Tag Archives: Advanced Mediterranean Diet

August 24, 2010 · 2:53 AM

“Advanced Mediterranean Diet” Has Gone Green

The Advanced Mediterranean DietMy 2007 book, The Advanced Mediterranean Diet: Lose Weight, Feel Better, Live Longer is now available in PDF format for $9.95 USD.  It’s not a low-carb diet book, but a calorie-restricted, balanced diet incorporating the healthy features of the traditional Mediterranean diet.  The physical book is also available from Amazon or CreateSpace. 

My editor and I weren’t thinking globally when we finished the book: measurements are in U.S. customary units.  The average reader can convert to other units with minimal hassle.

Loss of excess weight can be accomplished by measuring either carb grams or calories.  If you can handle monitoring your calorie consumption—and I make it as easy as possible in the book—then the Advanced Mediterranean Diet is a good way to go.  Due to the relatively high carbohydrate content of the traditional Mediterranean diet, however, people with diabetes or prediabetes should do better with carb-counting, as in the Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet or Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet.

Either way, I got you covered.

Steve Parker, M.D. 

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July 26, 2010 · 2:00 AM

2nd Printing of “Advanced Mediterranean Diet” Now Available

The first printing of The Advanced Mediterranean Diet: Lose Weight, Feel Better, Live Longer is sold out. Yay! And many thanks to my readers!

The book is available now from a new printer that also handles distribution, CreateSpace.  As always, you can also get the book from Amazon.com.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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January 12, 2010 · 2:00 AM

Does Diet Influence Risk of Stroke?

Harvard researchers suggest that our food consumption does indeed influence our risk of suffering a stroke.  This matters since stroke is the third leading cause of death in the U.S.

Scientists looked carefully at 121 different studies—published between 1979 and 2004—on the relationship between dietary factors and stroke.  High blood pressure is a major modifiable risk factor for stroke, so it also was considered.  Dietary factors included fats, minerals, animal protein, cholesterol, fish, whole grains, fiber, carbohydrate quality, fruits and vegetables, antioxidants, B vitamins, and dietary patterns.

I quote their conclusions:

Diets low in sodium and high in potassium lower blood pressure which will likely reduce stroke risk.

Consumption of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, folate, and fatty fish are each likely to reduce stroke risk.

A prudent or traditional Mediterranean dietary pattern, which incorporates these individual dietary components as well as intake of legumes and olive oil, may also prevent stroke.

Evidence is limited or inconsistent regarding optimal levels of dietary magnesium, calcium, antioxidants, total fat, other fat subtypes, cholesterol, carbohydrate quality, or animal protein for stroke prevention.

A diet low in sodium, high in potassium, and rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, cereal fiber, and fatty fish will likely reduce the incidence of stroke.

Take Home Points

The article abstract does not address the optimal intake amount of these various foods, vitamins, and minerals.  That’s probably not known with any certainty.

The traditional Mediterranean diet incorporates many of these stroke-preventing foods.  The Advanced Mediterranean Diet helps people lose weight while teaching how to eat Mediterranean-style.

The very low-carb Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet includes these stroke-preventing foods and minerals, except for whole grains and a tendency to be low in potassium.  The KMD is high in total fat and animal protien, and potentially high in cholesterol; this study indicates those issues are nothing to worry about in terms of future strokes.

I’ll use articles such as this to recommend long-term food consumption for followers of any future Diabetic Mediterranean Diet.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Reference:  Ding, E.L, and Mozaffarian, D.  Optimal dietary habits for the prevention of stroke. Seminars in Neurology, 26 (2006): 11-23.

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November 9, 2009 · 2:00 AM

Walnuts: More Evidence in Favor of Health Benefits

MPj03095770000[1]Nuts are a time-honored component of the Mediterranean diet and may contribute to the lower risk of cardiovascular disease  associated with the diet. 

Regular nut consumption lowers total cholesterol and LDL (“bad cholesterol”) by 5 to 15%, which would tend to lower heart disease risk.  Walnuts are particularly high in alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid.

Bix over at Fanatic Cook links to three scientific studies showing that walnuts:

  • improved arterial function in people with type 2 diabetes
  • improved arterial function in people with high cholesterol eating a Mediterranean diet
  • decreased fasting insulin levels in people with type 2 diabetes
  • decreased LDL cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes who were on a low-fat diet

The “dose” of walnuts in these studies was 1–2 ounces (28–56 g) daily.

For good reason, nuts have a prominent role in both the Advanced Mediterranean Diet and Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet. 

I don’t know Bix, but he or she seems to base many of his/her nutrition opinions on scientific principles, which I appreciate.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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October 28, 2009 · 11:07 AM

Nuts: The Healthy Snack

MPj04031620000[1]Nut consumption is strongly linked to reduced coronary heart disease, with less rigorous evidence for several other health benefits, according to a recent article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

This is why I’ve included nuts as integral components of the Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet and the Advanced Mediterranean Diet.

