- Brief Summary of objectives (3):
- OBJECTIVE 1: Define diet as a lifestyle pattern of eating
- OBJECTIVE 2: Identify health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet
- OBJECTIVE 3: Discuss components of the Mediterranean Diet
- Topic 1: Debunking “Diets”
- Point 1: Beware of fad diets
- When you check out at the grocery store, open a magazine, or scroll through social media, you have probably seen something advertising fat-blasting, low-carb, keto, paleo, anti-inflammatory, or any other type of life-changing diet. While these diets may boast fast results, often they are not able to be sustained for long periods of time and can lead to adverse health effects and malnutrition.
- Low carbohydrate diets have become increasingly popular with the rise of the Keto, Atkins, and South Beach diets. You may have heard that these are high in protein and low in carbohydrates, but truthfully, they are high in foods that have unhealthy saturated fats. These diets also have you give up most fruits, vegetables, whole grains and milk products and severely limit breads, cereals, pasta, pizza, and potatoes.
- Point 2: Low Carbohydrate Diets are NOT recommended
- The World Health Organization, National Cancer Institute, American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Dietetic Association all recommend eating MORE fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains, which are NOT allowed on the low carb diet.
- While many people who find success within the first couple of weeks on a low carbohydrate diet can’t sing its praises loud enough, the “quick” weight loss experienced in the first week or two is due to fluid loss that comes with severely limited carbohydrate intake, not fat loss. This fluid is quickly regained when you begin eating carbohydrate foods again.
- Low carb diets can also be harmful and lead to nutrient deficiency due to the lack of fruits, vegetables, whole grain and dairy options “allowed” in the diet. These options contain important nutrients such as fiber, calcium, folate, potassium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and vitamins E, A, thiamine, and B6.
- You are likely to feel weak, dizzy and tired, possibly experiencing headaches and dehydration. This will also make you less likely to exercise.
- Following a low carbohydrate diet may increase your risk of dehydration, kidney stones, bone loss or osteoporosis (due to calcium loss), heart disease (due to high saturated fat and cholesterol intake), certain cancers (due to high fat intake and lack of important nutrients many of which you cannot replace with vitamin and mineral supplements), and kidney disease.
- Point 3: Changing Your Mindset
- We may be so used to saying “diet” in reference to the newest restriction we are imposing on ourselves and what and when we put food into our bodies, but by definition, diet simply describes our pattern of eating, not insinuating any particular restrictive or prescriptive way to do so.
- So, with that in mind, there are some healthy “diets” in the sense of patterns of eating that have been associated with greater health benefits, such as the
- Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet
- Mediterranean Diet
- These two dietary patterns encourage a style of eating that align with the American Heart Associations' recommendations for improving health. The DASH diet allows more dairy products and meat, while the Mediterranean diet includes regular use of olive oil.
- The most important thing to focus on is the overall quality of your diet as a lifestyle, not a quick fix.
- Topic 2: Mediterranean Diet-What is it?
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