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What Makes the Mediterranean Diet So Healthy?

What is it about the Mediterranean diet that makes it so healthy? …even the icecream…

A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, and seeds provides thousands of micronutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that can help protect against cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, among other conditions, experts say.

The multiple factors at work in the Mediterranean diet, Agatston explains, provide health benefits that “cannot be replaced by a supplement.” 

Monounsaturated fats, found in avocado, fish, canola and olive oils, are anti-inflammatory and fight disease at the cellular level. And olive oil, with its rich monounsaturated fat content, has gotten lots of attention. But according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2003, it may not be the olive oil itself, but the interaction or synergy between all the foods that leads to the health benefits.

Studies show the Mediterranean diet’s protective effect against obesity and type 2 diabetes is  likely due to its high proportion of plant foods, fish, and olive oil, along with moderate consumption of alcohol.

“A Mediterranean diet is high in fiber, which slows down digestion, preventing wild swings in blood sugar; reduces insulin resistance (a precursor of type 2 diabetes); and improves insulin sensitivity to reduce obesity and type 2 diabetes,” says Agatston.