The History and Health Benefits of Mediterranean Cuisine

After a year of being confined to the barracks during the coronavirus pandemic, a great many people throughout the country are keen to get fit and healthy again before the inevitable festive binging that will undoubtedly take place over the Christmas period.

Mediterranean cuisine has long been a staple of meals in European countries where it began, and is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. Furthermore, it is constantly evolving and changing to suit modern tastes and trends in food and cooking.

The History of Mediterranean Cuisine

There is a certain amount of debate around where the origin of Mediterranean food actually began, but experts in the field have managed to trace the cuisine as far back as between the third- and fourth centuries in Ancient Egypt.

However, Mediterranean cuisine as most people recognize it only came to mainstream popularity in the early 1950s, with the publication of a hugely influential non-fiction book entitled A Book of Mediterranean Food. There is a huge range of fantastic, family-run Mediterranean restaurants, such as this Liverpool street cafe, who will serve you authentic Mediterranean meals to get a real feel for this wonderful cuisine.

Mediterranean Food: The Basics

The basic elements of Mediterranean food are components of foods from locals who live on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in countries that include Lebanon, Spain, Turkey, Morocco, and Israel. As the cuisine is a mixture of many different cultures, Mediterranean cuisine is one of the most diverse and colorful of all.

The fundamental basic foods of a Mediterranean diet include, but are not limited to:

* Fresh vegetables
* Herbs and spices
* Seafood and lean meat

Fresh vegetables are always included as a component of every authentically Mediterranean meal and are cooked in every way, from grilling and roasting to pureeing and sautéing. In salads, vegetables are served raw and fresh, and the bigger and juicy the vegetable, the better.

The Health Benefits of a Mediterranean Diet

Have you ever wondered, whilst on a sunshine holiday to Spain or Turkey, why the majority of the locals appear leaner, fitter, more toned, and generally more fit and healthy than yourself? Now, obviously, the many days of blistering hot sunshine will certainly go someway to making this happen, but essentially, they appear so healthy because they actually are.

Mediterranean food’s main proteins are found in lean meat and seafoods, both of which contain little to no saturated fats, and any fats they do contain are universally considered to be the healthy kind.

Also, according to this dentist in Naperville, a Mediterranean diet can also be beneficial to your dental health due to its emphasis on fruits and vegetables. Fresh produce contains a lot of vitamin A which is good for your enamel, and vitamin C which is good for your gums.

Some of the main health benefits experienced by people who mainly consume a wholly Mediterranean diet include, but are categorically not limited to:

* Controlled and healthy weight loss
* A decreased risk of certain types of cancer
* Proven to prevent the risk of gallstones
* Less chance of cardiovascular disease
* A lowering of cholesterol
* A reduced risk of heart disease
* Reduced rate of cognitive decline
* Reduced risk of having a stroke
* May help prevent the development of type 2 diabetes