Monday, February 25, 2013

Mediterranean Diet in the News

Image from the New York Times article
30 Day Mediterranean Lifestyle Challenge

Obviously we were convinced following a Mediterranean-style diet was good for our health when we chose it for our current initiative, but a new study gives it even more credibility. A headline in the Washington Post today reads Pour on the olive oil: Big study finds Mediterranean-style diet cuts heart attack, stroke risk and another in the New York Times Mediterranean Diet Cuts Heart Disease Risk, Study Finds. I encourage you to read the articles, but I do want to point out that the study results were so compelling that, 
"The study ended early, after almost five years, because the results were so clear it was considered unethical to continue."
There are some fun links from the New York Times article to recipes and a quiz so you can see how close you are to following a Mediterranean diet now. I found the quiz helpful and informative. I scored a 10 which indicated a weak Mediterranean diet.  Evidently, I need to eat more fish and drink more wine. Now I know what I need to focus on come March 11. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yikes, I scored a 5 - weak! Nice that it tells you where you need to improve (more veggies and less red meat for me). Heard the story on WTOP on Monday night and was so excited we are following this healthy lifestyle change here at ASHA!

Pam L said...

The Washington Post article mentions sofrito, a Spanish tomato-based sauce, so I went looking for a recipe. It turns out there is a Latin version (http://latinfood.about.com/od/seasoningmarinade/r/sofrito.htm) with a lot more green pepper and cilantro and less tomato as well as the Spanish variety. I found a recipe for the Spanish style that looks easy and has all the components of the traditional sofrito recipe mentioned in the article. (http://spanishfood.about.com/od/sidedishes/r/sofrito.htm) A couple of reviewers did suggest that you should use more garlic. I’m going to make it in the next day or two and try it over fish. I’ll let you know how it runs out.