My “whole food” meal plan is FREE. Teaches how to eat for fat loss, muscle building and longevity. www.thomasdelauer.com/eatrealfood - consider it my “thank you” for subscribing to my channel and newsletter!
If you ant tolive a high quality of life on earth and in heaven turn to Jesus today All Humans need to repent & Believe in Jesus as their God. Why? Because all Humans have sinned (lied, lusted sexually, stolen, dishonoured parents, unbelief etc). Avoid the fires of Hell (justice of God) and choose Heaven today. Jesus defeated death by rising from the dead. GOD IS HOLY The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.-John 10:10
Yes, I am always amazed to hear English speaking food influencers talk about lots of beans and legumes in Med. diet, and two things that aren't even Mediterranean - salmon and avocado.
@@EE-hi4re I only see sourdough in Central Europe, and my people live or lived from Adriatic Coast and Trieste in Italy to inside of Hungary and Romania
I'm Greek and I've asked my grandparents and older relatives about this. This is what they say: There is the Mediterranean diet of today and the Mediterranean diet of the past. The people back then ate a much more frugal diet, mainly due to poverty. They might have raised a pig and lambs, but 6 people ate from that one small pig from Christmas till February. And the lambs were either sold or eaten in big religious festivals (2-3 times a year at most). They did eat lots of eggs, cheese and yogurt though, that part is accurate. Greek orthodox fasting (which is basically vegan eating with a few pescatarian days) was supposed to be followed for about half the year. Obviously some people did not fast but fasting was the cultural norm. Also, all old people lived through the 1940s and endured severe famine during the German occupation and later the civil war. Meat became an affordable staple for most people only after the mid 60s. So much of research takes an ahistorical view of their eating patterns or entirely ignores cultural or religious practices. Today's eating patterns have become very westernised and it's been affecting longevity for some time now.
Yes! Also Greek and this is why the "med diet" studies are junk. The oldest people in Greece ate almost nothing as they were poor and had several wars.... add to that the fasting from religion and the heavy workload of manual farm life.... today they are as fat as anyone!
Exactly. I'm glad you commented. I'm sure DeLaur knows that, too. He's deliberately muddying the waters to sabotage the evidence of the traditional Mediterranean Diet so that he can promote a high meat diet (and Butcher's Box).
I live in Greece and I grew it up in an island with people living to their 90s and more. We eat meat once or twice a month only on special days. Once per week we had fish and the other days beans, cheakpeas, lentils etc. We had raw goat milk yoghurt and sour milk almost every day. Also eggs and a tone of olive oil. Our bread was fermented with local wheat and our “pasta” was handmade with eggs and goat milk. When I was 9 I remember the first fancy products (margarine , cookies etc). Today’s Mediterranean diet is not the diet that gave people longevity … Old people never had vegetable oils and they ate a lot of plants, plant and dairy protein and good fat. Our fruits were only seasonal , small sized and not very sweet. We also had a lot of tea from local aromatic plants and coffee quite often. Sweets were handmade with sugar but they always had fat and protein (nuts, butter). I remember as a kid eating olives , raw milk , tea and my grandma’s bread for breakfast 😊
Then you look at the countries with the highest life expectancies and the top 3 are all East Asian countries that eat completely different diets. Moral of the story, eat a balanced whole food diet and don't stress too much about fad diets.
I am from Greece and i've been to Ikaria which is one of the 5 blue zones worldwide. I can assure you that these guys eat a lot of red meat, mostly goat and lamb meat, although they have a constant source of fresh fish since they live in an island. So maybe protein is much more important in longevity than some people tend to think
@MassDefense Growing up, our mom cooked us lots of lamb, including "innards" (kidneys, brains, liver). Today, I wonder if the reason lamb is so healthy is because sheep only feed on grasses and green, leafy plants. The same with goats. That must improved the quality of their meat.
I'm Greek too and what you say is not true. The people now do indeed eat rich diets, but the people before them, the ones who actually reached a very old age ate much more frugally, mainly due to poverty. There are a lot of misconceptions about the Mediterranean diet but low meat consumption isn't one of them.
The fastest killer is stress, and the secret to our Mediterranean longevity is not to stress about things, we really enjoy good food, take time with it, socialize with good food. We love our cured meet, olive oil,... Nothing better than a rustic baguette just dunked in olive oil on a plate with San Marciano tomatoes that ripened in the summer, the best ones are from Mount Vesuvius, the volcanic soil is awesome,.. I think the biggest life extending thing is enjoying life and don't stress yourself :)
@@Dosadniste2000meds, just like us french, work for a living and not live for work. We take time to eat, we have about 5 weeks vacation and on the week ends we generally just relax ;)
As an Italian who lives in Sicily (which is a region of Italy) I can definitely say that from north to south there are huge difference like: north tend to eat dinner earlier like 6 to 8 pm, in south we dinner from 8 to even 10 pm. Food is also different, south is more carb dominant like pasta and bread, where North is more rice and meats. South Italy has bigger portions than north. We also in south tend to eat more fried typical things, which many of then are healthy where north is more balanced, infact you can see the different BMI of population, where south people tend to be more obese to morbidly obese than north. So it changes a lot. Also, in South especially Sicily we have way more lands and farms with very good dirt quality, which helps us prodoce amazing quality fruits and vegetables. We ship them to the rest of Italy.
I am from Karpathos which is an island in the Aegean Sea. I had to change my diet drastically because carbs/sugars were making me sick. I only eat fat/protein, butter and lard. I eliminated carbohydrates, sugars, oils and salads. My weight dropped and im no longer pre-diabetic, my eczema disappeared, acid reflux gone, gastro-intestinal issues gone, i can sleep better, im never tired at daytime, ZERO acne, swollen legs and painful knees no longer. I went from 250lbs to 170lbs within 6 months.
I was raised on a mediterranean diet in a spanish/french family from North Africa and Southern France. One point that everybody misses is that it was very seasonal. My mon will not buy food if it was not of the season. The only fruit we had in the winter were oranges for example. Some treats were dedicated to only one day of the year like crepes on Chandeleur (Frebruary 2nd) or Mouna brioche on Easter day. Capon chicken for Christmas day. Fish on Friday. Meat mostly on the weekend. Lots of tomato salads with olives in the summer. So our diet could be very different from one season to the next.
Dude I'm Finnish lived in Spain as a kid and I'm here right now.. I see people don't necessarily eat for more than twice a day but before all they have fun eating - it's as if everyday was supposed to be a small feast. I think that joyful attitude towards living might reflect in their health here besides eating lots of olives, olive oil, vinegar.. seafood and also red wine in moderation and almonds.. lots of very fresh fruit available. Besides that quite a lot of sugar too in desserts... They're delicious by the way. But people are active moving and walking a lot and they for sure get their vitamin D from the sun. For some reason being here makes me think enjoying life will make you healthier.. people are having fun living their lives.. everyone's socially active and the communities are very tight.. people treat others like family and friendliness is a way of life. I'm enjoying it a lot.. I hope it's healthy too!! 🙂
-- Careful on the seafood, Pal. Our oceans and seas are overflowing with pollutants and chemicals!! There was a Documentary on a fella who went !00% Mediterranean seafood (for a year). - His blood was checked to show he was at a dangerous level of mercury and pollutants (arsenic, plasticides). None of our oceans and seas are safe from *POLLUTION!*
I am Greek 🇬🇷 and need to explain that the TRADITIONAL Greek Mediterranean diet ☦️ is religious Orthodox Christian fasting MOST of the year: vegan (lots of wild greens like dandelion greens and amaranth) with some pescaterian days. Lifestyle emphasises Christian spirituality, church fellowship, extended family, socialising, and being in nature walking, etc. God bless 🙏
I avoided dairy for 8 years due to 3 autoimmune diseases. A couple of months ago I decided to increase my protein intake and have been using Naked Whey concentrate and blending it with ice and whole milk. It’s helping my Chrohns and is clearing up the rashes on my face and neck.
@@walidst_4321 no, whole milk from the store. It’s grass fed organic milk from Costco but it’s pasteurized. I think the benefits are from the Whey concentrate protein. It’s cold processed from grass fed cows x that still has the lactoferrin and immunoglobulins.
Posting this just in case it helps. My uncle ate raw eggs, or lightly cooked eggs. Turns out the whites of the eggs not being cooked enough depleted his biotin levels until he started getting a rash around his neck that wouldn't go away. He went back to scrambled eggs and took a supplement for a while and it went away. Might not be the problem your having, but i figure I'd mention it. Oh also, I had weird face dryness that became a rash if I didn't moisturize after shower or was out at the beach. Turns out it was face dandruff, you use anti dandruff shampoo (red stuff from derma) for two weeks and it fixed it and my face feels amazing now.
I lived in Spain for 5 years a long time ago (1980- 1985). I recall a lot of cheese, nuts, fish, veal and pork, as well as beef. Many tapas contained processed meat. Lard was an ingredient used for cooking. There were lots of vegetables prepared pickled, baked, fried and raw. Finally, there was a bakery in Sevilla that had the absolute best little butter cookies with a caramel glaze! I still say Manchego is my favorite cheese, but the cost makes it an occasional treat.
I live in Toulon, Mediterranean, and the Mediterranean diet is "on paper". In reality, we eat little (or not) in the morning, well at lunchtime (meat or fish), vegetables and/or carbohydrates, and light in the evening. But meat, eggs, cold meats and cheese are an integral and important part of the diet. Every day. It's more of a low carb.
I live in northern Europe and we eat a lot of red meat and vegetables doused with olive oil (we also use sunflower a lot). It took dumb usanians to re-name this diet as "Mediterranean". And now, that stupid myth just does not want to die and disappear.
I spend a few months a year in various parts of the Mediterranean area. The foods vary by country, and personal preference. The only constant I notice is more fresh vegetables from the weekly farmers markets, and smaller portions in restaurants.
My spouse and I have started making it a point to leave food on every plate. Chipotle, only eat half the bowl. We take home what we know we will eat for lunch the next day, or otherwise leave it at the restaurant. Portion sizes in America are just completely and totally out of control. It's a huge problem that almost no one actually talks about.
@@shetaz905yes. Portion size and you probably walk a lot. Plus, restaurants don’t add sugar every where, and no sodas with a restaurant meal, just water and wine 👍.
I am from the spanish mediterranean. You are all right, we eat less amounts of food in comparisson with the US. Dairy and meat are more present than other people think(pasta in Italy o paella in Spain never come alone, always with ham, red meat, cheese...) I would say there is a good balance carbs-fat-protein. Must be add to all of this that there is less stress and a more active lifestyle in form of walk everywhere, sun exposure, social meetings, siestas....
@@condottieroperifollo7722 pasta in Italy is mostly with tomato sauce or pesto. Then they eat other stuff. Pasta with Ragu is usually for special occasions. I'm Italian and Carnivore. Carbs are killers, they're taking their toll on the obesity and diabetes rate.
I really miss that life style and the food. I’m from The north of Spain but grew up in Madrid. The paella is the best and so our lifestyle. Very well balance.
@@questionauthority-f6i not in every one. Parma ham doesn't (shouldn't) have any. But these are not worrysome, Dr Berry has a video explaining why. I read labels to steer clear of added sugars and colourings
The "secret" of the Mediterranean diet is not the food but they way they eat it: socially and al fresco. The key then is the natural light and friendly communal environment.
My theory for a long time has been that America's primary problem with our diet is not just how much processed food we eat, but all the ingredients and pesticides only America allows in our food products.
