Susan has returned from a lovely week in Crete, the original home of the Mediterranean diet, this diet has been researched for many years and has shown many positive effects for health.
For thousands of years Cretans have eaten only what their land produced – which was lots of fruits, vegetables, olives, whole grains and pulses. Cretans consume a great deal of olive oil, significantly more than any other Mediterranean people and they don’t use any other type of oil. Todays diet can not be exactly replicated since lifestyles have changed since the 1950’s.
Fat makes up about 35%-40% of daily calories in the Cretan diet. Cretans get their fat from olive oil and olives instead of butter, meat and other oils .
Cretans ate more fruit than any of the other Mediterranean countries and much more than other countries in the study
The average Cretan consumed 9-12 servings of fruits and vegetables each day compared to the current USDA recommendations of about 4.5 servings combined. Wild Greens were popular during the study but are very hard to find now.
The main grains consumed were the whole grains barley and wheat in the form of bread, rolls and rusk. Bread was typically made from all barley or a combination of barley and wheat, rusks from a barley and wheat mixture, Bread was eaten daily (usually with lots of olive oil).
Pulses – Were consumed about 3 times per week
Nuts – Nuts consumed in Crete are most often almonds, hazelnuts, chestnuts and walnuts.
Eggs – While eggs were not a huge part of the Cretan diet, they did consume 2-3 eggs a week. The biggest difference is that the chickens that produced the eggs were all free-range chickens that instead of eating grains like chickens in the US, lived on figs, grasses, insects, worms and purslane. This not only made the chickens healthier, but meant that the eggs are excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids
Fish and chicken is eaten a few times a week with red meat saved for special occasions.
Food is flavoured with lots of herbs, all vegetables we ate were flavoured with herbs, as with the fish. Meat portions were small, and lots of vegetable were available – The hotel made the tastiest courgette Ive ever tasted, and tomato grown in the sun tastes so different than ones grown in a green house.
Susan was there for only 6 days, having a breakfast of Greek Yoghurt and fruit, followed by a small meat free cooked breakfast. Evening meal always started with a large selection of salad, with some feta cheese. Main meal fish and vegetables and potato cooked in olive oil, since she was on holiday she did try the delicious deserts. Midday snack my sons favourite, frozen greek yoghurt with strawberries and kiwi (highly recommend Andriani’s Homemade Ice and Frozen Yoghurt) and came back 1llb lighter, I never went hungry and felt really nourished. Susan will certainly will be eating this way more at home.