Although the Mediterranean diet is a diet ancient, the benefits have been known for relatively few years and to date continue to discover more of the virtues that contains this type of food.

The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the healthiest food exists in conventional. His usual dishes with a range of benefits for long-term health and is a great option to prevent different diseases.

Among the many benefits of the Mediterranean diet include:

• Preventing obesity and diabetes mellitus, diseases of developed societies in which power industry requires too high in saturated fat and a sedentary lifestyle.

• The Mediterranean diet delays and even prevents the passage of pre-diabetes to diabetes. So experts say as ell as Dr. Pi-Sunyer, director of the Center for Obesity Research and leader of New York Unit of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition St. Luke’s-Roosevelt.

• The Mediterranean diet has cardioprotective properties, mainly due to the consumption of virgin olive oil, which is healthy source of unsaturated fatty acids and micronutrients such as antioxidants.

• The Mediterranean diet has protective effects against neurodegenerative diseases.

• Combined with regular physical activity, the Mediterranean diet combat overweight and obesity.

• It has been shown that the Mediterranean diet reduced by 50 percent the risk of lung conditions. It is especially effective in the prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, known as COPD.

• Studies on the so-called Mediterranean diet have been shown to reduce by 50 percent the risk of lung conditions. Specifically, this type of diet is particularly effective in the prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, known as COPD, in general, and significantly in COPD specific variants such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

• The Mediterranean diet in short, increases life expectancy by reducing deaths and the incidence of heart disease and some types of cancer.

• The Mediterranean diet helps prevent depression: the B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids present in the Mediterranean diet, exert a protective role against neurological disorders.

You’ve probably heard about the enormous benefits of the Mediterranean diet, but you know what you could include in the daily menu? Here we give two examples or models that can follow.

Menu No. 1

Breakfast
200 grams of fruit or a cup of juice
60 grams of cereal or bread
1 glass of skim milk or 150 grams of panela cheese, turkey or ham

Lunch
40 grams of stewed lentils, or potatoes, or macaroni with tomato
150 grams of baked or broiled fish
100 grams of lettuce or peas
130 grams of fruit

Dinner
100 grams of potatoes or noodle soup, or pasta
40 grams of cottage cheese or 1 egg white
120 grams of meat roasted or grilled chicken
300 grams of boiled spinach or beets, or carrots
150 grams of fruit

Menu No. 2

Breakfast
1 cup orange juice natural
2 slices multigrain bread with olive oil
3 / 4 cup nonfat yogurt natural
1 cup water

Lunch
A steamed fish fillet, cooked with natural herbs
1 cup chickpeas arranged with tomato and olive oil
A salad of romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, olives and mushrooms with vinaigrette based on olive oil, balsamic vinegar and garlic.
1 cup diced cantaloupe with 1 teaspoon honey and 1 tablespoon chopped almonds
1 cup water.

Dinner
1 cup zucchini and eggplant sauteed in olive oil
1 1 / 2 cups of pasta with broccoli, mushrooms and chicken
1 cup red wine
1 cup water
1 tangerine

Recommendations:

- The food is accompanied by two teaspoons of olive oil and a glass of red wine.
- We recommend the consumption of oily fish, lean red meat and white.
- You can use spices such as parsley, garlic and pepper.
- As a snack you can eat fresh fruit, dried fruit or graham crackers.

Drinking beer or wine in moderation is beneficial to health. According to Dr. Lluis Serra president of the Mediterranean Diet Foundation, have proven the beneficial effects of drinking wine and beer in moderation. Moderate is defined as 2 to 3 cups per day for men and 1 to 2 in women.

The main health benefits are:

1. Moderate consumption is heart-healthy properties.
2. Moderate consumption is beneficial for bone health
3. Moderate consumption has health benefits neurons.
4. The beer poly-phenols have demonstrated anti-carcinogenic capacity.
5. The poly-phenols enhances the immune response against certain infectious disease agents.
6. The poly-phenols have anti-inflammatory properties
7. The poly-phenols have shown anti-aging properties.
8. The consumption of poly-phenols prevent gastric problems.
9. Moderate consumption of poly-phenols in beer or wine may be beneficial for constipation.
10. Wine and beer does not have an excessive caloric intake so in moderation are suitable for low-calorie diets

Dr. Manuel Diaz-Rubio, stressed the importance of linking the consumption of fermented beverages in the Mediterranean diet, this research opens new avenues for studying the benefits of other products.

High consumption of cereals, vegetables, fish or olive oil and moderate consumption of dairy products, meat or wine are the premises of a good Mediterranean diet, according to studies by Dr. Trichopoulou, better health.

Monitoring of the Mediterranean diet entails, according to this doctor specializing in Biopathology, a reduction in total mortality. Moreover, this type of diet also helps to reduce blood pressure and increases the survival of older people.

However, this diet does not significantly affect the body mass index. This is because only with a good diet is not meeting its objectives. The prevalence of overweight due to inactivity along with excessive energy intake.

According to studies carried out in Italy over the last decade, the consumption of fruits and vegetables decreases the risk of epithelial cancer. In addition, fish and therefore the diet omega 3 fatty acids and olive oil have also proven to help prevent some cancers.