Typical foods of the Mediterranean diet improve quality of life

Mediterranean diet: for iron health!

Foods rich in Omega 3 such as fish and other foods typical of the Mediterranean diet enable improved quality of life on 2 levels: physical and mental. This is the result of a study by researchers from the Spanish universities of Las Palmas and Navarra, published in the European Journal of Clinical ^Nutrition1. The research confirms the benefits of the Mediterranean diet and emphasizes the importance of its effects on the population, whose life expectancy is continuously increasing.

Foods that are good for you: fish, fruits and vegetables

The benefits of eating a diet based on the Mediterranean diet pyramid have long been known. Various researches have shown that this dietary regimen enables:

• Promote longevity;
• Improving fertility;
• Increase the quality of sleep;
• Protect cardiovascular health.

The main foods of the Mediterranean diet are grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy products and olive oil. Other important fundamentals:

• Limited consumption of high-sugar products;
• Choice of animal protein from lean meat, eggs, and fish.

Fish provides the body with an adequate supply of Omega-3, the fatty acids essential to our health. The fish richest in Omega-3 are salmon, trout, tuna, mackerel and anchovies.

Mediterranean diet, physical well-being and mental health

New Spanish research analyzed the effect of the Mediterranean diet on the quality of life of more than 11,000 university students:

• At the beginning of the study, researchers surveyed participants' eating habits;
• Four years later they measured their quality of life through a self-assessment performed by the children themselves.

The diet of vegetables, legumes, fruits, grains, nuts and fish was considered in line with the Mediterranean diet. In contrast, diets rich in meat derivatives and alcohol were considered far from the principles of this nutritional model. Analysis of the data collected revealed that the children who followed these principles felt better physically and mentally. The study's lead author, Patricia Henríquez Sánchez, commented on the findings, emphasizing thatincreasing life expectancy is an important factor in improving the health of citizens, especially those in industrialized countries.

Omega-3: benefits for heart and nervous system

Years of studies have shown benefits of Omega-3s for cardiovascular and nervous system health. These fatty acids also play a protective role against the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. As a reminder, Omega-3s can be introduced in optimal amounts from the following foods:

• fatty fish, such as mackerel, salmon, and tuna;
• crustaceans;
• walnuts.

Source 

1. Henríquez Sánchez P, Ruano C, de Irala J, Ruiz-Canela M, Martínez-González MA, Sánchez-Villegas A, "Adherence to the Mediterranean diet and quality of life in the SUN Project," Eur J Clin Nutr. 2012 Mar;66(3):360-8. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2011.146. Epub 2011 Aug 17