Co-author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide® to the Mediterranean Diet, Kimberly A. Tessmer, R.D., L.D., reviewed the recently released 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Below she explains how well the Mediterranean Diet fits in with the governments’ recommendations.
They are finally here! After months of delay the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the new 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These guidelines, updated every five years, provide us with scientifically based advice concerning good dietary and physical activity habits. They are meant to help us reach optimum health and reduce our risk for chronic disease.
So the question is – does this Mediterranean Diet you have been hearing so much about stack up nutritionally to these new government dietary guidelines? Can you follow the Mediterranean Diet and still follow the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans?
The good news is that the answer is a resounding “YES”! In fact the Mediterranean Diet is the perfect way to take these new guidelines and implement them into your everyday diet. Let’s break down each so you can see the similarities, aside from the fact that BOTH are meant to improve health and longevity!
The new guidelines encourage people to eat more whole grains; vegetables; fruits; low-fat or fat-free milk and dairy products; vegetables oils such as canola, corn, olive, peanut and soybean and seafood. The guidelines also recommend eating less added sugars, solid fats including saturated and trans fats, refined grains and sodium. In addition, the new guidelines encourage healthy habits such as drinking water over sugar beverages, maintaining calorie balance, and exercising more.
The Mediterranean Diet is hardly the type of “diet” we think of when we hear that four letter word. When we hear “diet” most of us conjure up thoughts of the newest fad, a temporary way of eating or a quick weight loss plan. It’s best to think of the Mediterranean Diet as a way of life or a healthy eating style, rather than a “diet.”
The Mediterranean eating pattern emphasizes vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, olive oil and seafood. Hmmm… sound familiar? This type of eating style includes only small amounts of meat, which makes it low in saturated fats and high in the healthy fats including monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Very little to no processed foods are included in the Mediterranean Diet and instead whole foods are cooked and flavored with all types of wonderful herbs and spices, which favors a lower sodium intake. Desserts usually consist of fruits and nuts with little added sugar.
So there you have it. The Mediterranean diet clearly stacks up to the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans! To get the most benefit from either of these guidelines to a healthier lifestyle you don’t need to chuck your entire current diet out the window. The key is to inspect your current dietary intake and see what things need to be added, what needs to be left out and what needs to just show up in your diet less often.
You don’t need to choose one healthy diet over another. In fact a mixture of the two, even though they are quite similar to begin with, might just be the key to eating healthy, realistically and deliciously. Add some of the other aspects including more exercise and you are on your way to a longer, healthier life! The important thing to remember is that any positive changes you make to your dietary intake will help to improve your health. You don’t need to make a ton of changes all at once, but you do need to be consistent and keep the changes that you DO make. Don’t forget to add more healthy changes as you move forward. ENJOY!
Kimberly A. Tessmer, R.D., L.D. (Brunswick, Ohio) is a registered dietitian and published author with a bachelor of science in technology (dietetics) from Bowling Green State University. She currently owns and operates Nutrition Focus, a consulting company specializing in weight management, authoring, menu development, recipe analysis, and more.