Regular nut consumption is associated with health benefits in observational studies of various populations, within which are people eating few nuts and others eating nuts frequently.  Health outcomes of the two groups are compared over time.  Frequent and long-term nut consumption is linked to:

  • reduced coronary heart disease (heart attacks, for example)
  • reduced risk of diabetes in women (in men, who knows?)
  • less gallstone disease in both sexes
  • lower body weight and lower risk of obesity and weight gain 

The heart-protective dose of nuts is three to five 1-ounce servings a week.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Reference:  Sabaté, Joan and Ang, Yen.  Nuts and health outcomes: New epidemiologic evidence.  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 89 (2009): 1,643S-1,648S.

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October 18, 2009 · 4:25 PM

My Ketoegenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 48 + Temptation

MPj03878710000[1]Weight: 156 lb

Transgressions: one Metamucil fiber wafer

Exercise: none

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I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out.

I saw one of those cookie diet commercials on TV last night.  I woke up today in a house permeated with the smell of butter, sugar, and chocolate: my daughter’s home-made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  Talk about temptation!

Maybe I need to add a “cheat day.”  Eat reasonable amounts of “regular food”—carbohydrates in this case—one day a month or every two weeks.  The Advanced Mediterranean Diet has one every two weeks.  If it’s in the rules, it’s not really cheating, right? 

-Steve

PS: No leg cramps for the last three days since starting a magnesium supplement.

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September 29, 2009 · 11:36 AM

My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 29 and Week 4 Update

monument valley navajo tribal parkWeight: 160.5 lb (72.95 kg)

Waist circumference: 35¼ inches (89.5 cm)

Transgressions: not eating as much fish as I should, and ate 2-3 fl oz of barbecue sauce having unknown carb content

Exercise: none

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Down 1.5 lb (0.68 kg) for the week.  Starting weight September 1 was 170 lb (77.3 kg).  Down a total of 9.5 lb (4.32 kg) over four weeks. 

Another 3-day out-of-town trip interfered with calorie counting and nutrient analysis since I was away from my computer.  But remember, the Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet doesn’t require calorie counting.  I’m just doing it for scientific purposes.  I fully expect at some point I will stop losing weight, and I want to know my daily caloric intake at that point.  Will it rise to the 2,200-2,400 range, which I believe to be my baseline?

I saw an interesting documentary on the Atkins diet posted by Dr. Dan at Darwin’s Table.  Dr. Dan is a paleo diet advocate.  From the documentary, apparently produced in the UK, I learned that feeling “peckish” means you are “somewhat hungry” (also means irritable) and a “stone” equals 14 pounds (6.4 kg).  The sound track reminds me of the Austin Powers movies. 

If you like barbecue and are ever in Wikiup, Arizona, USA, don’t miss “Eat at Joe’s Barbecue.”  It’s Texas-style BBQ.  Best barbecue brisket and ribs I’ve ever had outside of Texas.

I watched my wife and daughter eat ice cream at Baskin-Robbins, and had, surprisingly, no temptation.  I love BDR ice cream.  I ate 20 grams of Lindt dark chocolate with them instead.  I saw some sugar-free ice cream, so I asked the clerk, “Do you have nutritional analysis info on that?”  She replied, “Sir, this is an ice cream store…” 

This is a typical days’ food:

  • Breakfast: eggs and meat (beef, sausage, bacon, or ham).  I fry eggs in olive oil or butter.  Occassionally sauté tomatoes or onions in olive oil.
  • Lunch and Dinner: Salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil vinaigrette, with added fish (usually canned) or chicken.
  • Glass of red wine with dinner.
  • Snack: Nuts, cheese, or both.

Daily average nutrient analysis for four days:

  • Macronutrients as percentage of total energy: 7% carbohydrate, fat 59%, protein 26%, alchohol 8%
  • Digestible carbohydrate: 25 g
  • Fiber: 9 g
  • Calories: 1650
  • Looking at % Daily Values for a 2,000 calorie diet, this diet may be deficient in vitamins and minerals: C, D, E, thiamine, B6, folate, pantothenic acid, iron, manganese, magnesium, potassium, sodium, copper, and calcium.  [However, I am taking two Centrum multivitamin/multimineral supplements plus extra vitamin D 400 IU, which would correct nearly all of these, as discussed at my Week 2 Recap.] 

I am starting to miss my sweet carbohydrates, like Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, apple pie, and ice cream.  My birthday is coming up.  What . . . No cake?  It’s time to think about a “cheat day,” perhaps once a month.  The Advanced Mediterranean Diet has one every two weeks.

-Steve

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