Mediterranean Diet is a gift from the past.

Many people are lately asking whether Mediterranean Diet is the nutrition pattern of the majority of the Mediterranean people. Or more specifically if it is what Spanish, Italian or Greek people eat nowadays.

The answer is absolutely not. The proof is the dramatic increase of obesity among them.

The nutrition habits and lifestyle model have been changed in those countries by many factors. Some of them are their higher income economy, the foreign influence, the fast food, and a much more sedentary life, among others.

We could say that Mediterranean Diet is frozen in time. It is the diet that the average Mediterranean and normally poor people followed until approximately 1950, more or less.

The restrictions about meat were imposed by the scarcity. Bread and olive oil was in many places the main source of calories, as there were not many other things. Saturated fat was not banned, but olive oil was cheaper and easier to get. Fish was abundant, especially near to the coast. Vegetables and legumes were consumed daily. Whole bread was the only one in the market. There was not refined flour or “integral bread” (made out of refined flour and bran, without the wheat germen). At that time bran was given to the chickens, as people did not need to eat more fiber and in some way the popular though about it was not very favorable. Lately, it was discovered that it may cause decalcification to some old or not properly fed people.

Nowadays, Mediterranean Diet has to be carefully followed. Otherwise, you are out of the lifestyle. Natural products are not banned in the Diet. Nevertheless, followers have to be wise enough to balance the intake of the amount and the variety of food, according to their needs and health conditions. Artificial stuff, specially manufactured products containing trans fats has to be avoided at any cost. They are the origin of most diseases and the not well understood obesity.

Mediterranean Diet has to be rescued from the past.

You can influence your children positive or negatively.

Anything a respected adult does in front of children become an example for them. Either at home, in the supermarket, cooking or eating, adults are sending permanent behaviour messages to children. Consequently it is extremely important that parents and trainers teach children acting better than talking.




If a person advice a youngster not to smoke, and at the same time this person is smoking in front of him, the advice is useless.

If you watch families at the supermarket, and all or most of them are obese, try to watch the cart. Very frequently, you will see it full of manufactured products, and with a significant absence of fresh products, vegetables and fruit.

Later, victims and many doctors will blame the genetic factors of these disorders. Disorders that have their origin in inadequate nutrition habits, most of them created and fostered from childhood.

A few days ago I saw a grandmother looking after her grandson. They were at the supermarket Iand I could see how she was buying a dozen of those chocolates eggs wrapped in aluminum paper, those that hide a small toy inside them. I noticed it as she asked permission to an attendant to give one of these eggs to the baby, an eight or nine month’s old child, who apparently was anxious to eat one. This child was already addicted to those harmful pieces of stuff even before being one year old!

I asked the lady if the parents’ child were aware of this practice, and when she refused to answer, telling me “that it was not my business”, I told her I could report this behavior to the social authorities, and that she could be prosecuted for it. Anyway, the solution for these problems starts with adequate adult information. Nevertheless, health authorities are considering punishing extreme cases of malnutrition. Fattening a child is no better than keeping them in a permanent state of hunger.

TV advertisements should be more controlled

Recently, in many countries the crisis is the reason why many Governments plan to reduce health services. I think that these measures are short term oriented, incomplete and represent a considerable problem for the society. A more efficient strategy would be to prevent better than cure. One of the most important costs of the Health System comes from people who have been careless with their own body. Preventing future diseases would be the most significant budget reduction in a medium-term.

People have to take conscience that preserving the health is a benefit not only for individuals, but for the whole society too. Ninety per cent of the health disorders comes from a careless behavior. Smoking, drinking in excess, eating too much, consuming inadequate food and drinks, and being inactive are actions that sooner or later will pass a bill. A bill the Health System will have to pay for, in economic terms.

Nevertheless, publicity has a direct impact on the consumers’ behavior. Everybody remembers actor Yul Brynner promoting cigarettes in TV and movies. Many people also remember Mr. Brynner apologizing later for that, after getting lung cancer, the disease that finally killed the famous star. Cigarettes and alcohol advertisements have been banned, but people can see almost every day hazardous food spots that are influencing consumers, among them many children. Even though the promoted food were not dangerous, its inadequate use can cause nutrition disorders. If TV watchers are compelled to take sweets and manufactured snacks instead of fresh fruit or any other natural and healthy food, publicity is damaging population health and causing a serious damage to society.

Most governments are engaged actively against air pollution, develop law instruments but fail to implement them. Lots of industries continue polluting the environment with the passive attitude of the authorities. Thousands of car exhausts are emitting much more harmful particles than it is permitted. When is all this going to stop?

Dont let people confuse you. Stick to the easy Mediterranean Diet

Easy Mediterranean Diet

Rachel Laudan is one of the persons who think that Mediterranean Diet claims to be the present food pattern of the Mediterranean people, including Spanish one. She seems to have a vast knowledge of the Spanish gastronomy and probably knows that in this country, the habits of the population have derived towards a “global fattening pattern” whose awards should be conceded to the fast-food companies, manufacturing food organizations and especially to the “godfathers” of the trans fat industry.

I know many people who follow the easy Mediterranean Diet, including myself. A light version of the one discovered by Mr. Ancel Keys, whom Mrs. Laudan does not seem to admire too much. Anyway, he was a person which every American citizen should be proud of.

The real Mediterranean Diet followers have the advantages of being allowed to eat many delicious things forbidden to other dieters. We have practically no restrictions in natural products and enjoy from time to time foods as “jamón ibérico”, “cocido madrileño”or “bacalao al pil pil”. But we are careful of not eating more calories that the amount we spend. This is what Rachel Laudan call “Mediterranean life-style.” We burn many calories in sports, outside activities and of course making love. Fifty years ago, Mediterranean people had long working days, most of them in the country, and for the number of children they used to have, we may infer that they also had the same type of free enjoyment.

That people did not pass many health controls. So we cannot say how their constants were. I can talk about ours. Our glucose is invariably around 100, our “bad cholesterol” is very low, our “good cholesterol” higher than average, our heart rate about 50-60 in bed (relaxed), our blood pressure around 70-110, and even we suffer a very low incidence of other problems as cancer, asthma, Parkinson, Alzheimer and so on…

By the way, apart from many other antioxidants, we drink good wine, especially red