The Mediterranean diet originated from countries in the Mediterranean region, such as Spain, France, Greece, Monaco and Italy, where traditional eating habits do not contribute to heart disease. Recently, the U.S. News and World Report scored the diet the highest among 40 other diets and declared it one of the top diets of 2019.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends the Mediterranean diet because it emphasizes the consumption of less red meat, more fruits and vegetables, fish, healthy fats and olive oil. Similarly, World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized the dietary pattern as one that decreases risk of noncommunicable diseases.

But since the U.S. is far away from the Mediterranean coast, not everything that the diet entails is easy to identify in a grocery store and you may have to improvise sometimes.

Here are some pointers you can keep in mind while starting to adopt the diet and change your lifestyle for the better.

Fruits and Vegetables

Ensure you pick a diverse range of fruits, from blueberries, strawberries, pears to nectarines and figs. They can be added to salads and smoothies, wherever possible. Since desserts are off limits, fruit is a good healthy nonfat option for dessert. For example, you can drench honey on fresh cut fig or add olive oil and cinnamon to an apple.

For vegetables, stick to what’s available according to each season so that you may not have to go the extra mile. It could help to join community-supported agriculture (CSA) groups, where it will be easier to procure hand-picked produce on a weekly basis. The farmers market should be able to get fresh vegetables as well.

Nuts, Seeds and Legumes

Nuts and seeds are essential to the diet, they include not just sunflower, pumpkin, cashews, chia and hemp seeds but also has almonds and walnuts. Legumes such as lentils, chickpeas, white beans, navy beans, black beans and kidney beans are also important to the Mediterranean diet since they provide all the essential nutrients.

You can add them to salads, smoothies or make protein-filled snacks by roasting chickpeas in the oven and adding olive oil. You can also add them to a meal with healthy whole grains.

Whole Grains

Stick to unprocessed whole grains such as oats, quinoa, buckwheat and wheat berries. You can cook salad bases with them or eat them in place of breakfast cereals by mixing milk.

Seafood

Fresh-caught fish is one of the main elements of the Mediterranean diet, which is filled with healthy fats such as omega-3 fatty acids. Wild-caught fish or farmed fish are both healthy options. Fish like sardines and anchovies have lesser mercury because they are at the bottom of the food chain but are still replete with many vitamins and minerals.

Choose Healthy Fats

If you are worried about cooking with olive oil, you can choose the extra virgin olive oil that has more polyphenol content. The oil is an integral part of the diet and has been so for several centuries. Raw olive oil is alternate that can be explored to top salad dressings. Another option is avocado oil while using high flames to cook the meal.

Olives and avocados are other healthy high-fat foods to try as part of the Mediterranean diet.

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