MEDITERRANEAN DIET IN PRACTICE
MANOS KAZAMIAS
ADAM EDITIONS –PERGAMOS 2004
www.adam-editions.gr
Back cover
Manos Kazamias studied nutrition and Clinical Dietetics at the Charokopeion University of Athens, from which he graduated with honors in 1987. Subsequently he was awarded a scholarship and followed post-graduate studies at the University of Reading in England and at King’s College of London University, from which he received a Master of Science in 1990.
Since then he has continued with research in the area of Dietetics with a doctoral dissertation on diabetes with scientific protocols, both in London as well at the University of Endocrinology Clinic of ‘Evangelismos’ Hospital, of which he is a medical associate.
He is active at his own dietetic center, while he is a founder of Nutri Club, a special center for the nutrition of children and adolescents. He has taken part in many medical conferences with announcements and lectures in Greece and abroad. He also contributes to several newspapers and magazines.
Manos Kazamias has made many appearances on informational television shows having nutrition as their topic. He is an active member of the Pan-Hellenic Dietetic Association, the British Dietetic Association, the Hellenic Association for the Study of Bone Metabolism as well as the Hellenic Diabetic Association.
He is author of the books Dietary Cooking, Dietary Sweets, 52 Health Recipes, plus, Pregnancy and Nutrition.
Prologue by Manos Kazamias
• When we concern ourselves with traditional nutrition, we see that this knowledge has been transferred from generation to generation around the Mediterranean Sea for centuries, creating a cuisine exceptionally nourishing and absolutely humane since it uses what nature gives generously in balance with the human body.
• Now that science has proven that the return to a traditional way of nourishment in Mediterranean countries has had a direct impact on the improved level of people’s health, and assures the high quality of life everyone desires, an international re-education has begun into what is considered a model diet.
• Documented studies have proven why and how this diet must become the backbone for human nutritional habits all over the world.
• In this book, we will see how all this valuable knowledge will become practice again in our everyday lives and, furthermore, how we will adapt Mediterranean Diet to what we call a contemporary way of life.
Introduction
• In all schools of nutrition the world over a model diet is taught today which has to do with maintaining good health as well as containing diseases which afflict what is known in our day as the western world.
• This diet is called Mediterranean because of its origin, and we will see how we can apply it to a modern way of living which today displays only a few similarities with the time when Mediterranean Diet was a daily reality.
• Centuries before Christ, in the areas surrounding the Mediterranean and which today comprise 15 countries together with our own, wheat, olives and vineyards were cultivated. They in turn gave us bread, olive oil and wine, the three most significant factors of Mediterranean diet even today.
• The climate, sun and soil were responsible for the high quality of vegetables and the earth’s harvest, while the seas supplied plenty of fish and sea food.
• Mediterranean cuisine is simple, with original foods which come straight from nature and are produced with respect for every rule of nature.
• If we take a closer look at the structure of this dietary plan, we will notice that it has all the basic principles of a contemporary healthy diet, which are the consumption of many wholemeal cereals, plenty of fruit and vegetables, many fish, legumes and small amounts of meat, having olive oil as its indisputable leading protagonist and this because it is the only oil which has been used by man for over 3,000 years and, according to all research, the protection of the good health of Mediterranean peoples is due to its consumption.
• The most well-known study has shown that the longest living and healthiest people of all Mediterranean peoples are Cretans, who consume plenty of olive oil and especially raw olive oil in the daily diet.
• Besides olive oil there are many little secrets about Mediterranean diet which we will analyze in this book, since food not only can prevent disease but many times can also cure it.
• What used to simply be daily routine for our ancestors today must become the choice for everyone who has a special health reason which compels them to improve their diet but also for those who are healthy, and want to stay that way.
The biochemical properties of foods in the Mediterranean nutrition
Carbohydrates
• Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for the body. Starch, found in bread, pasta, potatoes but also in foods like legumes and bananas, is the most common carbohydrate.
• During the digestion of food, the body breaks carbohydrates down into simple sugars, and insulin is required to absorb them and turn them into energy.
• Indigestible fibres are carbohydrates which cannot be digested by the human body (like bran from any kind of grain), but play a very important role in maintaining our good health.
• In the Mediterranean diet 60% of the daily intake of calories is based on carbohydrates, and mainly complex ones.
Proteins
• Proteins are necessary for the body in order for it to reproduce new tissue during developmental years as well as later on for the structure and regeneration of cells, and for hormone and enzyme production.
• Our body composes proteins by combining their basic elements which are the 20 various amino acids.
• Adults essentially need from their food eight of those amino acids, while children need nine, and our bodies are capable of producing the rest.
• All of these nine amino acids are found in animal foods such as meat, fish, eggs, and milk.
• In contrast, it takes a combination of plant proteins in order to gather all the amino acids we need and this is why animal proteins are also called protein of high biological value.
• In Mediterranean Diet the intake of protein comes from foods which are low in saturated fat, such as fish, poultry and small amounts of lean meat, in contrast to Western diets, in which protein combines with many saturated fats mainly like in red meat and in many cheeses and delicatessen cold cuts.
• Mediterranean Diet bases 10-15% of its daily calorie intake on protein of high biological value in contrast to Western type diets in which the percentage is much higher.
• Fat in foods are classified as saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, terms which refer to their chemical synthesis and the double bonds they have for hydrogenation.
• We come across saturated fats mainly in animal foods, such as meat and dairy products, while unsaturated fats are found in plant foods like nuts, fish and sea food.
• Fat is a necessary part of our diet as it is the only source of necessary fatty acids and lipid-soluble vitamins E, A, D and K. So 20-25% of our daily calories intake must have to do with fats with great care in the selection of their type which plays an important role for our good health.