That's not just your theory and that's also what makes it really complicating when reading studies or listening to "experts". A lot of them are coming from the USA, hence I mostly tend to ignore what they are saying because of all the garbage that is allowed as additives in the USA that makes it really hard to draw conclusions for Europe.
In Spain we dont usually have breakfast.... Instead, we have a little 'early lunch' at 10:30-11am consisting in cofee and a toasted real-bread slice with olive oil, tomato and maybe tuna or ham. Later at 2pm a big 3 courses meal: some salad or a light first course, a weighty second course containing meat or fish in it and some dessert. The last meal is a light or not so light.. dinner at 8-9pm. It is very very usual that we dont eat anything from 8pm to 11am or even to 2pm, since many times we dont have that 'early lunch'. Another topic is that, as we get older, the dinner becomes lighter and earlier. Although the USA cultural influence has changed a lot the traditional mediterranean style, there is still a cultural interest in eating properly, so most people force themselves to eat some vegetables, less sugar, etc.. In my humble opinion, what makes the difference is that long period when we dont eat anything. Ive spent years not eating anything from 8pm to 2pm and that is basic to not gain weight.
Absolutely! I am convinced that the contact to the spanish style of structuring feeding kept me from gainig weight. Man, as a middle european I was dying without the (back then) german crappy breakfast for the first 4 or days. I never returned to that scheme
love the Spanish "almuerzo" (had to unlearn the meaning of that word as I originally learned it in Latin America where it means lunch, but you guys use it for that 10:30-11am min-meal). A little bocadillo with some picual olive oil and jamón ibérico, yum 😋
@@maxibluft let me give you a secret spaniard recipe: 1/ get some real bread (you call it 'french bread'...), as rustic as possible. 2/ get very matured and juicy red tomatoes 3/ cut the tomato in 2 parts like an orange and rub it strongly on a slice of bread until the bread gets red and wet 4/ put a generous amount of intense extra virgin olive oil and a bit of gross salt on it You can optionally toast the slice of bread a little bit before doing it, but if the bread is a really rustic country strong bread, dont do it. Then tell me how a so simple thing can be so good
@@vanadamlondon yes I learned that trick from a Spanish girl I dated a few years ago :) she used a bit of garlic too. So good. Unfortunately I have to avoid gluten and most grains at the moment, but still do it occasionally with gf bread... not really the same but 🤷 but I love also how great you can eat in Spain without even having any bread or carbs at all. Last time I was there for 2 months my lunch would often be 2-3 seafood/meat tapas, 1 veggie tapa and some yummy olives. In most countries you don't have that option, have to start fighting with the waiters to adjust ingredients etc
Hey Thomas, I'm Canadian but I once vacationed in Greece as a kid (insert Holiday Inn joke) and your video triggered a memory. We stayed in a hotel with a dining room, and me and my younger brother (11 & 9 at the time, many decades ago) were desperate to be polite to our outstanding waiters. In particular I remember "lemon soup", a sour, bitter and astringent milky lemony soup that we struggled to smile through, and when we asked for hot chocolate we got unsweetened cocoa (also bitter). Olives were also bitter. There was a lot of bitterness, and I grew to love it. I notice also that Chinese cuisine includes things like Bok Choy (bitter) and bitter melon (obviously), and these are considered extremely healthy. Italians drink bitter aperitifs etc. While I've followed you for years I don't recall you focusing on the role of bitter foods, and so I thought I'd mention it.
Many countries in Europe have adopted the american diet, the american way of living generally, because is not only about food, is about traditions. We used to walk more, cook more, eat with family and friends. Now we take the car, we eat alone, we order fast food
North france vs south france has already a massive difference in average BMI. It depends on so much things. The more city like, the more fast food people will eat. While living in the rural areas there is still mom around that cooks fresh and people grow up with eating real food, veggies, salads.. etc..
Pure social poverty and bad habits. Not to mention the corrupt food administration which is not supporting health however manufactures who do not care that they make you sick.
Thomas is not too bright. A Mediterranean diet was defined by Ancel Keys in 1975 and does not have much to do with what people in Mediterranean eat in 2024 (or even 1975). I'm sure Ancel Keys did not believe cannolis and pasta should be eaten daily. He focused on whole grains, veggies, fruits, legumes, nuts, and olive oil. Everything else like red meat should not be eaten that much. Likewise, people in the "Blue Zones" no longer eat "Blue Zone" diets, except maybe Loma Linda, CA. The info that Thomas is trying to give is above his education level. Each video seems to have a lot of misinformation.
Thomas does not know what a Mediterranean diet is. It was defined by Ancel Keys in 1975 and does not have much to do with what people in Mediterranean eat in 2024 (or even 1975). Ancel Keys did not believe cannolis and pasta should be eaten daily. He focused on whole grains, veggies, fruits, legumes, nuts, and olive oil. Everything else like red meat should not be eaten that much. Likewise, people in the "Blue Zones" no longer eat "Blue Zone" diets, except maybe Loma Linda, CA. The info that Thomas is trying to give is above his education level. Each video seems to have a lot of misinformation.
Thomas does not know what a Mediterranean diet is. It was defined by Ancel Keys in 1975 and does not have much to do with what people in Mediterranean eat in 2024 (or even 1975). Ancel Keys did not believe cannolis and pasta should be eaten daily. He focused on whole grains, veggies, fruits, legumes, nuts, and olive oil. Everything else like red meat should not be eaten that much.
The food can change drastically depending on the region. Northern Italy eats more dairy and protein, South eats more carbs and starches. You also cant judge the region if you concentrate on the tourist destinations. These places have adjusted for tourism. The healthiest areas have higher dairy, protein, lower stress and a more active lifestyle.
I live in Madrid. Small breakfast. Large lunch. Small dinner. Often breakfast or dinner is skipped. Lots of fresh fish, red meat a few times a week, not much poultry. Lots of fruit, legumes and olive oil. Not that much dairy. Not that much pasta, or small amounts. Not a lot of bread, but the bread is usually more natural. Nowhere near the amount of sugar in the diet compared to the US and now the UK.
@VKat As an American who had never lived anywhere else, I believe the answer is that the bread, pasta, carbs, etc. that Europeans enjoy is FAR less PROCESSED than their counterparts in America.
@@VKat No, because those products would go bad by the time they got to the U.S. Among many other reasons, processing wheat and carbs makes them "tastier" and last longer.
The key is Greek Mountain Tea. The anti-inflammatory and mild diuretic affect of Greek mountain tea could explain lower dementia and blood pressure of people who regularly consume Greek mountain tea. This tea is popular in Greece, especially during winter time when there is less physical activity and more colds, aches and pains. The plant was also anecdotally said to calm stress and traditionally was used as a diuretic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-ulcerative, anticonvulsant, analgesic, antiseptic, insecticidal, and more
Yes I too know about 'tsaì tou vounou' or greek mountain tea and studies show great improvement in cognition. You should be able to buy it in any delicatessen or greek supermarket even in the States.
There is a huge difference in European and American dairy. Milk from American cows can allow an amino acid into the bloodstream that irritates your guts due to in American cows the amino acid 67 is a histidine. In European cows, it’s a proline. The proline amino acid holds the BCM-7 and doesn’t allow it to be absorbed into the bloodstream and gut lining
Hmm interesting, but there are very noticeable numbers of people in my country UK, who are intolerant or even have deadly allergies to cow milk. I myself do not have a lactose intolerance, but there's an amino acid present in the protein of cow milk that cause me to gave an immediate stomach upset and expulsion 😅 to put it politely. I can tolerate goat 🐐 produce and the butter is superbly creamy😊
@@debbieredfern2267 some people find the protein in milk from jersey cows easier to tolerate. I used to have intolerance issues and couldn't figure out what it was. But now I tolerate any decent quality unhomogenised milk just fine. I don't know if homogenisation makes any difference to how easy it is on your system, but it does reduce the nutritional value of the milk fat.
@@Krumpina1029 I tried high quality a1 raw milk cow here in europe but it did not fix my rashes and bloating in the evening...I will try a2 cow milk when I get back to my home country...only thing works for me is lactose free yogurt(casein denatured) and ghee(pure fat), any hard soft cheese or milk gives me bloating
This is a much better video than the previous one, talking about differences between countries. I'm in the UK and even here the quality of the food is night and day better than in the US. And much, much cheaper. And healthcare is 'free'.
@@ianrowley2323 UK's NHS is in ruins like our Italian NHS. We're still better off than the US but it's not free, we pay taxes and a fee for every test and medical exams.
Aussie here. We have Medicare which is the same as the NHS and taxpayer’s pay for that. As a nurse, and lived in London for 10 years more people die in the UK under the NHS system. And if you do survive your hospital stay, your after hospital care is rubbish. In Australia for eg. if you need to see a cardiologist, it’ll cost $500AUD for a 15 min visit. Huge thumbs down from me regarding “socialist” medical schemes.
British food is absolute garbage, at least everything I ate all 5 times I've been to UK/London. US is superior, especially Northeast and California. The only place US food loses to Britain is maybe the Midwest.
@@marlenabaxter2772 (Actually, Medibank/Medicare is a "conservative" medical scheme. Labor launched it in 1975; 4 months later, the newly-elected (Conservative) Fraser government had extensively re-worked it, driving it to its collapse in 1981. I worked in the medical industry in the '70s, and watched it all unfold).
I'm 50 yo from Spain. I saw the changes in the diet here, but the old diet, as you said was based in meat, fish, dairy and legumes. Starches in order of consumption, I think rice, potatoes and wheat. My grandparents, eat mainly meat, cheese and bread
I am Italian and now live in Paris, I would agree with most of what you said. I think the key is local, in-season food that is also nutritionally dense. I say this because cuisines around the Mediterranean are actually pretty different as you also noticed, so it is not one particular combination of food that makes the miracle. And in the EU we definitely have higher standards on processed food too. Also, the general lifestyle is different, and that plays a role. Not only being more active, but eating more mindful family meals help building a better relationship with food. What I would say is that today we can see that other regions have equally good health and longevity outcomes without following a Mediterranean diet: you have probably heard of the French Paradox...The point is that there is a more intuitive relationship with food and a basic knowledge that is simply thought in families. My uncle has always done a lot of weight lifting, and when he was young my grandma was perfectly capable of feeding him a diet that allowed him to build muscle without getting fat while staying in good health; she came from a very poor agricultural family from the North of Italy and had barely finished elementary school. This is to show that there is no need for a lot of overthinking about food, if the relationship with food is healthy and the food itself is seasonal, good quality and nutrient dense. I do not exactly agree with the coffee though. This might vary from region to region in Europe, but speaking about Italy, we mostly get espresso, and even in most of other areas of Europe coffee is a bit longer, but nowhere near the giant portions you consume in the US. Considering that caffeine is water soluble, our short coffee feels more intense, but the caffeine content is definitely quite moderate. I had an Italian friend who moved to the US and kept drinking his usual number of daily coffee cups, but adapting to the long coffee that is more common there, and he quickly developed stomach issues, anxiety and sleep problems. He was actually concerned until he realized it could be that, and indeed dropping American coffee helped. So, probably high caffeine consumption is not really that crucial over here...
well, there is NO LOCAL FOOD in the USA and nothing is fresh either, if you manage to eat passable well it is because you are super rich, local food and natural basic ingredients should be cheaper than extremely refined and over-industrialised food, but it is not available to the general public and if so at 5 times the price of horrible food, so people eat what they can afford if they can afford any at all. way more people are skipping many meals a day because they simply cannot afford to eat and they have a full-time job as well.
