Lets face it, everyone has different tastes in food and a different idea of a healthy meal plan. We know the healthy foods that we should be eating – fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, whole grains etc. The challenge that I faced was a guideline for me to follow to ensure I was eating everything I should.

Mediterranean Diet Pyramid

I dabbled in a few different meal plans and researched many others. I looked at everything from the Paleo diet to the Zone diet and I even went as far as to look into the “Blood type diet”. While most of the diets that I researched had obvious benefits to each, they weren’t drawing me into them.

There was one diet that I couldn’t help but be attracted to – The Mediterranean diet. I did a lot of research into this meal plan (which I think everyone should before starting one) and this seemed like the one to go with. Wikipedia describes it as: “Based on “food patterns typical of Crete, much of the rest of Greece, and southern Italy in the early 1960s”, this diet, in addition to “regular physical activity,” emphasizes “abundant plant foods, fresh fruit as the typical daily dessert, olive oil as the principal source of fat, dairy products (principally cheese and yogurt), and fish and poultry consumed in low to moderate amounts, zero to four eggs consumed weekly, red meat consumed in low amounts, and wine consumed in low to moderate amounts”.

What attracted me to this diet was the cuisine which I would be preparing, the numerous health benefits of the diet that are coupled with various medical research studies as well as the adventure of diving into a diet based on cuisine from such a beautiful region of the world.

One of the medical findings I found with this diet that most impressed me was this: A meta-analysispublished in the British Medical Journal (September 12, 2008) showed that following strictly the Mediterranean diet reduced the risk of dying from cancer and cardiovascular disease as well as the risk of developing Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.

Everyone should have their own healthy eating plan to follow – this happens to be the one that intrigued me the most. Are you following a meal plan? Tell me about i