A A ten inches dish, one of the small plates

Fifty years ago, Dr. Francisco Grande Covián, one of the Spanish researchers that worked with Dr. Ancel Keys on the Mediterranean Diet, started using one of his simplest but most valuable motto: “You can eat everything but in small plates ”.

Years ago, this expression should have been changed. In the last decades here have appeared many products that are sold as food and should be avoided at all. Nevertheless and considering this fact, the phrase continue being valid but for real and genuine food. “Eat what your grandmother considered food” (Michael Polland). Mine told me when I was I child that butter was healthier than margarines. And she didn’t know anything about “trans fats”. Nobody did. The world was starting being cheated, and health put in risk, once more with the hydrogenated oils .

The Mediterranean Diet recommends a varied nutrition. It is the simplest way to get all the nutrients we need in a natural way. The modern Mediterranean Diet goes further and bans any unnatural and industrially processed products. As Michael Pollan says, only is food what your grandmother would have considered food.

But Mediterranean Diet also recommends eating small portions. The amount you should eat depends on the calories expenses you have had. Mediterranean Diet followers learn how to interpret the signals that the body sends to them. It is a matter of routine and years.

Small Plates movement

Cornell University is promoting The Small Plate Movement, an initiative that advice switching from a traditional 12 inches plate to a smaller 10 inches one. It would deal to a reduction of food intake and calories. This is a measure that has been proved that works. The Small Plate Movement tends to operate in two fields. One of them is the family environment. The second one but more difficult is in Restaurants. About this point, marketing specialists have contradictory opinions about this issue. It could be seen by customers as a simple reduction of operating costs, and it could damage the image and the competitiveness of the establishment. A solution to this could be offering smaller portions at a reduced price.

Nevertheless, the small plates movement is being implemented and for different reasons at the hotel and cruises buffets. Considering that customers can repeat as many times as they wish, it does not represent any problem. But it is not the best way to lose weight. Go for the small plates!

January 7, 2012