The Mediterranean diet is well-known for its impressive health benefits. However, did you know you can boost the benefits of this great diet by adding numerous super foods?
Here, you’ll discover 5 superfoods to eat on a Mediterranean diet to achieve best results.
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Oily fish
First up, you’ll notice a large part of a Mediterranean diet is based around fish. Oily fish is particularly beneficial to the health, containing plenty of omega 3’s.
The American Heart Association even recommends eating two portions of fish each week to help keep blood pressure low and protect the heart.
So, which fish are considered super foods? You’ll want to focus on including salmon, tuna, herring and sardines.
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Legumes
Ok, so legumes don’t sound especially tempting, but they do come with plenty of benefits. There’s a staggering 13,000 different legumes to choose from too, giving you an enormous amount of options when adding them to your daily diet.
The reason they’re considered a super food is because they contain very little fat and they’re packed full of iron, potassium, zinc, protein and fiber.
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Olive oil
The Mediterranean diet is packed full of healthy oils. If you’re looking to get the most benefits, switch from vegetable to olive oil.
This provides the body with essential, healthy fats which are known to lower cholesterol and protect the heart. However, it is worth noting that you should only consumer olive oil in moderation as it is quite high in calories.
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Red wine
Can we call red wine a super food? Absolutely! Provided it’s drunk in moderation, red wine provides great health benefits, which is why it is consumed so frequently in the Mediterranean!
Just one glass a day can help keep the heart healthy and boost the immune system.
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Whole grain foods
There’s a big misconception that in order to stay healthy, you need to stay away from grains completely. However, whole grains are a fantastic source of insoluble and soluble fiber; both of which are needed to maintain good health.
So, be sure to switch from white bread to whole grain and white rice to brown rice if you want to reap the benefits.
Overall, it’s easy to take advantage of numerous super foods while you’re on the Mediterranean diet. Just remember, everything is healthy provided it is eaten in moderation. While a glass of red wine can be great for the health, any more than that a day can actually be harmful.
