The Surprising Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet

As the saying goes, "The longer the belt, the shorter the life span." Among the top ten causes of death in Taiwan, more than half of the diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease, and diabetes are related to obesity, which invisibly creates a huge burden on health insurance. At least 260 million people die from obesity-related diseases every year. The World Health Organization (WHO) also defined obesity as a disease in 1996 and announced that "obesity will become the world's top health problem." Therefore, medical experts have invested in weight loss diet research and there are many different opinions.

Low or high sugar?
In the 1990s, the sugar-restricted diet was advocated by American physician Robert Atkins.Atkins Diet" was once popular. Akin believes that high carbohydrate intake will stimulate insulin secretion and produce more subcutaneous fat, so he advocates a sugar-restricted diet. During the weight loss period, high-protein foods such as meat, eggs, and cheese are the staple food, and only about one slice of toast can be consumed per day.
A high-protein diet produces a high level of ketone bodies in the body, which take away a lot of water and ions when excreted from the body, thereby achieving the effect of rapid weight loss. More than 10 million people around the world have tried to lose weight. However, this weight loss method may increase the metabolic burden of the liver and kidneys in the long term and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, so it has caused a lot of controversy.

Another well-known diet for low sugar is the "South Beach Diet" proposed by Arthur Agatston, a cardiologist in Miami, USA. It became famous because former US President Bill Clinton used it in combination with exercise. This diet emphasizes the careful selection of food based on the glycemic index (GI).
The so-called GI value refers to the value that affects blood sugar concentration within 2 hours after eating. The higher the GI value, the faster the food is absorbed and the faster the blood sugar concentration rises. At this time, the pancreas will release more insulin and promote fat formation. Therefore, Agatston advocates choosing foods with low GI values, such as high-fiber vegetables, beans, whole grains, or low-GI fruits. In fact, the production and cooking methods, as well as many variables, will affect the GI response, so the GI value can be regarded as a reference tool but not the only criterion.

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On the contrary, some experts advocate a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet, such as the Pritikin Diet proposed by the well-known dietician Nathan Pritikin, which advocates the elimination of animal fat (except salmon), sugar, refined flour and over-processed foods.
There is also the "Ornish Diet" proposed by Dr. Dean Ornish, which advocates that the diet should avoid all kinds of meat and be mainly plant-based. Experts have different opinions on whether the diet should be low in sugar or high in sugar.

Eat food in its whole, minimally processed state
There are also people who strictly count calories to lose weight, butWeight loss methodsIf you are too strict, you will easily overeat due to appetite rebound and it will be difficult to sustain. Especially when you starve yourself to lose weight, the body will automatically reduce the metabolic rate to save calories in order to maintain physiological functions. Once you return to a normal diet, you will easily gain weight again. The cycle of weight loss and weight gain is like a yo-yo going up and down, which is the so-called "yo-yo effect".

Whether from the perspective of health or weight loss, I personally encourage the intake of minimally processed food, because the nutrients in the food itself are the perfect proportions selected and carefully designed by the Creator. This is why I have been promoting the "Mediterranean diet" for many years. Its dietary characteristics emphasize the original flavor of food ingredients, encourage the intake of olive oil, nuts, fruits and vegetables, herbs, whole grains, moderate intake of fish and poultry, and reduce dairy products, red meat, processed meat and sweets.

I would like to share with you a large-scale study on the correlation between the Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular disease published in the New England Journal of Medicine in April 2013. A total of 4 subjects aged 7447 to 55 were randomly selected. They had never suffered from any cardiovascular disease or type 80 diabetes, but had the following cardiovascular disease risks, such as smoking, high blood pressure, high low-density lipoprotein, low high-density lipoprotein, obesity, or a family history of coronary heart disease. They were divided into three groups and controlled with different dietary patterns, and the diet was tracked for an average of 4.8 years.
There were two experimental groups. The first group followed a Mediterranean diet and added 1 liter of extra virgin olive oil per week. The second group also followed a Mediterranean diet but added 30 grams of nuts per day. The control group followed a low-fat diet, such as low-fat dairy products, potatoes, fruits and vegetables, and low-fat fish, avoiding oils, baked goods, red meat, and high-fat fish.
Studies have shown that simply increasing the intake of natural extra virgin olive oil or nuts without deliberately reducing dietary calorie restrictions on the Mediterranean diet can reduce the relative risk of cardiovascular disease (including myocardial infarction, cerebral stroke, etc.) by 30%, which is better than the control effect of the low-fat diet group.

So, strictlyLimit fat intakeOn the contrary, those who like natural whole food such as fruit and vegetable salads and establish simple eating habits without sacrificing deliciousness are more likely to get good health feedback.
This column reflects expert opinions and does not necessarily represent the views of this publication.
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