Mediterranean Diet

A Sicilian farmers market.

May is Mediterranean Diet Month.  I spent a few minutes talking to Fox6 Wake Up's Kim Murphy this morning (you can watch below) about this eating pattern that scientists have consistantly found to promote good health; starting back in the 21st century when researchers found people in places like Crete, Southern Italy, and Sicily were living very long and healthy lives and more recently with a large study that finds it is associated with a reduction in cardiovascular disease and mortality, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and  Parkinson's disease.  The key may be in that this eating pattern is based on eating plenty of minimally processed plant foods...Oldways, the organization responsible for creating the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, explains it best:

Traditional Mediterranean meals are based on plentiful fruits, vegetables, beans and legumes; an abundance of bread, pasta, rice, couscous, and other grain foods, especially whole grains; nuts and peanuts; extra virgin olive oil; fish, poultry and lean red meat; cheese and yogurt; and moderate amounts of wine.

Most, if not all, traditional eating patterns are good for us. An idea shared by many philosophers of food and supported by science is that the only diet that is not good for us is the Western diet of highly refined, processed, fast food.  I've certainly learned a lot about traditional food of the Great Lake's region through my work at GLIIHC, Milwaukee's Indian Health Center, and the wild game, fish, berries, nuts, greens, and culitivated corn, bean, squash, and so on, are all super-stars in the realm of health and wellness.  Native people around the world are looking to their traditional eating patterns to combat diabetes and other increasingly common chronic conditions.  And while it is the Mediterranean Diet that has the support of most major scientific organizations, we can use the traditional foods and activities from our region, from any region to support wellness. 

Mangia manjare!