@@acarriere8534 that was kind of my point. It is honestly surprising, considering how much of the US is actually agricultural land, and the variety of climates you have over there, from basically arctic to tropical. You probably know that most vegetables don't grow in Scandinavia and salmons are not found in the Mediterranean, but both foods are easily accessible to everyone in the EU, so it seems strange that this cannot be accomplished in the US as well. Like for many other things, it seems that the US have let lobbies decide what's best for them, rather than taking the side of citizens. If a country has public healthcare, it's also in the government's interest to keep the citizens in good health, just sayin'...
My father born in sicily in 1946 once told me they ate a lot of veggies, meat only on easter or Christmas, sometimes fish and everyone at max a handfull of pasta. (Everyone his own hand, he as a child a little Hand and his grandpa a bigger one).
❤ how much fun , that so many PEOPLE from Europa like myself watch you videos and respont to them - i like all the responses that i read . Lots of love from the Netherlands
Please watch the blue island documentary because it has already been explained in depth. The guy who made the blue island documentary and popularized the mediterranean diet said himself that those people are no longer following the diets that allowed their ancestors to live so long and have such high levels of health. The Okinawan diet has also changed so much that they have gone from the healthiest people in the world to the least healthy in Japan, they mostly lived out of their gardens as did the people of mediterranean due to poverty, they had very little protein in their diet. This is the equivalent of going to Okinawa today and seeing they are only eating Mcdonalds burgers, fries and softdrinks and thinking that is the key to longevity.
I grew up in Spain near Cadiz... we ate a lot of jamon serrano, seafood, olives, paella, pan, gazpacho, churros, bollicaos...we also didnt have a car and we walked everywhere... but something i noticed is when i moved from Spain to the US i gained a ton of weight and got many diagnosis and issues... fast foward i am not well and currently trying to reverse my health issues and already down 50lbs but when we have visited my family in Spain i noticed food dosent bother me at all over there and i feel so much better but everytime i come back i get so sick for a few weeks to a month... were actually working on legally moving back because of health, the lifestyles are very different and im worried as my teenage son is already showing sign of being high risk for diabetis... theres also many other reasons we want to go back but health has been the main push
One item not discussed: Meals come in stages in Europe. There is the cheese. There is the salad or soup. Then the main meal. A slow process allows time for one to feel full. So in the end it's less cals overall.
Dairy is different in Europe because the cattle are different. The bread and pasta probably doesn't have mandated iron and other "stuff" that for some reason shows up in our food. One example: Mono sodium glutamate is banned in most of Europe.
@barnowl6807 The EU aims to ban all CAFO farming, even for rabbits and poultry, by 2027. Where I live, livestock grazes freely; let's hope this spreads to all of Europe.
I am from Spain and we use to add animal protein to all the meals. Not hugeeee amounts of them, but enough to feel full. We change from eggs, to chicken, or to red meat, or to fish depending on the meal. We don't eat a lot of red meat every day. And yes, we eat dairy. Especially cheeses.
We live on an dalmatian island and eat traditionaly...so lots of veggies and potatoes (ours) and only little meat from our goats.we catch fish.we eat our eggs and our cheese.we buy rice and noodles,sugar only to make jams.we have our olive oil, vine and vinegar.not a lot of people life like this anymore...but that was like this back in the days...if we have more meat we invite friends.if we catch a lot of fish we give it to neighbours...it was like that also before fridges were a thing...
I would like to add for the bread section, in the EU the grains are not spray with Folic Acid, and when you ferment bread is actually good for your MicroB. as it food!!!! great video, thank you!
I have been eating Whole Foods, clean meat, eggs and dairy products. I lost weight. Had my cholesterol checked and was fantastic. I figured I was going to get in trouble by my doc because I have eaten a lot of eggs and cheese and yogurt, but NO….. results were great❤
My wife of 34 years is from Sardegna. It's our home away from home. And yes- lots of beef, goat, pork, lamb, wild boar, horse, chicken, seafood, and plenty of cheese, most of which are locally produced.
I'm a fan of the RUclips channel Pastagrammar. They cook a lot of traditional dishes from all over Italy. They rarely cook chicken. Chicken is for soup, when you're sick.
Thomas is right on! Im from Greece and live part time here part time in the US. My grandmother, as of this year , is 100yrs old and still kicking.....To this day she claims, that her secret is two fold. She eats less, and does not eat meat very often. It's true that the ingredients are a lot better, every week every family shops at outdoor farmers market, and there's also a lot more walking than the US. Thomas is 100% correct on the demand for freshness and local foods.
My British relatives have "tea", which is their supper. Smaller meal, often soup and/or sandwiches, smaller fare. A visit to Israel made me completely rethink breakfast. You'd think it was lunch/brunch. Nery a cereal anywhere.
I was just in Europe. My stomach issues went away. I had regularity and no bloating and I ate pizza and pasta. I follow mostly paleo at home and cannot tolerate grains in the US.
Monsanto and Bayer are the main seed companies in Europe. The same as the US. Europe has 58 gmo foods approved and many more waiting approval. You’re eating the same grain in Europe as in the US.
@@just-me6023 I don't trust any of them. I can't have gluten but any grain, corn, oats gives me heavy bloating & irritation so I stay away from all of it. I think our food is too tampered with from farm to production
Here in Spain, I'm a Spaniard with Italian family and visiting Italy often. In both Spain and Italy we have small breakfast, normally a couple of toasts with olive oil or marmelade, and a coffee. Big meal at lunch, with quite a lot of meat in Spain, and lots of pasta in Italy. Dinner is late, specially in Spain, and fairly small (a salad or a yogurt or cured meats). Olive oil is king, we eat tons of it. I was surprised you mentiomed butter. You seldom see it in Spain, same thing in Italy (used a bit more in northern Italy though).
And by the way, these dairy products with high protein are very new, in Spain at least. They started appearing in supermarkets a couple of years ago, I think it's just a passing fad.
And even then, most of the time there's a public transit solution readily available to everyone at an accessible price. Walkability is all-important. All this stuff we say about seed oils and processed foods don't hold a candle to car dependency as the reason for American obesity rates and adverse health outcomes.
@@sillyhead5 I heard that in the USA (or at least parts of it, I slightly remember San Francisco) they had public transportation systems like trams too, but then the rails were bought by tire manufacturers who just pulled them out of the ground in order to push cars. Is that true?
@@dude861 Unfortunately it is true. The most famous case was when General Motors purchased the tramways of Los Angeles, I believe. Every city in the United States was at one time car-dependent because every city in the United States is older than the invention of the automobile.
@@sillyhead5 It is hard to believe that something like that was even possible. Seems like in the early days the US government granted too much freedom (apparently there is such a thing and it needs some rules in order to build a healthy, good society).
You saved my relationship, before I held to belief that no one changed their mind more then my GF but then I found you and got some perspective Thank you Thomas DeLauer ❤
I live on the island of Madeira, Portugal and what I have seen is that many people still cook from scratch. My daughter lives in England and I was amazed to see the supermarket trollies full of boxes and precooked meats and TV dinners. Everything has been through a processing plant of one sort of another. We can still get bread with no additives like the supermarket bread because there are many cafés selling fresh bread. Yes we have coffee wherever we go. Even the hardware store has a coffee counter.
I spent two months in Europe eating without restrictions and training two days a week (I normally train four times a week). Surprisingly I lost 5 kilos. I think the quality of the food is superior, it is something that I could perceive every time I ate.
Living in the east coast of Spain for the last 5 years, the Spanish "Mediterranean" diet that I have seen is really varied and depends on the person. My Spanish husband is a meat eater and is always snacking throughout the day. My Spanish sister-in-law leans towards veganism but will eat meat at family lunches. For my Spanish husband, breakfast is usually coffee with milk, bio cereals or a fruit smoothie. My Spanish father-in-law in his mid-70s always has a meat bocadillo(usually sausage or breaded calamari or breaded squid, sometimes horse meat) pint of beer, and coffee with his group of friends every morning. Lunch can be many things like: Tortilla Patatas, Paella Valenciana, Arroz al Horno, Steak, Salmon, Pasta Carbonara, Pasta Bolognesa, lentils, soup, a side of salad, sardines, olives and there is always bread with the meals. Dinner is usually something light, like fish, salad, with sardines. I noticed that my Spanish family doesn't ever eat chicken much unless it's in the Paella. They tend to eat fish more often when it comes to meat dishes. Of course if you go into the mountains or central parts of Spain, the Main dishes there are mostly meat, lamb, goat, cow, boar, horse etc because there's a hunting culture inland...and the local meat dishes there are famous and traditional.
Thomas, good video just pls never forget to boost up the audio as now if you go to the geek settings you can see that your volume/normalized is just at -14.6 dB which is basically forcing everybody to max out their speakers and still not hear it clearly.
I just got back from Prague. The food is SOOO MUCH better! I could eat and drink anything and not feel bad. Here in the U.S., I raise my own meat and am a carnivore, other wise my health is terrible.
I agree 💯 with what you said and people there don't think about walking everywhere..they just do it. Sardinia there was quite elderly people walking up and down these very steep streets, obviously had been doing it all their lives ! Amazing
I do a low carb Mediterranean(ish) diet…..l eat pasture raised eggs, baked chicken with skin, salmon, grass fed beef, grass fed butter, real cheese, kefir, avocados, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, spring mix salads, raw nuts, sometimes beans/potatoes/rice, sprouted bread, berries, apples, Manuka raw honey and lots of EVOO. All I drink is water, lemon water, decaf green tea and black coffee. Lost 75 lbs in just over a year following this diet 95% of the time.
I totally agree with you. I lived in Italy (Sicily) for 7 years in the 80’s. Food was simple and basic. Salads were not a thing and nobody ate nuts. Coffee is always black with the occasional full cream milk cappuccino
You're my #1 goto for food science, love what you do...I've settled on my current diet mostly from watching you. My current diet is Meat, Berries and Dairy (no grains or veggies). I eat dark chocolate daily and switched to decaf. My morning drink is hot water with is spices (high orac spices) mixed with raw honey. I never have afternoon crashes anymore, sleeping better and skin is better. Once I stopped the veggies even my belly slimmed a little (I'm not overweight though, fairly healthy mid-50's)...thanks for all your work, great videos!!!
Dairy in Europe contains A2 casein, whereas North American dairy contains A1 casein. Europe's sausages, cheeses, and breads are fermented. Finally, North America is subjected to significantly more pesticides and chemicals.
No mam only very small percentage of cows or sheep and goats , stop making europe some sacred land of RUclips health , in most sidesits similar to US Thomas delauer speaks about small regionns in italy and greece but its not common.
@Blink you make one of the most important points in these comments. All dairy is not equal (A1 vs. A2) and all bread is not equal (non GMO, strains of wheat etc). The presenter needs to say this.
I enjoy eating dairy, but it causes me too much congestion every time I increase my intake. Cream cheese seems to be the worst at causing this, while heavy cream alone does not. A1 vs A2 haven’t had much impact on this aspect of things as far as I can tell.
