Healthy Weight Loss — Without DietingQ&A 4:
How is the Healthy Weight Loss Eating Plan Similar
to the Mediterranean Diet?
The Healthy Weight Loss Eating Planis the result of my decades of
traveling and researching the foods consumed by populations
throughout the world. It is an extension of my Healthiest Way of
Eating that is specifically geared towards those who are looking to
shed extra pounds.
There are many cultures whose diets may afford them good health.
Yet, when it comes to an easily adoptable way of eating that features
inherently good-for-you foods as well as a reverence for the way
that good food can contribute to health and happiness, I feel that
there is no better model than the Mediterranean diet.
The Mediterranean diet is a term used to describe the food intake
patterns of individuals living in the Mediterranean region (for
example, those in the Greek island of Crete as well as Italy, Spain,
Portugal, and Southern France). In addition to olive oil, the Mediter-
ranean diet focuses on fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, fish, nuts, seeds,
and legumes/beans, food groups at the foundation of the World’s
Healthiest Foods and the Healthy Weight Loss Eating Plan.
(Before I continue, it’s important to point out that the “diet” in
“Mediterranean diet” means the routine foodways of a culture, the
foods and beverages that they regularly consume. Although the
Mediterranean diet—and the Healthy Weight Loss Eating Plan that
it has inspired—can lead to weight loss, the inclusion of the term
“diet” doesn’t inherently infer restriction of food intake for the
purpose of losing weight, the other common meaning of this word.)
Decades ago, when scientists began studying the cultures along the
Mediterranean Sea, they found that they had lower rates of disease
and longer life spans than many other populations. The scientists