• In Mediterranean Diet we find greater quantities of monounsaturated fats which derive from olive oil and protect our good health, smaller amounts of foods rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids like those found in very rich oily fish (such as sardines and mackerel) as well as in wheatbud, or walnuts, omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids like those found in cereals and sunflower seeds and few to very few saturated fats, which are found in red meat and dairy products.
• Almost all foods found in Mediterranean Diet come straight from nature and are always consumed in season, thus assuring their high content in vitamins and trace elements but also in other substances which we know today to play a very important role in maintaining our good health, such as antioxidants, carotenes, flavonoids as well as pre-biotic substances which reinforce the intestine’s flora and consequently the body’s defence against free radicals which are considered one of the greatest dangers to our health.
• Water is another significant factor for our nutrition since the human body is made up mostly of it. So we must make sure to consume large amounts of good quality water (at least 2 litres a day), so that it is constantly renewed and helps all the biochemical reactions of our body which occur in a water-based environment, as well as the discharge of toxins.
Section 1:The basis for a Mediterranean Diet
• Every time we consume any kind of food it is like refuelling the most complicated mechanism for energy production we know of: the human body. The quality of calories we intake – and not only their quantity – is very important for our development and our high standard of living.
• Some foods have more nutrients to offer our bodies than others, but it is also their combination and proportion in our daily diet that makes a difference.
• All food groups must exist – with emphasis on the primary ones – and in such a proportion so as not to create basic nutrient deficiencies in our daily diet.
• This proportion is easily perceived if we take a look as the Mediterranean Nutritional Pyramid which classifies the basic food groups which make up our daily diet.
• More and more governments give their country’s residents directions based on this pyramid, since its direct relation to the good level of a population’s health has been proven.
Sugars and fats
• The fewer foods we consume from this group, the healthier our diet becomes. It’s a good idea to consume them rarely
Dairy products
• Skimmed milk up to 1.5% fat, yoghurt with 1-2% fat as well as cheeses with a 7-8% fat content are very good choices among dairy products for inclusion in our daily diet, necessary in small quantities for the intake of calcium and vitamins, and consequently for the good of bone and teeth.
• Enjoy them in small quantities emphasizing half-skimmed milk and yoghurt as well as traditional cheeses low in fat, such as fresh unsalted myzithra cheese or katiki.
Meat-fish
• It’s very good for you to eat fish twice a week and mostly rich oily fish like sardines. For the rest of the foods in this category, it’s good to select the leanest ones like skinless poultry or lean pork fillet or suckling veal in small quantities and of course legumes which are a very important part of Mediterranean Diet.
• Small daily quantities from this group with emphasis on fish and seafood and less on poultry, eggs and red meat will provide us with the necessary amino acids, while legumes as a source of plant protein are an excellent choice for at least twice a week.
Fruit and vegetables
• The goal is to eat at least five equivalent fruit and vegetables a day. The best choices are fresh season fruit and vegetables, while smaller amounts of freshly squeezed juices and dry fruit may be calculated into daily equivalents.
• Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Mainly green leafy vegetables and fruit which are consumed unpeeled are especially beneficial to our good health.
Cereals
• Cereals are the basis for the Mediterranean Dietary pyramid. It’s good for them to make up to 60% of our daily calories, especially in their unrefined form which is rich in fibre, vitamins and trace elements.
• It is good for you to eat carbohydrates in large amounts. Included here are legumes, wholemeal bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, cereals, wheat. Oats and corn, while you should always prefer wholemeal products without any additional sugar or fat.
Section 2: The food groups
Cereals
Vegetables
Fruit
Meat, fish, legumes and dry nuts
Milk and dairy products
Fats and sugars
Section 3: Recipes
When the moment arrives at which all we have said in the first part of the book must become practise, it is good to know that in Mediterranean Cuisine foods are used with great respect towards nature which provides them so as to have the best possible results with the least possible loss of nutritional ingredients.
So, take care to cut vegetables, fruit, herbs and nuts a short while before cooking so as to reduce the oxidation loss caused by extended contact with the air. Avoid soaking foods so as not to loose water-soluble vitamins and use the antioxidant properties of vitamin C from lemon juice as a preservative when preparing your ingredients.
Always use as little water as possible during cooking and always preheat non-stick utensils so that foods’ direct contact with the heated surface will create a protective coating which blocks the loss of nutrients.
Do not use very salty water, since it forces foods to discharge nutrients and avoid using bicarbonate of soda which destroys the vitamin C found in foods.
Try making your own stock, instead, by boiling foods with spices you like and in this way you can retain many of the nutrients. Add virgin olive oil to all your recipes, both for high temperature cooking at up to 180°C, as well as uncooked for its flavour and high nutritional value. Finally if you want to use these recipes in a programme for discharging toxins or for loosing some extra weight, combine two main meals from the recipes you like with some season fruit in between and a purely Mediterranean breakfast, like milk or juice with a slice of brown bread and a little bit of honey. In this way, you have a low calorie and healthy diet of about 1200 calories which will help you achieve your target through healthy eating.
The recipes which follow correspond to a contemporary Mediterranean cuisine with all the benefits we have described but with calculated calories so as not to be unwholesome and fattening. They are, however, both tasty and rich in aroma from this traditional cuisine which for thousands of years now has provided man with the most precious commodity, his good health.
Soups, Salads, and Vegetable Dishes
12 recipes with beautiful photographs
Fish and Seafood
10 recipes with beautiful photographs
Poultry
8 recipes with beautiful photographs
Meat
8 recipes with beautiful photographs
Pasta, Rice and Potatoes
7 recipes with beautiful photographs
Dough and Eggs
6 recipes with beautiful photographs
Sauces and gravies
5 recipes with beautiful photographs
Pastries and Desserts
5 recipes with beautiful photographs