“vegetables & dairy as base” that’s true for Türkiye..!! Also a lot of bread from yeast-risen dough and we also have a fried yeast dough snack (pişi) common in central regions. Yeast is great, very nutritious…
I grew up in Greece and I must say that everyday meal habits are highly dependent on religion and family values. For example, based on Orthodox Christianity you have two days a week that you are not allowed meat. Also, there is a fish day once a week. Now, things have changed a lot over the years and people are not as religious, plus they have so many influences from other countries around them, like Germany, France (processed meats and lots of butter) and also the middle east. Generally, Greece was always highly dependent on milk (cheese mostly, and not cow necessarily), grains, fruits and vegetables. Plus olives and olive oil, high quality meat and fresh fish make it a great combination for healthy eating habits.
Hello Thomas, I am from Greece and live also in Greece, it is true that we eat a ton of meat, sea food and dairy. The notion that the area is a low meat area is not true. Hope that helps.
Same with Japan, shelves are full with processed food. However there portion sizes are tiny.. You just get used to it and voila your kcal intake is cut in half..
I live in the South of France at the border to Italy now for 15 years, coming from the mountainous region of Austria, and changed my lifestyle dramatically ( my French bf is the cook :-). Huge change: very little sugar and very little salt. A lot of Americans find French food blant because they are used to over salting everything. We use a lot of herbs and olive oil to season. It is much more delicate and refines your tastebudds. When I eat I can taste every single ingredient. Then no heavy sauces. Lots of cooked tomatoes, zucchinis, garlic in lots of olive oil. Lots of salads. Fish. Cheese. Yoghurts (the Greek one). Wine. Coffee. Lots of Water( mostly from the tap). A little desert (not too sweet). Only high quality dark chocolate (never high sugar milk chocolate). Be outside. We hate aircon. Feel the wind and the sun. Walk. Cook meals yourself. I never buy proccessed food, or rarely. Well, I like ice cream. And cakes. But all freshly made. My day is usually coffee with milk and honey and plain croissant, or brioche with butter and jam, from the local bakery. Also fruits. Rather late, around ten. Lunch will be salad with cheese anf fresh bread during the week, with water. A greek yoghurt with rasberry jam(fruit content 60 till 70 percent) or maroni (chestnut) puree, or honey. Then black coffee with a little honey. With friends or on the weekend I will cook a proper meal with either fish, seafood, lamb or duck.With lots of veggies based on tomatoes and garlic, and herbs. With Bread or couscous or pasta. Fruits and cake. Wine. Oh, and cheese before desert, (usually goat cheese and a cow cheese of high quality, always changing the variety) with butter and a little bread. Coffee. Afternoon black coffee with a little honey and perhaps a little amaretto biscuit. In the evening very late around ten, some veggies or salad, with fresh bread or a quiche or onioncake (pissaladiere), or tourte des blettes (mangold and rice cake). Sometimes salmon smoked or smoked duck (I love them) or chicken from the grill at the local butcher. Or selfmade Tzatziki and selfmade humus. Again greek yoghurt. Fruits. Always wine in the evening but no coffee. Lots of water with every meal, also with coffee always a glass of water. When I go to the beach I always eat some gelato. But small. About wine: in summer Rose wine, in winter red wine. There are exceptions :-) I will not say no to champagne :-) Oh, and I buy only French or Italian or Greek food and wine.
The Mediterranean diet has an exact definition, scientifically. It is what was consumed on the isle of Crete from 1940's to 1950's, early 1960's. As a matter of fact the scientists invoved collected meals from several villages and froze them., so they are pretty clear on the composition of the diet. You cannot visit the Mediterranean today and find an exact copy of that period. The meat, fish, poultry amounts from that period was much less than today. The obvious reason was that food was local and shipped to the island only infrequently.
I'm from Malta, a small island just south of Sicily. Here, it's pretty easy to live on whole, natural, and local produce. Our traditional diet is based on seasonal vegetables, meats, fish, and local sourdough bread. However, in the last 10 years, more fast food places have popped up, and unfortunately, a lot of people are adopting these unhealthy options. But if you're committed to eating healthy, it's still very easy, as fresh food is available everywhere. So really, staying healthy comes down to the choices you make.
I love your Channel! I lived in the U.S the first 13 years of my life and moved to an Island in Greece. We barely had beef. We had alot of chicken pork goat lamb and fish, but maybe 3 times a week. The rest of the days would be a lot of legumes cooke with Olive oil and veggies like potatoes green beans green mostly wild greens. We used to have alot of bread with these foods. Some pasta and rice was included in our diet. Cheeses and milk was mostly from goat and lamb. Which consisted in our breakfasts with boiled eggs tomatoes olives and coffee or tea. I don't know if this helps you.
In my experience it’s not so much the food as the fact that they walk everywhere that keeps them leaner. Of course, overall use of less food preservatives in Europe is another important factor to consider. So, walk daily and eat whole foods cooked from scratch and Do Not snack. We became obese when we started snacking.
Thanks so much for this very informative talk. Yes here in Europe as a general lunch time is the main meal, but for this the family has to home at lunch time. So in the Mediterranean countries they come home lunch time and have a long break and then go back later afternoon and work till late. Its a very different life rhythm . And evening meal is a light meal
A large study from a few years ago (over 100,000) accidentally found that the higher the saturated fats in the diet (up to 30%) the lower the rate of strokes. Could this be due to C15:0 which only exists in saturated fat sources?
In the 70s the US fast food industry started with the whole SUPERSIZE ME campaign. This has fundamentally changed the way many americans eat and has been catastrophic.
agree. Built on the cultural credo of "more bang for the buck", interpreted as a purely visually signal, so "bigger heap fo the buck", instead of content. ...like ford 350 for visiting a theater (or buying burgers), instead of content and relational capacity, self-directed imperialism, a perverted style of materialism... of course there are regional differences. A major contribution/amplifier to that is geography, more radical and uncontrolled capitalism, lower average education, and less regionalism
And it's getting progressively worse. Every other ad on TV is for pizza or fast food. They've normalized a fast food diet to the point where large numbers of people eat it daily. For some that's all they eat.
In France, at least in the monasteries, the pattern of largest meal at midday predominates, with light breakfast (mostly just bread and maybe some fruit, and coffee), main meal at lunchtime, and the evening meal "souper" (where we get the English word "supper") most often soup, a little salad, and maybe a small cooked side dish. And a little yogurt for dessert, if you're lucky. Wish it were easier to adopt that pattern in the US, but French typically get a lot longer lunch break than we do...
I live in Bulgaria (which is in the Balkans but we are the country north to Greece) Many Bulgarians including myself go to holiday in Greece because sometimes it is closer than our own seaside. Even in Greece fish is becoming expensive and a delicacy. So even Greeks don't consume it very regularly. There needs to be a distinction between vacationers and regular people. Vacationers usually have budgeted their fish and seafood expenses so it may appear all people eat fish and seafood frequently which is not the case. Both in Bulgaria and in Greece we eat a lot of pork because of the Ottomans (they would take your chickens but would not touch your pig) Pork is also the cheapest meat and very tasty and versatile. I do think the Mediterranean diet is a bit over romanticized in the US but this is not a bad thing. A thing that is not discussed much is the alcohol consumption. Rakia (in the Balkans) / Grappa (in Italy) a 40% alcohol from grapes, Wine, Ouzo (an aniseed and herb and spice alcohol from Greece) Alcohol is drank not to pass out but to enjoy the food. (and it might reduce stress if not overdone) And there are many variations of salads and dips and cheese BEFORE the main meal. Some people are full before the main protein meal. And eating is slower in general so you have time for your stomach to send a signal to your brain that it is full.
Don't think any type of alcohol consumption has any potential positive effect, more like regard that consumption they have healthy long lifespans, because all the data says zero alcohol is the most healthy thing
@@davidflorez1196 I personally don’t drink alcohol. But to take the Mediterranean diet and exclude the alcohol is not looking at the actual way people live. Overconsumption of alcohol is definitely bad. And even moderate consumption can be bad. However with the bad of alcohol there MAY BE positives. A lot of people in my country would not eat a salad without a bit of alcohol (not saying it’s good it is how it is) There is the social aspect - let’s go out for a glass of wine. There is the stress reducing aspect (people are not meditating and doing yoga in general in the Mediterranean) Pure alcohol like (Grappa, Whiskey, Vodka) lowers blood sugar and has blood pressure (as is dilating your arteries) There needs to be a study of the balance of negatives with positives. Hot Chillies hurt us with the heat but there is a net benefit to our bodies because of their vitamin C content. If researchers are looking at the meal timing, the walking, the sleep cycles they cannot exclude alcohol consumption as it is a part of the lifestyle. Again I am not an alcohol drinker and am NOT advocating for alcohol. I just want to paint the full picture.
@@Mike65809 And salad goes with cheese and it fills you up a lot. And when you add a bit of fresh bread with some dips (that are usually made from vegetables and healthy fats) you can become full before the main dish. When I go to vacation in Greece with my mom and dad they usually share a salad. (For some reason salad portions in Greece are HUGE) With a seafood appetizer and piece of bread and she is full. She usually doesn’t eat a main dish.
as an Italian I can confirm. small sweet breakfast, bigger lunch (usually pasta/rice and veggies or a sandwich) and a smaller dinner with protein, a side of veggies and olive oil. we also tend to snack on sweet foods like milk/yogurt and cookies
I'm Moroccan and normal Moroccans eat LITTLE meat, a lot of sardines and fatty fish, a lot of légumes and a potato based diet. But if you are a tourist they will serve you a lot of meat which is considered a luxury. Meat is of the highest quality in Morocco and therefore expensive.....which makes overal meat consumption very low.
Finally someone mentioned legumes!! I am Portuguese and we put beans or chickpeas on almost anything 😊. I fully agree with your point of view. People tend to forget that restaurants are offering more fancy food than a poor man's dish locals eat on a regular week day. Love Moroccan food ❤❤❤
Can't agree more on locally sources foods. I remember how amazed we were by the bread in a local Spanish restaurant in Benalmádena, just the bread on its own was delicious. We asked the waiter where they got it from and he replied: "Ah, it's from a village nearby."
I'm postmenopausal too but always confused as to what is the best diet for age group. High protein, More plants, low fat, hmmm. The Mediterranean diet can mean so many things. I've bought so many Mediterranean books, they're all different. Would love to know what your perception is of a Mediterranean Diet???
@rebella5769 For me, my proteins mainly consist of fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, beans, and lentils; my fats include olive oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds; my carbs include berries, non-starchy vegetables, leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, Japanese sweet potatoes, a bit of whole grains. I drink one coffee in the morning with some half & half and water throughout the day. I avoid alcohol, added sugar, and ultra-processed foods. So probably not strictly Mediterranean but close to that way of eating.
@@rachelmcgill8143 ohhhh THANK YOU SO MUCH. I love all the foods you mentioned. I really appreciate your input. I eat healthy and perfect body weight but my recent bloodwork showed LDL in the red, so frustrating when I thought I was eating so good. Maybe I eat too much animal protein even though lean. I noticed you only eat fish as your animal protein source, is that correct? I love that you can use half and half daily and still have great labs, you give me hope. Do you sweetened your coffee with anything? Do you consider yourself a pescatarian? Is there any particular book or cookbook you have followed when you first started this path. With so much gratitude.
@rebella5769 Hello. Yes, primarily fish and very rarely chicken or a burger. No sweetener in my coffee. I consider myself an omnivore. 😊 No cookbook, just combine different whole foods together, combined to my liking, creating concoctions. My kids are grown, and my husband eats only some meat and then ultra-processed foods and snacks and treats throughout the day, so I am able to food prep for myself on the weekends and focus on what works for me. ❤
ye im from greece, people are flat broke, i have no idea ihow they financialy survive, but they have incredible quality of live, definetly life first, they enjoy life and also they have good quality localy sourced food like you mentioned.
