.

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