XXXOOO

I am trying to find you a great resource. Most of them are incomplete in some way. I will contact you when I find a really good one.

I just spoke with the author of the study and since she is planning to write / publish a book based on this subject, she isn’t willing to give us any more details

DR

Thank you Health Habits. Heart disease is still the biggest killer in the western world and education is your best defense. Please join the discussion at Heart Failure Solutions.

I am honored that the lead author, Dr. Sofi, took the time to respond to my analysis. Find his comments at the link above.

For anyone interested in weight loss via Mediterranean-style eating, I also have a blog page on how to do it:
http://advancedmediterraneandiet.com/blog/?page_id=65

-Steve

Thanks for the feedback.

Merriam-Webster defines DIET as:

Main Entry:
1di·et
Pronunciation:
\ˈdī-ət\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English diete, from Anglo-French, from Latin diaeta, from Greek diaita, literally, manner of living, from diaitasthai to lead one’s life
Date:
13th century

1 a: food and drink regularly provided or consumed
1b: habitual nourishment
1c: the kind and amount of food prescribed for a person or animal for a special reason
1d: a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one’s weight 2: something provided or experienced repeatedly <a diet of Broadway shows and nightclubs

It’s too bad that the word “diet” in today’s society has become automatically associated with caloric restriction.- 1d

Using the first definition of diet – 1a, the Mediterranean diet should be categorized as the food and drink regularly provided or consumed by people of the Mediterranean region.

This “traditional” diet focused on fresh, local, natural and quite often organic foods.

I feel that this message becomes distorted by the marketing machine built to sell “diet books” to a North American population desperate to drop a few pounds.

So, I agree with you; the overall message should be to eat healthier…not to focus on calories or BMI or celebrity diets or…

To be honest, I haven’t even read the Mediterranean Diet book. I focused on the research papers upon which the “diet” based.

There really should be no need for a mediterranian diet book. The message of the Mediterranean diet or any other ‘real food’ diet is to eat foods that are close to their natural state.

It’s not about eating the same foods that they eat in the Mediterranean or in Okinawa or in the Blue Zones or in South Beach, etc…

We all can find healthy foods grown right in our own backyard.

Wait a minute, this is starting to sound like an advertisement for Michael Pollan or the 100 Mile Diet.

Thanks again for the feedback.

i think this sort of goes against your newer post. whether or not the mediterranean diet has benefits, the problem is that it’s still a diet. i have the book. it’s just dietitians trying to market a plan that happens to be a way of life for some people (people who live really far from here, in a totally different client, with access to totally different crops and local products). the overall message is to eat healthier, right? so, a plan like this is still just a diet. in my humble opinion.

Thank you for your contribution.

We should always remember that in addition to adding more Omega-3s into our diet, we also need to reduce our consumption on Omega-6s.

For anyone interested in learning more about Omega-6, visit Evelyn’s blog.

Lots of great info.