My parents came over from France. I grew up on butter! Everything, practically, was cooked in butter. Big on veggies and dairy. Now that I have access to raw A2 dairy and organic veggies, grassfed beef, etc. I feel I am better able to mimic the true Mediterranean diet. Starches/einkorn sourdough bread on occasion, along with brie or pecorino romano after the meal...after a little bit of salad... If there is "dessert" then it usually a little bit of fruit. Done! No snacking, because there is no need. The food is nutrient dense enough to hold you until the next meal. Their farming practices are different over there, their grains aren't adulterated/hybridized... their food is actually closer to real! Europeans(at least old school) know how to eat for a good life.
Spent a lot of time in the south of France. Breakfast was coffee and croissants.everyone came home for lunches often consisted of eggs, pasta, bread with olive oil, fresh sliced tomatoes topped with olive oil, herbs and cheese. Protein at dinner was mostly chicken. We are a lot of pasta, Cous Cous (my favorite meal), chicken and eggs.
We have high protein filtered milk in Australian supermarkets, endorsed by the Australian Institute of Sport. ●I notice the food at local Greek & Italian festivals at my beach side suburb are certainly centred around meats, with veg & carbs.
There's no such thing as THE Mediterranean diet. To be precise there's lots. The Greek don't eat like Italian or Spanish or Croatian or Northern Africans.
Someone typed for us this: "The Mediterranean diet has an exact definition, scientifically. It is what was consumed on the isle of Crete from 1940's to 1950's, early 1960's. As a matter of fact the scientists invoved collected meals from several villages and froze them., so they are pretty clear on the composition of the diet. "
I’m 60. Ultra Runner. Drink half gallon of organic whole milk every day during training and racing blocks. I eat a lot of good quality meat of all types. I eat whole fruits. I eat some vegetables. I believe the milk is the key to my success.
i live in mediterenean region in morocco front of spain, spanish hunt the fish from our ocean side because we do have more fish unfortunatelly no one knows this in america, the daily food routine we consume almost every day fermented black olive and olive oil two times a day not every one like to eat meat every day but the basic protien dish that every one like to eat is all kind of fish two times in week, the sardine people consume on barbecue in the summer session where people love to eat because its he's best session and people don't go with big sardine size they always go for meduim size, comment back thomas if you like what we eat on here
![Quando Rondo - Grow Up [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8zFnCg3BO4Q/mqdefault.jpg)
My “whole food” meal plan is FREE. Teaches how to eat for fat loss, muscle building and longevity. www.thomasdelauer.com/eatrealfood - consider it my “thank you” for subscribing to my channel and newsletter!
Tom, do you eat homemade sourdough bread made from scratch (w/organic fresh milled flour)?
If you ant tolive a high quality of life on earth and in heaven turn to Jesus today
All Humans need to repent & Believe in Jesus as their God. Why? Because all Humans have sinned (lied, lusted sexually, stolen, dishonoured parents, unbelief etc). Avoid the fires of Hell (justice of God) and choose Heaven today. Jesus defeated death by rising from the dead. GOD IS HOLY
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.-John 10:10
Yes, I am always amazed to hear English speaking food influencers talk about lots of beans and legumes in Med. diet, and two things that aren't even Mediterranean - salmon and avocado.
@@EE-hi4re I only see sourdough in Central Europe, and my people live or lived from Adriatic Coast and Trieste in Italy to inside of Hungary and Romania
@Dosadniste2000 Europe is vast and definitely can't be generalized. I just wanted to know if Tom eats sourdough bread.
I'm Greek and I've asked my grandparents and older relatives about this. This is what they say: There is the Mediterranean diet of today and the Mediterranean diet of the past. The people back then ate a much more frugal diet, mainly due to poverty. They might have raised a pig and lambs, but 6 people ate from that one small pig from Christmas till February. And the lambs were either sold or eaten in big religious festivals (2-3 times a year at most). They did eat lots of eggs, cheese and yogurt though, that part is accurate. Greek orthodox fasting (which is basically vegan eating with a few pescatarian days) was supposed to be followed for about half the year. Obviously some people did not fast but fasting was the cultural norm. Also, all old people lived through the 1940s and endured severe famine during the German occupation and later the civil war. Meat became an affordable staple for most people only after the mid 60s. So much of research takes an ahistorical view of their eating patterns or entirely ignores cultural or religious practices. Today's eating patterns have become very westernised and it's been affecting longevity for some time now.
Yes! Also Greek and this is why the "med diet" studies are junk.
The oldest people in Greece ate almost nothing as they were poor and had several wars.... add to that the fasting from religion and the heavy workload of manual farm life....
today they are as fat as anyone!
Thank you for sharing!
You're Greek or American with Greek ancestry?
@@j2174 I'm Greek and living in Greece.
Exactly. I'm glad you commented. I'm sure DeLaur knows that, too. He's deliberately muddying the waters to sabotage the evidence of the traditional Mediterranean Diet so that he can promote a high meat diet (and Butcher's Box).
Lots of walking, socializing and low stress has the most impact on longevity
Muscles are the organ for longgevity. Proven fact. Walking doesnt build muscle
And good, frequent sex as well as high food quality (basically many different diets may work, but the less chemical stuff there is the better.
@@dude861 there is no golden rule. You're going to die some day no matter what you do and it's out of your control when.
Yes we walked and walked when visiting family in a traditional town
Love the idea of walking a lot (probably because I have a dog 😂)
I live in Greece and I grew it up in an island with people living to their 90s and more. We eat meat once or twice a month only on special days. Once per week we had fish and the other days beans, cheakpeas, lentils etc. We had raw goat milk yoghurt and sour milk almost every day. Also eggs and a tone of olive oil. Our bread was fermented with local wheat and our “pasta” was handmade with eggs and goat milk. When I was 9 I remember the first fancy products (margarine , cookies etc). Today’s Mediterranean diet is not the diet that gave people longevity … Old people never had vegetable oils and they ate a lot of plants, plant and dairy protein and good fat. Our fruits were only seasonal , small sized and not very sweet. We also had a lot of tea from local aromatic plants and coffee quite often. Sweets were handmade with sugar but they always had fat and protein (nuts, butter). I remember as a kid eating olives , raw milk , tea and my grandma’s bread for breakfast 😊
Not me i eat only once a day and I’m healthier than all of you.
You’re not a baby. You’re not a cow. Drink soy milk now.
@@ThatVeganTeacherRUclipsSoy milk? Beans can't make milk you fool
Then you look at the countries with the highest life expectancies and the top 3 are all East Asian countries that eat completely different diets.
Moral of the story, eat a balanced whole food diet and don't stress too much about fad diets.
@@KenWang2I am healthier than you. For sure. There is no way. I also eat once a day
I am from Greece and i've been to Ikaria which is one of the 5 blue zones worldwide. I can assure you that these guys eat a lot of red meat, mostly goat and lamb meat, although they have a constant source of fresh fish since they live in an island. So maybe protein is much more important in longevity than some people tend to think
@MassDefense Growing up, our mom cooked us lots of lamb, including "innards" (kidneys, brains, liver). Today, I wonder if the reason lamb is so healthy is because sheep only feed on grasses and green, leafy plants. The same with goats. That must improved the quality of their meat.
not true - they eat beans, salmon and avocado 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 (that is the most idiotic part of Zoe explanation anyone can hear)
@@Barbarian75 Yes, Dan Buettner really is a joke. But with very high range. It is insane how they are pushing their stupid agenda so successfully.
I'm Greek too and what you say is not true. The people now do indeed eat rich diets, but the people before them, the ones who actually reached a very old age ate much more frugally, mainly due to poverty. There are a lot of misconceptions about the Mediterranean diet but low meat consumption isn't one of them.
those old Greeks on Ikaria were super starved when younger due to all the wars. This would skew any data for the Med diet in general.
The fastest killer is stress, and the secret to our Mediterranean longevity is not to stress about things, we really enjoy good food, take time with it, socialize with good food. We love our cured meet, olive oil,... Nothing better than a rustic baguette just dunked in olive oil on a plate with San Marciano tomatoes that ripened in the summer, the best ones are from Mount Vesuvius, the volcanic soil is awesome,.. I think the biggest life extending thing is enjoying life and don't stress yourself :)
Hmkay. You just generalize that? Did you ever drive a car in the Mediterranean area, especially in Italy? I see lots of stress there.
Meds are stressed as well. They don't live lives of tourist commercials. But portions are smaller and you're unlikely to eat in hot days.
Well it has been proven that high quality social/family life is at least as important as nutrition 👍
@@Dosadniste2000meds, just like us french, work for a living and not live for work.
We take time to eat, we have about 5 weeks vacation and on the week ends we generally just relax ;)
@@Joliefleur252 That's something absoluely impossible to proof. But yes, most likely social life and love are very important factors too.
As an Italian who lives in Sicily (which is a region of Italy) I can definitely say that from north to south there are huge difference like: north tend to eat dinner earlier like 6 to 8 pm, in south we dinner from 8 to even 10 pm. Food is also different, south is more carb dominant like pasta and bread, where North is more rice and meats. South Italy has bigger portions than north. We also in south tend to eat more fried typical things, which many of then are healthy where north is more balanced, infact you can see the different BMI of population, where south people tend to be more obese to morbidly obese than north. So it changes a lot. Also, in South especially Sicily we have way more lands and farms with very good dirt quality, which helps us prodoce amazing quality fruits and vegetables. We ship them to the rest of Italy.
Fellow Sicilian here!
North vs south of france has a massive difference of average BMI.. So it really depends..
So Interesting, thank you for sharing this🎉
I am from Karpathos which is an island in the Aegean Sea. I had to change my diet drastically because carbs/sugars were making me sick.
I only eat fat/protein, butter and lard. I eliminated carbohydrates, sugars, oils and salads.
My weight dropped and im no longer pre-diabetic, my eczema disappeared, acid reflux gone, gastro-intestinal issues gone, i can sleep better, im never tired at daytime, ZERO acne, swollen legs and painful knees no longer.
I went from 250lbs to 170lbs within 6 months.
pasta and bread is everywhere in Italian families.
I was raised on a mediterranean diet in a spanish/french family from North Africa and Southern France. One point that everybody misses is that it was very seasonal. My mon will not buy food if it was not of the season. The only fruit we had in the winter were oranges for example. Some treats were dedicated to only one day of the year like crepes on Chandeleur (Frebruary 2nd) or Mouna brioche on Easter day. Capon chicken for Christmas day. Fish on Friday. Meat mostly on the weekend. Lots of tomato salads with olives in the summer. So our diet could be very different from one season to the next.
You’re not a baby. You’re not a cow. Drink soy milk now.
I'm a southern european. I gained 4 kg when I stayed in the USA for a month.
That's similar to the experience of one of my colleagues. And we're from Eastern Europe... well... South-Eastern Europe to be slightly more precise:)
@@jeffersondaviszombie2734 I love the US, but most of their food is a death sentence.
@@helderlouro same here
Me too! 7kgs in 3 months. Portions are huge and pretty unhealthy
@@janetkrem503 did you also notice the amount of salt they put in everything?
