Can you go low carb on the healthiest diet in the world

Among all the dietary research available, the most conclusive is that, if you want to live long and healthy, you must follow a Mediterranean-style diet, rich in fresh and unprocessed foods. By focusing on fresh fruits and vegetables, seizures of extra virgin olive oil, nuts, seeds and seafood, it's hard to blame this nutritional approach and natural to eat.

For those looking for a low carbohydrate approach and the benefits of consuming low carb foods, the glaring problem of the Mediterranean diet is the difficulty of maintaining a low carbohydrate intake when the diet is based on fruits, vegetables, legumes and pasta. The good news is that you can eat both low carbohydrates and get the nutrients needed as part of a Mediterranean diet with a few key strategies.

When we think of the inhabitants of the Mediterranean and what they eat, we often think that bread, rice and pasta are staple foods. The interesting thing is that when we take a closer look at the diet, the volumes of fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes and good fats are actually much larger than those of foods rich in starchy carbohydrates. And while some starchy carbohydrates can be included in the traditional Mediterranean diet, key nutrients badociated with many health benefits, including decreased lipid levels and blood pressure, reduced risk of cancer and healthier cells are generally badociated with high consumption of antioxidants and fiber from fresh fruits and vegetables and legumes and the good fat consumed in olive oil, nuts and seeds rather than in starchy carbohydrates.

For this reason, if you prefer a low carb, keep eating Mediterranean and limit your overall carbohydrate intake, ie less than 80 to 100 g per day. Just focus on vegetables, oily fish, nuts, seeds and fruits. Lawyer. Then you can decide how much extra carbohydrate you want to eat and add fruits and / or legumes to increase your carbohydrate intake as you see fit. Generally, one fruit contains 20 grams of carbohydrate per serving, as does ½ cup of legumes such as kidney beans, lentils or chickpeas. So one fruit and half a cup of legumes a day will only give you 40g of carbohydrates and keep you in the carbohydrate range you're aiming for.

One of the main advantages of Mediterranean cuisine is that it is not necessary to control calories and count carbohydrates to derive the potential health benefits. Although traditional Mediterranean diets include carbohydrates such as pasta, without taking too much weight or eating too much, a key difference is that they are not complemented by the vast array of processed foods and refined carbohydrates that the average western consumes daily. Here, a small portion of pasta and crisp bread is balanced with tons of fresh vegetables, legumes and olive oil, without the fries, white bread and butter that we tend to see here. To obtain the health benefits, we must fully embrace the entire diet, not just the elements we like.

So, if you find that eating less carbohydrates suits your lifestyle and your desire to control your weight, you can still easily eat Mediterranean while keeping your carbs down. Just consider how much fruit and legumes you eat (and eat for the benefits of dietary fiber) and choose brightly colored, carbohydrate-rich vegetables such as eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes and broccoli. Here you will get all the essential nutrients that a Mediterranean offers for many health benefits, less the heavy carbohydrates you prefer to limit.