Amy Riolo - Mediterranean Lifestyle For Dummies

Mediterranean Lifestyle For Dummies

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Copyright 2022 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2021946525

ISBN 978-1-119-82222-6 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-82223-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-82224-0 (ebk)

1. Chapter 13

Our minds normally associate the word taste with food. But there is so much more that we taste and digest each day. Our thoughts, the sights and sounds around us, the words we hear, and what we touch. At any given moment, were inundated with either positive or negative things to focus on. After decades of focusing on the daily living styles of people in the Mediterranean region, I can honestly say that, in addition to the mouthwatering cuisine that each country has to offer, their lifestyle offers countless examples of agreeable tastes, which you can call upon to live with both pleasure and health in mind.

The Mediterranean diet is very popular in the United States, and authors and healthcare professionals are writing and speaking on the subject all the time, but what really matters more than just the food alone are the deep roots of each of the cultural practices and daily habits that are the reasons why the diet exists in the first place.

Much of the material currently available on the Mediterranean diet discusses it within the parameters of a typical American lifestyle, not a Mediterranean one. Many doctors and cookbook authors alike are simply telling people to follow an eating plan that uses Mediterranean ingredients within the constraints of a typical American schedule. For example, they often recommend eating an Italian frittata for breakfast, a wrap with hummus and maybe some Greek ingredients for lunch, and a sensible dinner with something like salmon as a main protein. Those options are nutritionally sound, but culturally speaking, theyre wrong. Italians eat frittata and eggs for dinner, not breakfast. Lunch is usually the biggest meal of the day in Mediterranean countries, so a simple wrap while great on occasion is not enough to provide the main sustenance in your day, nor does it do anything to truly celebrate the rich culinary traditions that the Mediterranean has to offer. Salmon is rich in omega-3s, but its not native to the Mediterranean, and it has nothing to do with what the many centenarians in Ikaria and Sardinia are having for dinner. There are many other types of seafood to be had. Meals in the region are also very produce-heavy and are based on vegetables with the protein added in, not the other way around. In other words, its not only what we eat but how, when, and why that matter.

With one out of every two American adults suffering from either diabetes or pre-diabetes and diet being the number-one killer in the United States, Im well aware of a real need to present the Mediterranean diet not as graph chart with numbers of calories being counted, but as the true essence of the Greek word diata, which means lifestyle. If we truly want to live to a ripe old age while enjoying our lives with dignity and joy, we need to realize that it is possible and that we can do it from anywhere by embracing the traditions and customs that enable us to taste the goodness in all of life. Getting enough laughter, fresh air, sunshine, and sleep while cultivating a strong sense of community, familial ties, friendships, and support systems all work together to make the diet effective.

This book was created to reveal the often unspoken tenets of the Mediterranean lifestyle and the histories and philosophies of the cultures that created it, in order for you to benefit most from the Mediterranean diet. A simple eating plan, without true meaning and cultural context, can only go so far in terms of helping you to achieve your goals. When combined with other lifestyle practices, however, the Mediterranean diet can completely transform your life for the better and enable you to thrive not only at the table, but in life as well.