Dude I'm Finnish lived in Spain as a kid and I'm here right now.. I see people don't necessarily eat for more than twice a day but before all they have fun eating - it's as if everyday was supposed to be a small feast.
I think that joyful attitude towards living might reflect in their health here besides eating lots of olives, olive oil, vinegar.. seafood and also red wine in moderation and almonds.. lots of very fresh fruit available.
Besides that quite a lot of sugar too in desserts... They're delicious by the way.
But people are active moving and walking a lot and they for sure get their vitamin D from the sun.
For some reason being here makes me think enjoying life will make you healthier.. people are having fun living their lives.. everyone's socially active and the communities are very tight.. people treat others like family and friendliness is a way of life.
I'm enjoying it a lot.. I hope it's healthy too!! 🙂
-- Careful on the seafood, Pal. Our oceans and seas are overflowing with pollutants and chemicals!! There was a Documentary on a fella who went !00% Mediterranean seafood (for a year). - His blood was checked to show he was at a dangerous level of mercury and pollutants (arsenic, plasticides).
None of our oceans and seas are safe from *POLLUTION!*
I am Greek 🇬🇷 and need to explain that the TRADITIONAL Greek Mediterranean diet ☦️ is religious Orthodox Christian fasting MOST of the year: vegan (lots of wild greens like dandelion greens and amaranth) with some pescaterian days. Lifestyle emphasises Christian spirituality, church fellowship, extended family, socialising, and being in nature walking, etc. God bless 🙏
Sorry but where do u get your wild greens? Thanks
There is no god
@@UserGirly-c7cWe will pray for you.
I avoided dairy for 8 years due to 3 autoimmune diseases. A couple of months ago I decided to increase my protein intake and have been using Naked Whey concentrate and blending it with ice and whole milk. It’s helping my Chrohns and is clearing up the rashes on my face and neck.
From raw dairy ?
@@walidst_4321 no, whole milk from the store. It’s grass fed organic milk from Costco but it’s pasteurized. I think the benefits are from the Whey concentrate protein. It’s cold processed from grass fed cows x that still has the lactoferrin and immunoglobulins.
Try to cut out grains, sugar and seed oils. They are inflammatory and cause leaky gut.
Interesting, look for the carnivore diet, you'll probably cure most things bothering you, specially the Chrohns.
Posting this just in case it helps. My uncle ate raw eggs, or lightly cooked eggs. Turns out the whites of the eggs not being cooked enough depleted his biotin levels until he started getting a rash around his neck that wouldn't go away. He went back to scrambled eggs and took a supplement for a while and it went away. Might not be the problem your having, but i figure I'd mention it.
Oh also, I had weird face dryness that became a rash if I didn't moisturize after shower or was out at the beach. Turns out it was face dandruff, you use anti dandruff shampoo (red stuff from derma) for two weeks and it fixed it and my face feels amazing now.
I lived in Spain for 5 years a long time ago (1980- 1985). I recall a lot of cheese, nuts, fish, veal and pork, as well as beef. Many tapas contained processed meat. Lard was an ingredient used for cooking. There were lots of vegetables prepared pickled, baked, fried and raw. Finally, there was a bakery in Sevilla that had the absolute best little butter cookies with a caramel glaze! I still say Manchego is my favorite cheese, but the cost makes it an occasional treat.
I live in Toulon, Mediterranean, and the Mediterranean diet is "on paper". In reality, we eat little (or not) in the morning, well at lunchtime (meat or fish), vegetables and/or carbohydrates, and light in the evening. But meat, eggs, cold meats and cheese are an integral and important part of the diet. Every day. It's more of a low carb.
Where’s that?
What about olive oil and nuts ?
It is a low carb diet, not the shit at Olive Garden!
I live in northern Europe and we eat a lot of red meat and vegetables doused with olive oil (we also use sunflower a lot). It took dumb usanians to re-name this diet as "Mediterranean".
And now, that stupid myth just does not want to die and disappear.
@@AllForJesusAndMary It's a port city on the French Riviera. About an hour east of Marseille.
I spend a few months a year in various parts of the Mediterranean area. The foods vary by country, and personal preference. The only constant I notice is more fresh vegetables from the weekly farmers markets, and smaller portions in restaurants.
My spouse and I have started making it a point to leave food on every plate. Chipotle, only eat half the bowl. We take home what we know we will eat for lunch the next day, or otherwise leave it at the restaurant. Portion sizes in America are just completely and totally out of control. It's a huge problem that almost no one actually talks about.
I'm from the USA. Every time I go to Italy or France for 2 weeks, I lose 5 lbs. And I'm eating very well the entire time.
@@shetaz905yes. Portion size and you probably walk a lot. Plus, restaurants don’t add sugar every where, and no sodas with a restaurant meal, just water and wine 👍.
I am from the spanish mediterranean.
You are all right, we eat less amounts of food in comparisson with the US.
Dairy and meat are more present than other people think(pasta in Italy o paella in Spain never come alone, always with ham, red meat, cheese...)
I would say there is a good balance carbs-fat-protein.
Must be add to all of this that there is less stress and a more active lifestyle in form of walk everywhere, sun exposure, social meetings, siestas....
@@condottieroperifollo7722 pasta in Italy is mostly with tomato sauce or pesto. Then they eat other stuff.
Pasta with Ragu is usually for special occasions.
I'm Italian and Carnivore. Carbs are killers, they're taking their toll on the obesity and diabetes rate.
I really miss that life style and the food. I’m from The north of Spain but grew up in Madrid. The paella is the best and so our lifestyle. Very well balance.
Do ya'll have nitrates in your salami/hams/etc?
@@questionauthority-f6i not in every one. Parma ham doesn't (shouldn't) have any.
But these are not worrysome, Dr Berry has a video explaining why. I read labels to steer clear of added sugars and colourings
@@phoenixgirl11 it's great tasting. Balanced not so much 😀 Rice spikes blood sugar through the roof 😮
Thomas, it’s very very hard to take you seriously when you change your views on ways of eating/etc every moment. You’re giving us whiplash!
The "secret" of the Mediterranean diet is not the food but they way they eat it: socially and al fresco. The key then is the natural light and friendly communal environment.
My theory for a long time has been that America's primary problem with our diet is not just how much processed food we eat, but all the ingredients and pesticides only America allows in our food products.
That's not just your theory and that's also what makes it really complicating when reading studies or listening to "experts". A lot of them are coming from the USA, hence I mostly tend to ignore what they are saying because of all the garbage that is allowed as additives in the USA that makes it really hard to draw conclusions for Europe.
cookie in US taste amazing because of concentrated 20 spoon sugar, I realized this when I went back to my home country...
I agree, I think it’s more of what we ‘don’t eat’ rather than what we do, that will make the western world healthier again.
Let's not forget the flour there isn't highly bleached then sprayed with folic acid like in the USA. Italy for the win!
Not just in Italy.
its also not doused in glyphosate to speed the drying process
It’s also not made from the heavily modified wheat from the U.S. that has more gluten. It’s also not bromated.
My coworker that has a wheat allergy can eat exported wheat products from Italy with very little reaction 🤔
In Spain we dont usually have breakfast.... Instead, we have a little 'early lunch' at 10:30-11am consisting in cofee and a toasted real-bread slice with olive oil, tomato and maybe tuna or ham.
Later at 2pm a big 3 courses meal: some salad or a light first course, a weighty second course containing meat or fish in it and some dessert.
The last meal is a light or not so light.. dinner at 8-9pm.
It is very very usual that we dont eat anything from 8pm to 11am or even to 2pm, since many times we dont have that 'early lunch'. Another topic is that, as we get older, the dinner becomes lighter and earlier.
Although the USA cultural influence has changed a lot the traditional mediterranean style, there is still a cultural interest in eating properly, so most people force themselves to eat some vegetables, less sugar, etc..
In my humble opinion, what makes the difference is that long period when we dont eat anything. Ive spent years not eating anything from 8pm to 2pm and that is basic to not gain weight.
Absolutely! I am convinced that the contact to the spanish style of structuring feeding kept me from gainig weight. Man, as a middle european I was dying without the (back then) german crappy breakfast for the first 4 or days. I never returned to that scheme
love the Spanish "almuerzo" (had to unlearn the meaning of that word as I originally learned it in Latin America where it means lunch, but you guys use it for that 10:30-11am min-meal). A little bocadillo with some picual olive oil and jamón ibérico, yum 😋
@@maxibluft let me give you a secret spaniard recipe:
1/ get some real bread (you call it 'french bread'...), as rustic as possible.
2/ get very matured and juicy red tomatoes
3/ cut the tomato in 2 parts like an orange and rub it strongly on a slice of bread until the bread gets red and wet
4/ put a generous amount of intense extra virgin olive oil and a bit of gross salt on it
You can optionally toast the slice of bread a little bit before doing it, but if the bread is a really rustic country strong bread, dont do it.
Then tell me how a so simple thing can be so good
@@vanadamlondon yes I learned that trick from a Spanish girl I dated a few years ago :) she used a bit of garlic too. So good. Unfortunately I have to avoid gluten and most grains at the moment, but still do it occasionally with gf bread... not really the same but 🤷
but I love also how great you can eat in Spain without even having any bread or carbs at all. Last time I was there for 2 months my lunch would often be 2-3 seafood/meat tapas, 1 veggie tapa and some yummy olives. In most countries you don't have that option, have to start fighting with the waiters to adjust ingredients etc
Hey Thomas, I'm Canadian but I once vacationed in Greece as a kid (insert Holiday Inn joke) and your video triggered a memory. We stayed in a hotel with a dining room, and me and my younger brother (11 & 9 at the time, many decades ago) were desperate to be polite to our outstanding waiters. In particular I remember "lemon soup", a sour, bitter and astringent milky lemony soup that we struggled to smile through, and when we asked for hot chocolate we got unsweetened cocoa (also bitter). Olives were also bitter. There was a lot of bitterness, and I grew to love it.
I notice also that Chinese cuisine includes things like Bok Choy (bitter) and bitter melon (obviously), and these are considered extremely healthy. Italians drink bitter aperitifs etc. While I've followed you for years I don't recall you focusing on the role of bitter foods, and so I thought I'd mention it.
Great for bile flow :)
Great for digestion!
Good for the liver!
What about north African Mediterranean 🤔
Many countries in Europe have adopted the american diet, the american way of living generally, because is not only about food, is about traditions. We used to walk more, cook more, eat with family and friends. Now we take the car, we eat alone, we order fast food
North france vs south france has already a massive difference in average BMI. It depends on so much things. The more city like, the more fast food people will eat.
While living in the rural areas there is still mom around that cooks fresh and people grow up with eating real food, veggies, salads.. etc..
Pure social poverty and bad habits. Not to mention the corrupt food administration which is not supporting health however manufactures who do not care that they make you sick.
Thomas is not too bright. A Mediterranean diet was defined by Ancel Keys in 1975 and does not have much to do with what people in Mediterranean eat in 2024 (or even 1975). I'm sure Ancel Keys did not believe cannolis and pasta should be eaten daily. He focused on whole grains, veggies, fruits, legumes, nuts, and olive oil. Everything else like red meat should not be eaten that much.
Likewise, people in the "Blue Zones" no longer eat "Blue Zone" diets, except maybe Loma Linda, CA.
The info that Thomas is trying to give is above his education level. Each video seems to have a lot of misinformation.
