The final of three early lessons was a result of trips to
Europe during my youth. Though my mother had ingrained in me I should never
feel the need to diet, we did grow up with low-fat, reduced fat and diet foods
in our house. Furthermore, North American media reinforced the notion that I should select
these options as much as possible. When I went on a high school exchange to Europe, I was
shocked to discover that reduced fat options
were not available to me. In addition, Coke Light did not taste like Diet Coke,
and so I was left substituting water, espresso, and the occasion beer or glass
of wine for my go-to drink. What resonated with me even more than the lack of
“low-fat” options was the fact that the general population was much leaner than
what I was used to. People ate, drank and enjoyed! And somehow, despite my
increased bread, cheese, and whole milk consumption, every time I have been to
Europe, I’ve come home lighter than when I’ve left.
My theory as to why: When in Europe, I only eat
fresh, all natural foods. In general, people go to the market almost daily. As
such, most of the foods are not heavily processed, artificially flavoured, or
packed with preservatives. When they are consumed, our body knows how to digest
the ingredients. Furthermore, full fat holistic foods (whole milk, whole
grains) keep us satiated longer. We don’t digest them as quickly as refined
foods. As a result, our insulin level does not spike and crash. When we do eat
refined carbohydrates, the opposite occurs; our insulin soars, and so does our
blood sugar. The excess sugar is not burned immediately and it turns to fat.
Insulin and blood sugar crash; we are left HUNGRY, wanting more refined
carbohydrates to keep our energy up!
Research on the Mediterranean Diet
The diet itself is higher in vegetables, fruits, cereals,
nuts, fish, table fats & oils, and wine & beer than the American
diet (Nestle, 1995, p. 1314-6). Conversely, the North
American diet is substantially higher in meats, fish, eggs, sugars, and dairy
products. Public health studies have observed that people living in regions
bordering the Mediterranean enjoyed “rates of chronic disease that are amongst
the lowest in the world and life expectancies that are amongst the highest” (p.
1313). Because socioeconomic factors are lower in those regions than more
industrialized countries, it can be deduced that diet is the leading factor for
these findings (p. 1313).
·
NB cereals in
this context refer to grains such as oats or couscous and not the cartooned box
variety. Also, diet refers to foods a person habitually eats and not the
restriction of foods to lose weight.
In a study wherein hundreds of participants were randomly
assigned to either a low-fat, low-carb or Mediterranean diet, those adhering to
that of Mediterranean lost almost double the weight the low-fat group had (Blüher, Brickner, Fiedler, Fraser, Golan, et al., 2008, p. 229).
References
Blüher, M., Brickner, D., Fiedler, G.M., Fraser,
D., Golan, R.,
Greenberg, I., Henkin,
Y., Katorza, E., Marko, R., Sarusi, B.,
Schwartz, Z., Schwarzfuchs, D., Shahar, D.R., Shai, I., Sheiner, E.,
Stampfer, M.J., Stumvoll, M., Tangi-Rozental, O., Thiery, J., Vardi, H., Witkow,
& S., Zuk-Ramot, R. (2008). Weight loss with a low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean,
or low-fat diet. The New England Journal
of Medicine (359) 229-241. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0708681#t=abstract
Mediterranean
Diet Pyramid (2012). Retrieved
from http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=mediterranean+diet+pyramid&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&rls=en&biw=1270&bih=632&tbm=isch&tbnid=3OKprxZk_ryclM:&imgrefurl=http://www.safe-and-easy-weightloss.com/MedDietPyramid.htm&docid=erhtdzEpewJc5M&imgurl=http://www.safe-and-easy-weightloss.com/images/MediterraneanFoodPyramidGraphic.jpg&w=612&h=792&ei=aUT3T6GcBcvsqAGNg92LCQ&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=461&sig=118003037183292474121&page=1&tbnh=118&tbnw=91&start=0&ndsp=22&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:83&tx=65&ty=61
Nestle, M. (1995). Mediterranean diets:
historical and research
overview American Society for Clinical Nutrition (61),
1313-1320. Retrieved from http://www.ajcn.org/content/61/6/1313S.full.pdf
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