The Mediterranean Diet (Senior Health, #4) / Senior Health (ePub)

The Mediterranean Diet is one of the very best diets there is for anyone who wants to lose weight in a way that's healthy, fun and sustainable. This is a diet that's all about treating food with respect and all about getting natural ingredients in a way that you can actually enjoy.

And the benefits of that are incredible. The numbers speak for themselves but it goes beyond just lifespan and heart health. This is a diet that can make you feel the best you've felt in years.

Somewhere along the way, our approach to diet here in the US has become twisted. I'm talking about our general diet sure but I'm also talking about our attempts to eat healthily and lose weight!

And in many ways, our diet is a reflection of our lifestyle: everything is fast, convenient and consumable. At the same time though, it lacks substance and it lacks passion.

We have lost respect for our diet and we've stopped seeing food as something to be enjoyed. Instead, we see it as an inconvenience.

We're too busy to eat - and so we grab the quickest thing to eat from the cupboard or the fridge. Normally that means eating ready-made meals that are full of sugar and processed meats, or it means eating Mars Bars that literally offer us zero nutrition.

Unsurprisingly, this leads to many of us gaining a lot of weight as all we're eating is sugar and in high quantities.

At the same time, our skin, hair and nails look damaged because we aren't getting the bioavailable amino acids or the vitamins and minerals that we need. All that sugar has led to an epidemic of diabetes and many other preventable diseases are running rife.

Those of us who want to do something about this weight gain try to do so by counting calories or cutting fat. Now we're getting even less sustenance from our food while still feeling exhausted and burned out all the time.

Now we feel guilty whenever we eat. Now our relationship with our food is even worse.

Scientists were very surprised when they looked at data from around the world and found that people who ate a Mediterranean Diet lived longer, were less likely to get heart disease and were thinner.

But when you think about it, it's obvious! These are people who spend actual time cooking fresh, healthy meals.

Many of those meals are PACKED with fruits, with vegetables, with salad and with fish. These are all foods that are stuffed with nutrients. Nutrients that the body uses to build muscle, to regulate hormones, to provide energy and to improve our mood.

As soon as you start eating food that you enjoy - as soon as you slow down to smell the delicious garlic coming from your bolognaise - you begin eating well again and your body thanks you for it.

Those living in the Mediterranean area have eaten this way for years and enjoy better health and more longevity than most in other areas ... there must be something to this way of living.