The
Mediterranean diet
The History
The Mediterranean diet refers to the typical nutrition and way
of life of the Mediterranean population ( Greece, Italy, South
of France,
Spain, Portugal and north Africa countries) till the economic boom.
The word “diet” seems to have a “ negative”
meaning and it is associated to a sort of “punishment”
for our body, but actually it comes from the Greek word “
d’aita” which means “lifestyle”: healthy nutrition and an harmonic way of
life.
In the last century its rising to “healthy nutrition”
was due to Mr.Peter Cunningham, head surgeon of the American Marines.
He said that the nutrition had to be in perfect harmony with seasons
and weather. In 1821 during the deportation of some English prisoners
to Australia, he decided to feed them with cereals, fruits and vegetables
and to reduce drastically the consumption of meat as they were,
indeed, accustomed to in England.
He headed many other deportations during which no one prisoner died
and this was so rare as unique for the long trip of that time. Then,
he published a book in which he wrote about the
“ Mediterranean diet” suggesting it to those who wanted
to move to Australia seeing that the country had the same climate
of the Mediterranean countries. Only in 1975 the expression “Mediterranean
diet” was reused by a couple of American physiologies, the
“Keys”, who published a book titled : “ how to
eat well and stay well: the Mediterranean way”. By this expression
they meant a fatless nutrition of animal origin, but wide-ranging
and tasteful.
Foods and benefits from their combination
“ the Mediterranean diet” implies a daily consumption
of cereals, vegetables, fruits, fish, olive oil, beans and peas,
herbs and a drop in meat and cheese. This nutrition reduces heart
diseases and cancer drastically. Researches demonstrate that this
is due to the following reasons:
1. small presence of saturated fat acids ( of animal origin), which
cause the increase of the cholesterol in blood in favour of unsaturated
fat acids. The pure oil, which is the basic product of the Mediterranean
diet, contains some monounsaturated fat acids, it reduces the
cholesterol,
it balances blood pressure and glycaemia disorders;
2. abundance of antioxidant and defensive substances like the vitamins
in vegetables, monounsaturated fats of olive oil and polyunsaturated
fats
of fish.
A philosophy of life
Many people of the western societies consider the “mediterranean
diet” not only as a “ right nutrition” but also
as a “ good way of life”. It implies a style life based
on balanced rhythms more suitable for man who can dedicate himself
to some values taken over the Greek and Roman culture: to take satisfaction
from many human activities, from work, from conversation, from reading,
from eating, from free time and even from “ pure idleness”.
This way of life is considered
“healthy” and it was followed by our ancestors as a
natural “ modus vivendi” and that now we try to follow
in order to free ourselves from stress.
In the past the built up concept of “ Mediterranean”
attracted artists and philosophers from all over Europe, but nowadays
it attracts also normal people who come on holidays to see the Mediterranean
beauties and to breath the magic spirit of this land. The culture
of a land appears also and above all in the food trough which the
inner nature can be caught as Italo Calvino demonstrated in his
book “Sotto il Sole Giaguaro” : “when you go to
somewhere, you realize how different is that place from your own
hometown, you must swallow the new country in its fauna, flora and
culture (…) by letting it passed trough your lips and oesophagus.
This gives sense to a trip everyday: in a world where all the things
that you can see somewhere can be watched on television sitting
on your sofa.”
|
|
|
