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How The Mediterranean Diet Beats High Blood Pressure
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The Mediterranean diet is not some new fad diet, dreamed up by a weight-loss "guru" or as a new health measure. It is thousands of years old. People living along the Mediterranean Sea have been eating a natural diet that has been proven in numerous studies to reduce the risk of heart attack and keep blood pressure from rising.
The great thing about the Mediterranean diet is - it's a pleasure to eat and you're much more likely to stick with it. It's easy to adopt this diet as there are no special requirements. Unlike the radical requirements of many fad diets, the Mediterranean diet doesn't ask you to make impractical changes in your eating, it offers you a way of eating that you can maintain long-term. It will lead you to long-term health benefits.
What is a Mediterranean Diet
Amongst the people of Greece, southern France, and parts of Italy, natural whole foods are a large part of the diet. Fruits and vegetables, fish, nuts, and olive oil are the heavy hitters in protecting your heart and lowering your blood pressure. Drinking wine with meals is an old custom and gives even more health benefits.
The Mediterranean diet doesn't look at all fats as bad. Instead, this way of eating makes wise choices in the fats that are used. Low in saturated fat the Mediterranean diet is full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids and monounsaturated fats.
Since mainly whole foods are eaten along the Mediterranean Sea, the deadly trans-fats - found in fast foods and bakery goods - are greatly reduced.
Living on a Sea Gives you Lots of Fish
Fish are a big part of the Mediterranean diet. Eating lots of fish has been recognized as being heart protective for quite a while, now. Especially, fatty fish are good for your heart and blood pressure, they are full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Eating fish 2-3 times a week is a great way to lower blood pressure and ensure a long, healthy life.
Lots of Olive Trees Grow Along the Mediterranean Sea
Olive trees grow on sunny hillsides providing both tasty olives and golden olive oil. Olive oil is used in most Mediterranean cooking, drizzled on rough chunks of whole-grain bread, mixed in salads, used in making tomato sauces. The flavonoids in virgin olive oil lower blood pressure and increase your levels of good HDL cholesterol.
That - and olive oil tastes great and gives off a wonderful fragrance when heated.
Nuts Are an Ancient Energy Source
Since the Stone Age, nuts have been an important source of energy. Shunned a few decades ago because of their high fat content, nuts were given a bum rap. The fats in nuts are good fats, healthy fats that will lower your blood pressure and protect your heart.
Just a handful of nuts - especially walnuts - is a tasty way to protect your heart.
Wash Your Meal Down With a Glass of Red Wine
A glass of red wine goes great with Mediterranean meals. Your heart will also enjoy the glass of wine. Red wine is rich in healthy flavonoids - anti-oxidants that protect your heart from dangerous free radicals. Enjoy a daily glass or two and lower your blood pressure and lower your risk of heart attack.
Recent studies have shown that light red wine drinkers have less risk than non-drinkers. Just don't over-do it.
A Great Diet to Start Today
The main feature of the Mediterranean diet is the focus on natural whole foods - a shift away from unhealthy processed foods with their dangerous bad fats. And, the good thing is that it's so easy to get started. Nothing radical, just ask those who live healthy lives along the Mediterranean Sea.
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