The Mediterranean Diet as Medicine: Healing or Hooey?

If you've opened a newspaper in the past ten years, you've probably heard about the "Mediterranean Diet" and all of its health benefits. However, it's a difficult diet to define. Each Mediterranean country has its own cuisine, often bearing no surface resemblance to the cuisine of its neighbors. There are some ingredients that are common to nearly every Mediterranean cuisine, though, and those are the ingredients that are most often touted as health-promoting or even medicinal. Aside from fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains, here are some of the Mediterranean diet's healthiest components.

Olive Oil
Olive oil is probably the best known Mediterranean diet ingredient out there. Loaded with monounsaturated fat, olive oil is regarded by most as the most healthful fat choice available. It is believed to have a beneficial effect on cholesterol levels, blood pressure levels and even blood sugar. Whether or not you believe olive oil is heart-healthy, it's certainly tasty and a great alternative to other oils like corn or canola oil.

Red Wine
Red wine is ubiquitous in the Mediterranean - in fact, if you order it in a restaurant in Italy, it's usually cheaper than soda! Red wine has a blood-thinning effect similar to that of aspirin, which can help prevent strokes and other ailments caused by blood clots. Some even believe that the antioxidants in red wine can help prevent cancer. However, in the Mediterranean, it is generally consumed in moderation - a couple of glasses a day. While red wine is full of phytochemicals and antioxidants that may provide various health benefits, these benefits are quickly negated if consumed in excess.

Fish
Residents of Mediterranean countries eat much more fish than Americans, often in place of fattier meats like beef. If you are trying to cut your intake of saturated fat, replacing red meat with some other type of protein is a good way to do it. The omega 3 fats in fish are among the heart-healthiest fats available, making fish a smart dietary choice for anyone who is concerned about saturated fat, cholesterol or triglyceride levels.

Honey
Honey is a favorite sweetener in the Mediterranean, used in everything from drinks to desserts. Eating honey made by bees from a given location has been shown to help allergy sufferers with allergies specific to that location by acclimatizing their bodies to the local pollen and other allergens. However, honey is still a simple carbohydrate, and is metabolized by our bodies just like white sugar; therefore eating it in excess is not helpful for weight control.

While there is still a great deal of debate in the scientific community about just how medicinal these Mediterranean diet foods are, the Mediterranean diet is a popular choice for people who want to reap health benefits from their food. There is no question that they taste great, and can be a healthy and delicious addition to any diet.