Fad diets come and go, but one style of wholesome eating that’s withstood the test of time is the Mediterranean diet. On this week’s podcast, I’m celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, created by Oldways as a nourishing alternative to the traditional USDA Pyramid. With fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains and other plant foods as the base and piled high with other wholesome foods like seafood, olive oil, and cheese, my guest Sara Baer-Sinnott, President of Oldways, walks us through the beautiful and delicious nuances of this old way of eating.
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Thanks to the diverse, mostly plant-based ingredients and the wonderful flavors and health benefits, the Mediterranean diet is a keeper as far as I’m concerned. If you love platefuls of pasta, flatbread pizzas smothered with vegetables, and Greek salads brimming with cucumbers and tomatoes, you’re well on your way to loving the Mediterranean diet. From Spain and Italy to Turkey and Israel, Sara and I dish about our favorite recipes, including Kisir (a grain dish made with bulgur), and I share my recent adventure in Portugal where I obtained a magnum of olive oil! Join us for an adventure in eating, and cheers to another 25 years of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid.
“When people embrace the old ways of eating, they will transform their lives.”
– Sara Baer-Sinnott
Read all about how Oldways cooked up their Mediterranean Diet Pyramid.
- The Mediterranean diet is mostly based on plants and foods readily available around the sea.
- The pyramid and diet have a lot of fans in the U.S. because they’re affordable and sustainable.
- Hear how the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid came to be.
- Our favorite ways to use olive oil.
- The biggest problems with the traditional USDA Food Guide Pyramid.
- Hear the incredible story of my dining experience at Olivier Avenida in Lisbon.
- How to make Kisir with bugler. It sounds foreign, but it really is simple and delicious.
- Sara’s Greek Salad recipe that is so easy and delicious.
- How to make a healthy minestrone soup.
- Let’s talk about pasta and bust some myths about grains. They’re healthy and nutritious!
- What’s up next for Sara and her upcoming trip to Sicily.
- The best cookbooks on Sara’s shelf including The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook by Nancy Harmon Jenkins and Simple Mediterranean Cookery by Claudia Roden.
- Ways you can bring tastes of the Mediterranean to your table today.
- Learn more about the Common Sense Pregnancy podcast, another show on the Parents on Demand Network.
Receiving a magnum of extra virgin olive oil from Chef Olivier da Costa at Olivier Avenida in Lisbon.
Mediterranean Recipe Roundup! 25beasy and healthy recipes.
Links:
My email: [email protected]
Oldways Resources:
Thanks for an informative podcast. I really like the Mediterranean food pyramid. I wish this pyramid was adopted instead of the USDA one. Maybe then we wouldn’t be struggling with so many diet related diseases. I loved your Portugal Olive Oil story. You are so blessed to have such great foodie travel adventures. Thanks also for mentioning birthright. My side of the family is Jewish, so it will be nice for my teens to have that opportunity when they are older.
I just want to comment on the bread at the bottom of the pyramid. I think it is important to realize that store bought bread contains a lot of fillers and additives, including extra wheat gluten. I think that store bought bread has contibuted to a rise in gluten intolerance as well other diseases. If you can tolerate wheat it is best to find a good quality local brand, or make your own. Also, I think that bread should be considered a non-whole grain, and people’s consumption should be less than half of the grains they eat.
Amber, thanks for your feedback. I agree with you that whole grain breads are the best. And when you can make a loaf yourself or purchase from a local bakery, that’s even better. It’s funny because I think the rise in gluten sensitivity and conditions like celiac disease may have been exacerbated from our heavily processed, low-fiber diets. Here’s why: Having a robust community of “good” bacteria in the gut keeps our immune systems strong and our gut lining healthy. Eating fermented foods, playing outside in nature, and eating a fiber-rich diet set us up to have a healthy microbiome, which in turn keeps the gut lining strong and enables us to tolerate gluten, which is a complex protein molecule that we can’t break down. I don’t think gluten is the issue (initially) for many people but rather, an inability to manage it in the body. Make sense? For more on the microbiome, I follow Erica and Justin Sonnenberg, PhDs. And this article is super interesting: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/science/food-fiber-microbiome-inflammation.html And this may be helpful too: http://www.drschaer-institute.com/us/professional-articles/the-influence-of-the-microbiome-on-gluten-related-diseases-1207.html