Thomas does not know what a Mediterranean diet is. It was defined by Ancel Keys in 1975 and does not have much to do with what people in Mediterranean eat in 2024 (or even 1975). Ancel Keys did not believe cannolis and pasta should be eaten daily. He focused on whole grains, veggies, fruits, legumes, nuts, and olive oil. Everything else like red meat should not be eaten that much.
Likewise, people in the "Blue Zones" no longer eat "Blue Zone" diets, except maybe Loma Linda, CA.
The info that Thomas is trying to give is above his education level. Each video seems to have a lot of misinformation.
Thomas does not know what a Mediterranean diet is. It was defined by Ancel Keys in 1975 and does not have much to do with what people in Mediterranean eat in 2024 (or even 1975). Ancel Keys did not believe cannolis and pasta should be eaten daily. He focused on whole grains, veggies, fruits, legumes, nuts, and olive oil. Everything else like red meat should not be eaten that much.
This is my favorite video you have ever produced! I want to hear a LOT more about how we can best do Mediterranean in the U.S. Thanks Thomas!
The food can change drastically depending on the region. Northern Italy eats more dairy and protein, South eats more carbs and starches. You also cant judge the region if you concentrate on the tourist destinations. These places have adjusted for tourism. The healthiest areas have higher dairy, protein, lower stress and a more active lifestyle.
As someone who's never been to Europe (but dreams of visiting) this was fascinating! The regional differences are quite interesting.
I live in Madrid. Small breakfast. Large lunch. Small dinner. Often breakfast or dinner is skipped. Lots of fresh fish, red meat a few times a week, not much poultry. Lots of fruit, legumes and olive oil. Not that much dairy. Not that much pasta, or small amounts. Not a lot of bread, but the bread is usually more natural. Nowhere near the amount of sugar in the diet compared to the US and now the UK.
If only small amounts of pasta and not a lot of bread, are you lower in carbs? What about rice?
@VKat As an American who had never lived anywhere else, I believe the answer is that the bread, pasta, carbs, etc. that Europeans enjoy is FAR less PROCESSED than their counterparts in America.
@@JustMeeZZ Yes, that's true.
@@JustMeeZZ Very interesting! So it's okay to have gluten over there, but not here? Should we just be importing our wheat then?
@@VKat No, because those products would go bad by the time they got to the U.S.
Among many other reasons, processing wheat and carbs makes them "tastier" and last longer.
The key is Greek Mountain Tea. The anti-inflammatory and mild diuretic affect of Greek mountain tea could explain lower dementia and blood pressure of people who regularly consume Greek mountain tea. This tea is popular in Greece, especially during winter time when there is less physical activity and more colds, aches and pains.
The plant was also anecdotally said to calm stress and traditionally was used as a diuretic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-ulcerative, anticonvulsant, analgesic, antiseptic, insecticidal, and more
Where can I buy it
@@jenniferibarra7737 Walmart. It has lots of iron.
Yes I too know about 'tsaì tou vounou' or greek mountain tea and studies show great improvement in cognition. You should be able to buy it in any delicatessen or greek supermarket even in the States.
There is a huge difference in European and American dairy. Milk from American cows can allow an amino acid into the bloodstream that irritates your guts due to in American cows the amino acid 67 is a histidine. In European cows, it’s a proline. The proline amino acid holds the BCM-7 and doesn’t allow it to be absorbed into the bloodstream and gut lining
Very interesting. I had suspected quality of milk comes into it. I like to get dairy products from, small scale producers.
Hmm interesting, but there are very noticeable numbers of people in my country UK, who are intolerant or even have deadly allergies to cow milk. I myself do not have a lactose intolerance, but there's an amino acid present in the protein of cow milk that cause me to gave an immediate stomach upset and expulsion 😅 to put it politely. I can tolerate goat 🐐 produce and the butter is superbly creamy😊
@@debbieredfern2267 some people find the protein in milk from jersey cows easier to tolerate. I used to have intolerance issues and couldn't figure out what it was. But now I tolerate any decent quality unhomogenised milk just fine.
I don't know if homogenisation makes any difference to how easy it is on your system, but it does reduce the nutritional value of the milk fat.
@@Krumpina1029 I tried high quality a1 raw milk cow here in europe but it did not fix my rashes and bloating in the evening...I will try a2 cow milk when I get back to my home country...only thing works for me is lactose free yogurt(casein denatured) and ghee(pure fat), any hard soft cheese or milk gives me bloating
This is a much better video than the previous one, talking about differences between countries. I'm in the UK and even here the quality of the food is night and day better than in the US.
And much, much cheaper.
And healthcare is 'free'.
@@ianrowley2323 UK's NHS is in ruins like our Italian NHS.
We're still better off than the US but it's not free, we pay taxes and a fee for every test and medical exams.
Aussie here. We have Medicare which is the same as the NHS and taxpayer’s pay for that. As a nurse, and lived in London for 10 years more people die in the UK under the NHS system. And if you do survive your hospital stay, your after hospital care is rubbish. In Australia for eg. if you need to see a cardiologist, it’ll cost $500AUD for a 15 min visit. Huge thumbs down from me regarding “socialist” medical schemes.
British food is absolute garbage, at least everything I ate all 5 times I've been to UK/London. US is superior, especially Northeast and California. The only place US food loses to Britain is maybe the Midwest.
@@ragnarlothbrok2808 People think saying bad things about US is always true.
@@marlenabaxter2772 (Actually, Medibank/Medicare is a "conservative" medical scheme. Labor launched it in 1975; 4 months later, the newly-elected (Conservative) Fraser government had extensively re-worked it, driving it to its collapse in 1981. I worked in the medical industry in the '70s, and watched it all unfold).
I'm 50 yo from Spain. I saw the changes in the diet here, but the old diet, as you said was based in meat, fish, dairy and legumes. Starches in order of consumption, I think rice, potatoes and wheat. My grandparents, eat mainly meat, cheese and bread
I am Italian and now live in Paris, I would agree with most of what you said. I think the key is local, in-season food that is also nutritionally dense. I say this because cuisines around the Mediterranean are actually pretty different as you also noticed, so it is not one particular combination of food that makes the miracle. And in the EU we definitely have higher standards on processed food too. Also, the general lifestyle is different, and that plays a role. Not only being more active, but eating more mindful family meals help building a better relationship with food. What I would say is that today we can see that other regions have equally good health and longevity outcomes without following a Mediterranean diet: you have probably heard of the French Paradox...The point is that there is a more intuitive relationship with food and a basic knowledge that is simply thought in families. My uncle has always done a lot of weight lifting, and when he was young my grandma was perfectly capable of feeding him a diet that allowed him to build muscle without getting fat while staying in good health; she came from a very poor agricultural family from the North of Italy and had barely finished elementary school. This is to show that there is no need for a lot of overthinking about food, if the relationship with food is healthy and the food itself is seasonal, good quality and nutrient dense.
I do not exactly agree with the coffee though. This might vary from region to region in Europe, but speaking about Italy, we mostly get espresso, and even in most of other areas of Europe coffee is a bit longer, but nowhere near the giant portions you consume in the US. Considering that caffeine is water soluble, our short coffee feels more intense, but the caffeine content is definitely quite moderate. I had an Italian friend who moved to the US and kept drinking his usual number of daily coffee cups, but adapting to the long coffee that is more common there, and he quickly developed stomach issues, anxiety and sleep problems. He was actually concerned until he realized it could be that, and indeed dropping American coffee helped. So, probably high caffeine consumption is not really that crucial over here...
well, there is NO LOCAL FOOD in the USA and nothing is fresh either, if you manage to eat passable well it is because you are super rich, local food and natural basic ingredients should be cheaper than extremely refined and over-industrialised food, but it is not available to the general public and if so at 5 times the price of horrible food, so people eat what they can afford if they can afford any at all. way more people are skipping many meals a day because they simply cannot afford to eat and they have a full-time job as well.
@@acarriere8534 that was kind of my point. It is honestly surprising, considering how much of the US is actually agricultural land, and the variety of climates you have over there, from basically arctic to tropical. You probably know that most vegetables don't grow in Scandinavia and salmons are not found in the Mediterranean, but both foods are easily accessible to everyone in the EU, so it seems strange that this cannot be accomplished in the US as well. Like for many other things, it seems that the US have let lobbies decide what's best for them, rather than taking the side of citizens. If a country has public healthcare, it's also in the government's interest to keep the citizens in good health, just sayin'...
DOKŁADNIE W pUNKT! TA INTUICYJNOŚC JEDZNIA ...CHOĆ jestem z Polski , babcia , prababcia i praprababcia zyły 90-92 lata
My father born in sicily in 1946 once told me they ate a lot of veggies, meat only on easter or Christmas, sometimes fish and everyone at max a handfull of pasta. (Everyone his own hand, he as a child a little Hand and his grandpa a bigger one).
1946? People were eating starvation diets because of WW2!
❤ how much fun , that so many PEOPLE from Europa like myself watch you videos and respont to them - i like all the responses that i read .
Lots of love from the Netherlands
Every new video you post you Drastically change your mind on what you said in your previous video!!
I really appreciate how you highlighted all the nuances so well. Nothing is as cut and dried as it seems.
You’re not a baby. You’re not a cow. Drink soy milk now.
Please watch the blue island documentary because it has already been explained in depth. The guy who made the blue island documentary and popularized the mediterranean diet said himself that those people are no longer following the diets that allowed their ancestors to live so long and have such high levels of health. The Okinawan diet has also changed so much that they have gone from the healthiest people in the world to the least healthy in Japan, they mostly lived out of their gardens as did the people of mediterranean due to poverty, they had very little protein in their diet. This is the equivalent of going to Okinawa today and seeing they are only eating Mcdonalds burgers, fries and softdrinks and thinking that is the key to longevity.
I grew up in Spain near Cadiz... we ate a lot of jamon serrano, seafood, olives, paella, pan, gazpacho, churros, bollicaos...we also didnt have a car and we walked everywhere... but something i noticed is when i moved from Spain to the US i gained a ton of weight and got many diagnosis and issues... fast foward i am not well and currently trying to reverse my health issues and already down 50lbs but when we have visited my family in Spain i noticed food dosent bother me at all over there and i feel so much better but everytime i come back i get so sick for a few weeks to a month... were actually working on legally moving back because of health, the lifestyles are very different and im worried as my teenage son is already showing sign of being high risk for diabetis... theres also many other reasons we want to go back but health has been the main push
One item not discussed: Meals come in stages in Europe. There is the cheese. There is the salad or soup. Then the main meal. A slow process allows time for one to feel full. So in the end it's less cals overall.
Dairy is different in Europe because the cattle are different. The bread and pasta probably doesn't have mandated iron and other "stuff" that for some reason shows up in our food. One example: Mono sodium glutamate is banned in most of Europe.
@barnowl6807 The EU aims to ban all CAFO farming, even for rabbits and poultry,
by 2027. Where I live, livestock grazes freely; let's hope this spreads to all of Europe.
@@CatherineHurley-wk8ef- that's great news, I hope that's adopted everywhere too!
@@bethb5915 Don't expect theUs to do anything that would benefit health when it comes to any of our production
you can get msg in the uk.
I am from Spain and we use to add animal protein to all the meals. Not hugeeee amounts of them, but enough to feel full.
We change from eggs, to chicken, or to red meat, or to fish depending on the meal. We don't eat a lot of red meat every day.
And yes, we eat dairy. Especially cheeses.
