Do you practice the Mediterranean Diet?

The Mediterranean Diet has been known to be a heart-healthy dietary practice. But you may wonder, with so many contries named to be part of the "Mediterranean", what's actually the dietary pattern that they adhere to?

The Mediterranean Diet is a basic practice that goes along with a healthy food pattern, including mainly fruit, vegatables, fish, whole grains, low in red meat, the use of olive oil and moderation of red wine (Wine ~ a big wow here!)

A new article by Washington Post further reiterated the goods of the diet, siting that its benefits go beyond just heart issue. It reports that 12 studies, basing on staggering 1.6 million people that being monitored for up to 18 years about their diet habits, had shown data that those people whom practiced the Mediterranean diet had less likelihood to develop chronic disease.

It further claims that "Specifically, people who most strictly followed the diet were 9 percent less likely to have died from cardiovascular disease, 6 percent less likely to have a cancer diagnosis and 13 percent less likely to have developed Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease than were those whose eating patterns weren't in line with the diet..."

The American Heart Association points out that the Mediteranean diet is close to what the Association recommends on dietary practices. The one thing that the Mediteranean diet is apparently different, is the higher intake in calories from fat - the diet has more than half of the fat intake from monounsaturated fats.

Maybe a personalized Mediterranean diet that goes lower in fat intake will be an ideal one?

Not only us, dolphins are put on diet too!

Back in Hong Kong where I grew up, diet and keeping fit is a daily routine for majority of people. I can still recall some of my friends saying that "looking good and staying healthy are their full time job"!

So much so that diet has becomes such a daily topic, in the office, on TV, at home...it sure sounds like dieting / keeping fit is a major issue we need to look into nowadays.

Well...not only us, the human beings who try to fight for better health, appearance and longevity...even dolphins are put on diet now!

According to goldcoast.com.au, "DOLPHINS at a Japanese marine park are going on a low-fat diet after developing pot bellies and failing to look sharp in their aquatic performances."

All of the 19 dolphins at the Japanese Marine Park - Kinosaki Marine World, are put on diet since Auguest, after failing to meet their performance targets.

Poor dolphins, even they have to look sharp these days! Well...the keepers seem to be happy with the progress, that less fat and moderate exercise are getting them back to the previous glory!

Do you have a personalized diet?

If not thousands, there are hundreds of different diets available in the market for anyone who wants to jump in to lose few pounds or to enhance certain nutrient intakes. With so many choices, do you have one that fits your perfectly? do you have one that works everytime if you want to look better before an important occassion?

The funny thing is, according to an article from forbes.com, the number of people on diet nowadays is actually lower than that of in 1990. Both men and women drop 13% points. This figure is indeed surprising.

However, it does not mean that people are not paying attention to their diet anymore. Instead, people are making their own choices in creating personalized diet, from procuring more grains, fiber, different vitamins to omega-3 fatty acids and supplementary nutrients, people now choose the food that they need to keep themselves healthy.

Another point to take note of from the article is that a study on more than 300 moderately obese Isralis, whom were given different dietary programs, came back with different weight loss results. Most importantly, however, was the fact that different groups received different functional effects to their bodies, helping liver function biomarkers, increasing good cholesterol level, decreasing glucose level...

You are the one who knows your body the best. And you should be the one choosing and creating the best fit dietary program for yourself. At the end, how can any diet program cook and provide all the food for you when they don't even know about your eating habits?

Do you enjoy your bread?

When talking about diet, a lot of people try to avoid anything related to the word "carbonhydrate"! Rice, noodles, bread, potato...seem like all these filling food are out of popularity when it comes to weight loss programs.

However, as we all know, any extreme diet will only allow you to lose weight for a short period of time (and most of the time, your weight bounces back) and it may cause some unhealthy consequences.

A recent article from The Times, UK, suggests that a moderation intake of bread is important for a healthy diet. It said "the Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Research of bread’s contribution to nutrient intake of the British population found that bread makes important contributions to carbohydrate, dietary fibre, iron, calcium and thiamin intakes..."

I enjoy bread a lot and I definitely would like to have a bakery one day! As long as you know how much to eat, what contents to eat, and maintain a balance of different food group intakes, you already possess your own perfect diet!

Banana Diet?

I like banana, it's tasty, a good energy food and yes, a great fruit.

Lately, there're way more people getting into eating bananas...where is it? The answer: Japan.

According to Telegraph.co.UK, the banana sales has risen by as much as 70% in some supermarkets, thanks to a publication that talks about a "Morning Banana Diet".

The Banana Diet suggested that by only having banana and water for breakfast, you will be able to loss weight.

What's more that added to the craze are that TV programmes, books, and news are all claiming banana a super diet food.

I am not sure about the effectiveness of this diet. However, I have been eating banana in the morning everyday ~ just because it feels good!

Eat more fish, protect your child!

Fish is known to be a good source for most diet. It is full of protein and vitamins. Most importantly, it is a prime source for omega-3 fatty acids, an important ingredient to help protect you from heart disease. According to American Heart Association, it recommends us to eat fish at least twice a week!

There's more positive news about eating fish. BBC News, Washington Post, Science Daily and many more presses are reporting the findings of a Swedish study, in which child whom are introduced with fish into their diet are having better protection from developing Eczema, a condition that can cause itchy, red, dry, painful skin issues.

According to wikipedia, "Eczema (from Greek έκζεμα) is a form of dermatitis, or inflammation of the epidermis. The term eczema is broadly applied to a range of persistent skin conditions. These include dryness and recurring skin rashes which are characterized by one or more of these symptoms: redness, skin edema (swelling), itching and dryness, crusting, flaking, blistering, cracking, oozing, or bleeding. Areas of temporary skin discoloration may appear and are sometimes due to healed lesions, although scarring is rare. In contrast to psoriasis, eczema is often likely to be found on the flexor aspect of joints."

For those who are having babies and who plan to have one, you may want to consider and incorporate fish as a regular source for your diet!

Eat the nuts!

It has been known that a small doze of nuts that incorporated into your diet is beneficial to your health. Well...more researches are reconfirming the statement.

A Marshall University pilot study has published an issue saying that a small quantity of walnuts show slow cancer growth in mice. The study aimed to see if the mice incorporatiob of walnuts as part of their diet would slow breast cancer growth. The findings was exciting, claiming that the growth rate of tumors was significantly reduced.

Also, according to a research by Penn State, it suggested that a small portion of pistachios in your diet would help reduce risk for potential heart disease.

These researches/studies further reiterate the potential benefits of nuts, which have been known to help lower bad cholesterol.

So, why wait, get yourself nuts today!