This style of eating always intrigues me, it isn't a natural diet for us in the UK. We would have eaten roots, seeds, grain, plants, birds, eggs, fish and some meat etc. Why do we just not go back to what is natural for us Northern Europeans, basic British diets?
Mediterranean Diet: This style of... - British Heart Fou...
Mediterranean Diet
Written by
LaceyLady
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29 Replies
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I do think there's something to be said for eating locally sourced food in season. " new potatoes " available all year is anathema to me.
MilkfairyHeart Star
Another thought in the past the average length of life was much shorter, many people lived with vitamin deficiency and deaths from infectious diseases were very high.
What is important is to consume in your diet all the nutrients you need in a balanced way to be healthy.
The Romans and other settlers to Britain introduced many foods into our diet.
Spices, tea and sugar all brought from other countries.
I personally don't think I would give up my cup of tea 😊
Just replied to a post about drinking! Suppose wines ok as the Romans must have brought it:))
Moderation in all things and personal choice.
Some people with heart rhythm problems are affected by drinking alcohol others not.
There is absolutely no one size fits all.
Disappointingly neither Waitrose nor M&S do the Roman "dormice in honey". I will have to try Harrods! 🐀
Or four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie! 
We could put this truly amazing diet on YouTube and then promote a book! Just need a catchy name! 😁
If it suits you then go ahead. However, after changing my 'diet' (eating habits) I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole!
The Mediterranean diet is a set of dietary principles. I've copied this from the British Nutrition Foundation:
'The Mediterranean diet has long been recognised as a healthy dietary pattern that can help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.
There is no one definition of the Mediterranean diet and it varies by region, but it is an eating pattern largely based on vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, cereal grains, olive oil and fish with smaller amounts of meat and low consumption of foods high in saturated fat, salt and free sugars.
This Mediterranean diet approach is consistent with the UK’s healthy eating guidelines, which are summarised in the form of the Eatwell Guide, and also with other evidence based healthy eating guidelines in Europe and internationally such as World Health Organisation. These dietary patterns all encourage a higher consumption of vegetables, fruit, wholegrains, low-fat dairy foods, seafood, nuts, seeds, legumes and lower intakes of fatty/processed meat, refined grains, sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, as well as a lower salt, lower saturated fat intake compared to the typical UK diet.
These healthy eating patterns are remarkably consistent in their association with lower risk of chronic disease. So following such patterns could lead to an improvement in the health of our nation.'
It doesn't mean everybody has to live off ratatouille, delicious though that is. Beetroot and cabbage, turnips and brussels sprouts count! It's very adaptable - I love Italian food but I also often eat Middle eastern and Indian recipes while following Mediterranean diet principles.
I must admit a 'basic British diet' sounds rather grim.
My thoughts were that our gut and teeth haven’t evolved greatly from our ancestry makeup to deal with the vast variety of foods and nutrients. To eat more of our national foods in season could be good. How many of these dietary advisors take into account the vast array of chemicals that are good is soaked in??? What do they do to our hearts, gut, organs? My osteopath who has been a Biochemist for a well known water company said to me you can plot the rise of Crohn’s disease and the practice of spraying wheat with pesticides before harvesting.
You may find this article about the role of gut flora and the biome interesting
There is nothing to stop a Mediterranean diet being local, seasonal and organic.
I'm not pro pesticides but you can correlate any number of things without causal factors. Osteopaths are not epidemiologists.
No he was a Biochemist and is extremely knowledgeable.
Here’s a thought. When on Holiday in Italy I noticed that many people walk and cycle to shop and socialise even in old age. The weather here can put us off doing this on a regular basis but it always surprises me that the Mediterranean diet is looked at in isolation. Perhaps we should be looking at other lifestyle factors that go along with it.
When it comes to looking at a Northern European diet I do eat Mediterranean foods but avoid tropical fruits and veg which I believe I, who am more likely of Viking decent, may not have evolved the enzymes to digest.
Exactly! I’ve had an intolerance to bell peppers, and as for eating the dark green ones, not ripe 😳 Apparently I’m ok so long as they are well cooked! Recently found I’m several allergic to lobsters and the ilk!
I loathe green peppers and don't like really raw red peppers , but I love them cooked.
I really like Ratatouille, I’ll include mushrooms with it. I’ve found a bag of frozen roasted veggies, that are essentially ratatouille and add tin of chopped tomatoes
These factors have indeed likewise been recognised as also important to health. Diet is only one element of a healthy lifestyle, but obviously a very important one.
I wouldn't rely on your ancestors having eaten a 'natural' prehistoric British diet - the population of the UK is largely made up of migrants who arrived long after a modern wheat based diet was already established.
Diet in this country changed dramatically during teh war when meat and fresh veg were in short supply. People turned to high carb food to help them feel full; lots of pies, suet puddings and such. Even when I was a child mum woudl make a baked suet to eat with gravy before the main meal so we would feel full and not need as much meat. Meals were padded out with root veg that stored well, oatmeal and things like dumplings. People liked them because carbs make you feel full and comforted. Getting people to change that is difficult
High carbohydrate foods long predate the war, when rationing of meat and sugar and the introduction of the National Loaf actually improved the nation's health.
The aim of the Mediterranean diet and the Eatwell guide is not to reduce carbohydrates but to replace refined carbohydrates with wholegrains, and decrease saturated fat and free sugars.
In Yorkshire it was traditional to eat Yorkshire pudding with gravy before the main course to fill you up so you didn't need much meat.
If there were any left over after dinner, we’d have them with jam 😊
Never any left overs at our house, we played outside in the fresh air so we were always hungry and ate everything on the table, we got what we were given, only 2 choices take it or leave it.
2! 😂
I’m of an age where my grandparents died in their 80s and 90s their memoirs tell of having lived through both the wars and eaten very well on lard, butter, fresh veg and plenty of meat when it was not wartime. No heart disease or obesity in any of them. Oh and curry powder in the stew!
The key is eating real food : anything that looked like it grew, and not bread made with flour that is weeks old and full of stuff to maximise shelf-life or sugar laden processed garbage ready meals etc.
I’m white british by heritage and ancestry but i bet my genetics tell a much more varied story. For example blue eyes come from the black sea region.
When people move from one culture to another they take on the lifestyle diseases of the new culture, such as the Japanese that moved to USA getting increasing heart disease issues there that subsequently diminished when they moved back to Japan. So yes, it’s more than food, it’s entire lifestyle including exercise etc.
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