A Guide to the Mediterranean Diet
Project Description:
I’ve spent a lot of time researching and writing about nutrition and health, which means a lot of time investigating fad diets and exercise trends. In most cases, they’re backed by flimsy evidence and over-blown promises, but that’s not the case with the Mediterranean Diet. It’s based on rock-solid science and years of research. It’s literally the standard by which scientists judge the health of other diets.
When the opportunity came along to write a book about the Mediterranean Diet, I jumped at it. The result was a short book that covered all the high points, including the science behind the benefits, a week-long meal plan, and even a grocery list to keep things simple. While that was all interesting, the most fun was writing about less concrete aspects of that model of eating, like family mealtimes and teaching kids to cook.
Sample:
An epidemic of diabetes has spread along with the obesity epidemic, as they have very similar causes. Both are correlated with diets high in sugar, carbs, and fats. Obesity is relatively simple to understand. It‘s the result of over-fueling your body, so it has to find someplace to put all the extra energy. Type 2 diabetes is a little more complex, and we'll need to explain it a bit before we go too far into describing how the Mediterranean Diet can help.
Diabetes may have several causes, but the mechanism is primarily the result of something called insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone in your body used as part of the process of getting energy to individual cells. When you eat, insulin is released into your bloodstream as a signal to your cells to prepare for refueling. The more energy (in the form of sugar) in your bloodstream, the more insulin is released for a stronger signal.
When you eat a calorie-dense diet, though, your bloodstream has high amounts of sugar in it for a lot of the time. Therefore, it also has a lot of insulin in it. Cells are always getting the signal that it's refueling time and they sort of stop paying attention to it. More insulin is required to get their attention, but then the cells acclimate to that higher level, so you need even more insulin. Your cells have begun to resist the insulin in your bloodstream so higher and higher amounts are required to work effectively.
Hormones are tricky things, and most have more than one job. Abnormally high amounts of insulin can impact other parts of your body, as can all that sugar in your bloodstream. The equilibrium that your body depends on for good health is disrupted, with a range of consequences.
The good news is that insulin resistance can be reversed. Lowering your blood sugar by reducing the intake of sugar, carbs, and fats can help your body return to equilibrium. Eventually, your cells will acclimate once more to a healthier level of insulin.
One issue of concern with type 2 diabetes is a sugar spike, a sudden jump in blood sugar that's usually the result of eating something. Processed food can lead to more pronounced spikes because they have been refined and consist mostly of macronutrients like carbs, fats, and sugars. Nutrients, minerals, fiber, and other essentials have been stripped away. The energy in the food can be processed very efficiently since that's all there is to digest, and as a result, a whole bunch of sugar hits your bloodstream in a short period.
Whole foods include things called phytochemicals or phytonutrients. The compounds in food that give them color, flavor, and scent are mostly phytonutrients. Whole foods also contain a lot of fiber. There is a full range of different compounds in whole food that are largely removed when food is processed. The effect is to make digesting whole food less efficient, which is a good thing in this case. The sugar levels in your bloodstream go up at a more measured pace, blunting the effect of the spike.
Eating foods with lots of soluble fiber is also associated with lowered indicators for diabetes. That would be foods like oats, beans, and most fruits, all significant parts of the Mediterranean diet.
