The Mediterranean Diet is widely considered as the world’s healthiest way of eating. It is based on traditional foods formerly consumed by people in Italy and Greece throughout history. The food contains antitoxins and emphasises produce like fresh fish, whole grains, healthy fats, a high intake of fibre, and moderate consumption of meats and alcohol. The key to the Mediterranean diet is eating lots of fresh, non-starchy produce. Also encouraged are healthy fats coming from extra virgin olive oil, nuts, fresh fish, and avocado. Such a healthy, nutritious diet can improve your quality of life and increase your feelings of well-being. Multiple benefits come with Mediterranean-style eating, including to your heart and brain health and longevity. Here are ten significant benefits of the Mediterranean diet.
1 – Mediterranean Diet Maintains Heart Health
One of the major benefits the Mediterranean diet offers is that it keeps your heart healthy. It reduces the risks of cardiovascular mortality due to its positive impact on bad cholesterol. What you drink is also, and drinking red wine in moderation is associated with reduced risk of heart disease as well.
2 – Protection against Diabetes
The Mediterranean diet is a more beneficial eating plan for diabetics and people with high blood sugar. The diet has proven to lower cholesterol and blood sugar in diabetics. It effectively eliminates saturated and trans fats replacing them with unsaturated fats. That shows a positive effect on a person’s insulin sensitivity.
3 – Mediterranean Diet Reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease
Another primary benefit offered by such a nutritional plan includes improved cholesterol levels and blood sugar levels, along with the health of your blood vessels. Working in tandem, these benefits reduce the risk of contracting dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. It protects the elderly against cognitive decline, preserving a better quality of life. It limits the burdens of social and economic illness.
4 – Encourages Healthy Weight Loss
A Mediterranean diet helps to lose weight and is easier to stick to long term compared to other, more restrictive diets. You still get to eat your favourite food and are therefore more likely to keep it up. Following the Mediterranean diet for at least six months will show tangible results in weight loss, so why not keep it up forever?
5 – Halves the risk of Parkinson’s Disease
The healthy antioxidants you get from a Mediterranean diet help you cut the risks of developing Parkinson’s disease by half. The antioxidants found in fruit and vegetables, healthy fats, fish and seafood dishes keep your cells from continually undergoing the arduous process of oxidative stress that tends to cause high amounts of damage, contributing to the development of degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.
6 – Mediterranean Diet Encourages Relaxation
Following a Mediterranean diet leads to adopting other healthy aspects of the Mediterranean lifestyle. They include spending more time exercising and being outside in fresh air. A positive lifestyle can hugely impact on your health, and besides eating nutritious and healthy foods, you will benefit from a more positive lifestyle. Your stress levels reduce, leaving you feeling more upbeat, refreshed and relaxed. Chronic stress is incredibly damaging to your health and well-being; however, a Mediterranean diet can help you reduced stress. You will feel a lot more energetic, sleep better and build better and more substantial relationships with your family.
7 – Helps Fight Cancer
Numerous studies have repeatedly shown that following a healthy body eating plan leads to reduced risks of developing cancer. The diet plays a protective role in cancer prevention and is especially effective in helping to prevent the development of postmenopausal breast cancer.
8 – Improves Skin Health
Dieticians recommend the Mediterranean diet for your skin as well as your overall well-being. Your skin’s health is critical since it is your body’s primary defence against the outside world. Sticking to a Mediterranean diet helps you enjoy more glowing and radiant skin. The diet encourages copious amounts of olive oil, full of vitamin E and lots of antioxidants working together to hydrate and nourish your skin. Red wine contains resveratrol, which inhibits the growth of acne-causing bacteria on the skin. Tomatoes, which are another Mediterranean staple, help you protect your skin cells against sun exposure helping to prevent skin cancer.
9 – Improves your Mood
People suffering from mental health-related issues such as anxiety, depression, and ADHD enjoy brain-boosting benefits the Mediterranean diet provides. Such mental disorders occur when the brain doesn’t get enough dopamine. That is a chemical responsible for your thought processing, your body movements, and also mood regulation. Healthy fats and probiotic foods help your body produce enough of the chemical, thereby keeping your mood positive, elevated, and your brain happier.
10 – Mediterranean Diet Improves Fertility
Last but not least, the Mediterranean diet improves your fertility. Consuming greater amounts of vegetables and fruit, whole grains and fish increase fertility, even women who previously struggled to become pregnant. Men also benefit from consuming antioxidants like rice foods, mangoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots which help men develop healthier sperm, thereby increasing a couple’s chances of conceiving a child.