The way people eat in countries like Italy and Greece has had a nutritional model patterned after it. It is called the Mediterranean diet. People started paying attention to it after it became well publicized that people living in that part of the world have a much fewer occurrences of cancer and other diseases.

First developed by an American doctor in the 40s, this way of eating has just only recently become noticed by Americans in the late 1990s. Better late than never. There are key differences between the traditional American diet and the Mediterranean diet that are worth noting.

The US Food Pyramid is markedly different from the Mediterranean Diet food pyramid. The Mediterranean Diet contains very little red meat, for starters. They do use red meat in their recipes, but not frequently, and in little portions. Fish also takes up a large portion of the Mediterranean Diet food pyramid, whereas the US Food Pyramid groups all types of meat together into one category.

What make up the main staple of Mediterranean fare are whole grain foods, like bread and rice, couscous, potatoes, and other such things. Fruits and vegetables are also an important part of the Mediterranean diet, as are nuts and beans, and this is one thing that the two food pyramids have in common, although the quantities that are recommended are somewhat different.

While the Mediterranean Diet food pyramid has these separate from one another, the traditional US food pyramid has all of the forms of protein lumped together in one, making it difficult to see what specific parts each type of food should play in one's diet.

The reason why people have finally begun to pay attention to this Mediterranean way of thinking and eating is that they have been discovered to have shockingly low rates of cancer and other such diseases.

The Mediterranean Diet includes plenty of red wine, usually very often in just about every meal. We know that red wine contains very powerful and beneficial antioxidants. You will also find a lot of olive oil in Mediterranean cooking. Like red wine, it also has some of its own antioxidant properties. If you want to live a healthy life, check out the Mediterranean Diet food pyramid. It will help you not only look better, but you'll feel better too.

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