Doctors in Spain have been convening recently, in Madrid, to discuss the disappearance of the traditional Mediterranean Diet... from the Mediterranean.
Italy was the first country to highlight the problem almost 2 years ago, when Mauro Gamboni, of Italy's National Research Council, announced at a scientific symposium in Rome that economic and cultural factors were bringing about this change. Consumers were now more likely to opt for cheaper, but lower quality,
imported products as well as foods that were out of season.
The Spanish Newspaper, El Mondo, quotes José Manuel Fernández Real, a diabetes specialist from Girona, as saying "You can eat for €5 in fast food restaurants, but to eat fish at
least twice a week, and fruit and vegetables every day, is beyond the
pockets of many.”
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| Picture by Eugene Kan |
Nutritionists in Spain, however, are fighting back by setting up better health education in schools. The University of Barcelona has also set up a programme to scientifically prove the benefits of the Mediterranean diet.
As luck would have it, other areas of the globe are already promoting the diet to great success. In India at the moment there has been a large amount of interest surrounding The Belly Melt Diet , this is basically a 1600kcal diet which follows the types of food in the Mediterranean diet.
Whichever diet you choose to live by, remember that you still need to do exercise as much as possible. Good diet and good exercise will help you to keep at your best.
Comments
Some people might also think because it is new, it is better for you. I have clients who didn't like to eat veggies because they thought they were what 'old people' eat. The I point out to them that maybe this is a reason to why these 'old people' lived so long :)