Mediterranean Civilizations Relied on Healthy Plant Based Diets

Early civilizations living in the Mediterranean basin adopted plant-based diets that relied on olive oils, seasonal vegetables and seafood. With a preference for slow cooking combined with the healthy use of oils and seasonings, this culinary style helped retain vital nutrients and minerals. Early signs of medical problems linked to bad diets were observed when physicians noticed that the wealthy, who could afford meat and other food luxuries, had a higher occurrence of bowel disease and gout. Peasants, on the other hand, ate balanced meals and worked hard labor.

Through the ages, people have kept their weight down with a variety of weird and wonderful approaches. Listed are a few of the most popular diets:

• IMMORTALITY DIET - Five hundred years later, Italian nobleman Luigi Cornaro created the Immortality Diet that consisted of 12 ounces of food and 14 ounces of wine and lived to 102 years of age.
• BANTING LOW-CARB DIET - In 1863. An English undertaker named William Banting wrote a pamphlet entitled Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public, where he discussed his own diet of four meals a day consisting of meat, greens, fruits and dry wine. The emphasis of the Banting diet was on avoiding sweet foods, sugar, starch, beer and butter.
• LOW-CALORIE DIET - In 1918, American doctor and author Lulu Hunt Peters published a best seller entitled Diet & Health: With Key to the Calories that presented the concept of counting calories as the best form of weight loss. The once overweight medical columnist directed her publication at women who wanted a new found body image as "thin was suddenly in".
• FLETCHERISM - Fletcherism was a dietary lifestyle, where food is consumes only when hungry and in small amounts. The key component involved extensive chewing of one's food between 32 and 100 times per mouthful.
• CABBAGE SOUP DIET - In the 1950s, the Cabbage Soup Diet became popular with celebrities that needed to drop 10 pounds quickly. By consuming nothing but cabbage and veggies in water, this low calorie diet was excellent for fitting into a little black dress.
• THE COOKIE DIET - In the mid-1970s, Dr. Sanford Siegal created the Cookie Diet, which required dieters to snack on low-calorie cookies that were reportedly made with hunger-controlling ingredients. Hollywood loved the diet, which was recently followed by Kim Kardashian and Kelly Clarkson.
• ZONE DIET - Another diet that Hollywood celebrities embraced was the Zone Diet created by biochemist Barry Sears. The low-carbohydrate fad diet requires structuring every meal around specific macronutrient thresholds.
• THE SOUTH BEACH DIET - Miami physician Arthur Agatston popularized high-protein, low-carb dietary intake after publishing The South Beach Diet. Most experts considered The South Beach Diet to be a more sustainable than the Atkins diet.

In theory, weight loss should be easy; burn more than you store. However, losing weight and keeping it off is never that simple. That's why following a mind-numbing fad diet seldom, if ever, works. You need to fuel your body with the right foods, stay committed to a healthier lifestyle, and make adjustments when you reach certain plateaus. For professional guidance and personalized menus, contact the Metabolic Research Center and schedule a free weight loss consultation.