Eating like a Cretan: The rollout: Step One

The next week is dedicated to moving towards the basics of the Mediterranean Diet. From there we will be getting more specifically into the Cretan diet. There are a number of pieces of the Cretan diet that make the folks of Crete healthier than people from other places in the Mediterranean. We will get to that. I will be following this diet for the next three months and I welcome any one who wants to follow it with me to do that.

So, let us begin with step one:

The majority of the food eaten is from fruits and vegetables.

The average American eats about 2 1/2 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. If you go from what the average American eats to 5 fruits and vegetables a day your risk of cancer drops 50%. As a matter of fact, the more fruits and vegetables you eat on a daily basis the less likely you are to get just about every disease known to man. One of the main reasons for this is that fruits and vegetables decrease inflammation in your body. The typical person in Crete eats at least 9 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. We will get to that next week. The challenge for tomorrow will be to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. With a little bit of pre-thinking it is not as hard as it may seem. Here are some suggestions:

Breakfast:

Yogurt Parfait

1 cup Greek yogurt (in Crete, they would eat full fat yogurt)

2 of your favorite fruits, sliced

1 teaspoon honey

1/4 cup of your favorite nuts

F/V (fruits and vegetables) tally: 2 fruits

Lunch:

Crunchy Greek Salad

2 large carrot, cut into small pieces

1/2 red onion, sliced thin

1 red pepper, cut into bite sized pieces

1 large cucumber, peeled and sliced

1 tomato, cut into bite sized pieces

3-4 sprigs parsley, stems removed

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives

1/2 cup olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

4 ounces feta cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Mix all vegetables in a bowl with olive oil and lemon juice.

2. Top with crumbled feta cheese. Toss salad.

Serves 4 as main dish salad

Serves 6 as side salad

Recipe by Bill Bradley, R.D.

Eat salad with bread and olive oil (more about olive oil later)

F/V (fruits and vegetables) tally: 2 servings vegetables

Dinner:

By dinner time you already have 4 servings of fruits and vegetables so for the five a day challenge you only need one more serving.

It could be a half cup of broccoli or cooked spinach or any other cooked vegetable and you are there!

Good luck tomorrow!

Bill