Best and Heart Healthy Mediterranean Diet that increases Longevity

Mediterranean diet is a healthy diet, which is traditionally followed by Mediterranean countries situated near the Mediterranean Sea.  It improves the health of the heart and increases the lifespan.  This is characterized by high consumption of vegetables, sesame oil, canola oil or olive oil with moderate consumption of protein.  According to the researchers, this type of diet has a low risk of heart attack as it limits unhealthy fat and bad cholesterol that build up fat in the arteries.   

Moreover, Mediterranean diet reduces the occurrence of cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.  Studies shows that women taking extra-virgin olive oil and sesame oil have reduced the risk of breast cancer.  The Mediterranean diet emphasis on taking mainly plant-based foods such as green leafy vegetables, fruits, sprouted grains, sprouted lentils (dried, which is soaked and sprouted) such as chana, green gram or kidney beans, legumes like fresh beans, peas etc and nuts.  Lentils contains phytic acid, which causes difficulty in indigestion.  But Sprouting neutralizes the phytic acid, aids in digestion, and sprouts contains more vitamins and minerals that is easily absorbed in the body. 

Plenty of aerobic exercise is a part of the Diet.  This diet includes healthy eating with family and friends with relaxed mood and proper mastication before swallowing.  It includes nut which contains only healthy fat or unsaturated fat.  This diet includes anti-oxidant food such as green tea, onions, garlic, eggplant, grapes, carrots, pumpkin, berries, mangoes, apricots, parsley, spinach, red wine, milk as well as nuts. Yellowish Orange dark vegetables and fruits are rich in beta-carotene that increases vision.   Milk, Yogurt supplies the required nutrients for a balanced diet.

It limits the intake of white sugar or white rice. As a substitution palm jaggery and brown rice, which are rich in vitamins are recommended.  Brown rice is nothing but unpolished rice prepared manually and not with a machine to remove the husk popularly called as hand pounded rice. Brown rice is rich in fiber that contains bran and germ.