We live on an dalmatian island and eat traditionaly...so lots of veggies and potatoes (ours) and only little meat from our goats.we catch fish.we eat our eggs and our cheese.we buy rice and noodles,sugar only to make jams.we have our olive oil, vine and vinegar.not a lot of people life like this anymore...but that was like this back in the days...if we have more meat we invite friends.if we catch a lot of fish we give it to neighbours...it was like that also before fridges were a thing...
I would like to add for the bread section, in the EU the grains are not spray with Folic Acid, and when you ferment bread is actually good for your MicroB. as it food!!!! great video, thank you!
I have been eating Whole Foods, clean meat, eggs and dairy products. I lost weight. Had my cholesterol checked and was fantastic. I figured I was going to get in trouble by my doc because I have eaten a lot of eggs and cheese and yogurt, but NO….. results were great❤
My wife of 34 years is from Sardegna. It's our home away from home. And yes- lots of beef, goat, pork,
lamb, wild boar, horse, chicken, seafood, and plenty of cheese, most of which are locally produced.
boar & horse? eek
You’re not a baby. You’re not a cow. Drink soy milk now.
I'm a fan of the RUclips channel Pastagrammar. They cook a lot of traditional dishes from all over Italy. They rarely cook chicken. Chicken is for soup, when you're sick.
Thomas is right on! Im from Greece and live part time here part time in the US. My grandmother, as of this year , is 100yrs old and still kicking.....To this day she claims, that her secret is two fold. She eats less, and does not eat meat very often. It's true that the ingredients are a lot better, every week every family shops at outdoor farmers market, and there's also a lot more walking than the US. Thomas is 100% correct on the demand for freshness and local foods.
My British relatives have "tea", which is their supper. Smaller meal, often soup and/or sandwiches, smaller fare. A visit to Israel made me completely rethink breakfast. You'd think it was lunch/brunch. Nery a cereal anywhere.
Yeah, because why eat anything else if G-d (actually, Sephardim migrating from Morocco) gave you shakshuka ;D
I was just in Europe. My stomach issues went away. I had regularity and no bloating and I ate pizza and pasta. I follow mostly paleo at home and cannot tolerate grains in the US.
Check into einkorn and ancient grains
Monsanto and Bayer are the main seed companies in Europe. The same as the US. Europe has 58 gmo foods approved and many more waiting approval. You’re eating the same grain in Europe as in the US.
Fresh pasta and leavened pizza dough? Or barrila from the grocery store?
Less processed.
@@just-me6023 I don't trust any of them. I can't have gluten but any grain, corn, oats gives me heavy bloating & irritation so I stay away from all of it. I think our food is too tampered with from farm to production
Here in Spain, I'm a Spaniard with Italian family and visiting Italy often. In both Spain and Italy we have small breakfast, normally a couple of toasts with olive oil or marmelade, and a coffee. Big meal at lunch, with quite a lot of meat in Spain, and lots of pasta in Italy. Dinner is late, specially in Spain, and fairly small (a salad or a yogurt or cured meats). Olive oil is king, we eat tons of it. I was surprised you mentiomed butter. You seldom see it in Spain, same thing in Italy (used a bit more in northern Italy though).
And by the way, these dairy products with high protein are very new, in Spain at least. They started appearing in supermarkets a couple of years ago, I think it's just a passing fad.
What part of Spain?
You walk everywhere in Europe! That’s the main difference! They don’t even think about getting in a car unless it’s more than 10 blocks!
And even then, most of the time there's a public transit solution readily available to everyone at an accessible price. Walkability is all-important. All this stuff we say about seed oils and processed foods don't hold a candle to car dependency as the reason for American obesity rates and adverse health outcomes.
@@sillyhead5 I heard that in the USA (or at least parts of it, I slightly remember San Francisco) they had public transportation systems like trams too, but then the rails were bought by tire manufacturers who just pulled them out of the ground in order to push cars. Is that true?
@@dude861 Unfortunately it is true. The most famous case was when General Motors purchased the tramways of Los Angeles, I believe. Every city in the United States was at one time car-dependent because every city in the United States is older than the invention of the automobile.
@@sillyhead5 It is hard to believe that something like that was even possible. Seems like in the early days the US government granted too much freedom (apparently there is such a thing and it needs some rules in order to build a healthy, good society).
Nah.. it is true only in big cities and not even that for the new generation.
You saved my relationship, before I held to belief that no one changed their mind more then my GF but then I found you and got some perspective
Thank you Thomas DeLauer ❤
I live on the island of Madeira, Portugal and
what I have seen is that many people still cook from scratch.
My daughter lives in England and I was amazed to see the supermarket trollies full of boxes and precooked meats and TV dinners.
Everything has been through a processing plant of one sort of another.
We can still get bread with no additives like the supermarket bread because there are many cafés selling fresh bread.
Yes we have coffee wherever we go.
Even the hardware store has a coffee counter.
I live in cyprus and the locals love to eat late and the amount of protein, meat, fish etc is a staple of the diet…. We love a good meze
I spent two months in Europe eating without restrictions and training two days a week (I normally train four times a week). Surprisingly I lost 5 kilos. I think the quality of the food is superior, it is something that I could perceive every time I ate.
Which countries
@@MiteshDamania France Italy Germany
Living in the east coast of Spain for the last 5 years, the Spanish "Mediterranean" diet that I have seen is really varied and depends on the person. My Spanish husband is a meat eater and is always snacking throughout the day. My Spanish sister-in-law leans towards veganism but will eat meat at family lunches.
For my Spanish husband, breakfast is usually coffee with milk, bio cereals or a fruit smoothie. My Spanish father-in-law in his mid-70s always has a meat bocadillo(usually sausage or breaded calamari or breaded squid, sometimes horse meat) pint of beer, and coffee with his group of friends every morning.
Lunch can be many things like: Tortilla Patatas, Paella Valenciana, Arroz al Horno, Steak, Salmon, Pasta Carbonara, Pasta Bolognesa, lentils, soup, a side of salad, sardines, olives and there is always bread with the meals. Dinner is usually something light, like fish, salad, with sardines.
I noticed that my Spanish family doesn't ever eat chicken much unless it's in the Paella. They tend to eat fish more often when it comes to meat dishes. Of course if you go into the mountains or central parts of Spain, the Main dishes there are mostly meat, lamb, goat, cow, boar, horse etc because there's a hunting culture inland...and the local meat dishes there are famous and traditional.
Thomas, good video just pls never forget to boost up the audio as now if you go to the geek settings you can see that your volume/normalized is just at -14.6 dB which is basically forcing everybody to max out their speakers and still not hear it clearly.
I just got back from Prague. The food is SOOO MUCH better! I could eat and drink anything and not feel bad. Here in the U.S., I raise my own meat and am a carnivore, other wise my health is terrible.
I agree 💯 with what you said and people there don't think about walking everywhere..they just do it. Sardinia there was quite elderly people walking up and down these very steep streets, obviously had been doing it all their lives ! Amazing
I do a low carb Mediterranean(ish) diet…..l eat pasture raised eggs, baked chicken with skin, salmon, grass fed beef, grass fed butter, real cheese, kefir, avocados, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, spring mix salads, raw nuts, sometimes beans/potatoes/rice, sprouted bread, berries, apples, Manuka raw honey and lots of EVOO. All I drink is water, lemon water, decaf green tea and black coffee. Lost 75 lbs in just over a year following this diet 95% of the time.
I totally agree with you. I lived in Italy (Sicily) for 7 years in the 80’s. Food was simple and basic. Salads were not a thing and nobody ate nuts. Coffee is always black with the occasional full cream milk cappuccino
I ordered some Italian flour and made pizza with it...I couldn't believe how better it was than North American organic flour.
You're my #1 goto for food science, love what you do...I've settled on my current diet mostly from watching you. My current diet is Meat, Berries and Dairy (no grains or veggies). I eat dark chocolate daily and switched to decaf. My morning drink is hot water with is spices (high orac spices) mixed with raw honey. I never have afternoon crashes anymore, sleeping better and skin is better. Once I stopped the veggies even my belly slimmed a little (I'm not overweight though, fairly healthy mid-50's)...thanks for all your work, great videos!!!
Dairy in Europe contains A2 casein, whereas North American dairy contains A1 casein. Europe's sausages, cheeses, and breads are fermented. Finally, North America is subjected to significantly more pesticides and chemicals.
No mam only very small percentage of cows or sheep and goats , stop making europe some sacred land of RUclips health , in most sidesits similar to US Thomas delauer speaks about small regionns in italy and greece but its not common.
@Blink you make one of the most important points in these comments. All dairy is not equal (A1 vs. A2) and all bread is not equal (non GMO, strains of wheat etc). The presenter needs to say this.
I enjoy eating dairy, but it causes me too much congestion every time I increase my intake. Cream cheese seems to be the worst at causing this, while heavy cream alone does not. A1 vs A2 haven’t had much impact on this aspect of things as far as I can tell.
Well said, yes.
We are literally poisoned here. You have to avoid 90% of food. We have started making everything from scratch with organic flour etc.
“vegetables & dairy as base” that’s true for Türkiye..!! Also a lot of bread from yeast-risen dough and we also have a fried yeast dough snack (pişi) common in central regions. Yeast is great, very nutritious…
I grew up in Greece and I must say that everyday meal habits are highly dependent on religion and family values. For example, based on Orthodox Christianity you have two days a week that you are not allowed meat. Also, there is a fish day once a week. Now, things have changed a lot over the years and people are not as religious, plus they have so many influences from other countries around them, like Germany, France (processed meats and lots of butter) and also the middle east.
Generally, Greece was always highly dependent on milk (cheese mostly, and not cow necessarily), grains, fruits and vegetables. Plus olives and olive oil, high quality meat and fresh fish make it a great combination for healthy eating habits.
Hello Thomas, I am from Greece and live also in Greece, it is true that we eat a ton of meat, sea food and dairy. The notion that the area is a low meat area is not true. Hope that helps.
Same with Japan, shelves are full with processed food. However there portion sizes are tiny..
You just get used to it and voila your kcal intake is cut in half..
Great video and great conversations below. Thank you for sharing and cultivating a dynamic community of people.
I live in the South of France at the border to Italy now for 15 years, coming from the mountainous region of Austria, and changed my lifestyle dramatically ( my French bf is the cook :-). Huge change: very little sugar and very little salt. A lot of Americans find French food blant because they are used to over salting everything. We use a lot of herbs and olive oil to season. It is much more delicate and refines your tastebudds. When I eat I can taste every single ingredient. Then no heavy sauces. Lots of cooked tomatoes, zucchinis, garlic in lots of olive oil. Lots of salads. Fish. Cheese. Yoghurts (the Greek one). Wine. Coffee. Lots of Water( mostly from the tap). A little desert (not too sweet). Only high quality dark chocolate (never high sugar milk chocolate). Be outside. We hate aircon. Feel the wind and the sun. Walk. Cook meals yourself. I never buy proccessed food, or rarely. Well, I like ice cream. And cakes. But all freshly made. My day is usually coffee with milk and honey and plain croissant, or brioche with butter and jam, from the local bakery. Also fruits. Rather late, around ten. Lunch will be salad with cheese anf fresh bread during the week, with water. A greek yoghurt with rasberry jam(fruit content 60 till 70 percent) or maroni (chestnut) puree, or honey. Then black coffee with a little honey. With friends or on the weekend I will cook a proper meal with either fish, seafood, lamb or duck.With lots of veggies based on tomatoes and garlic, and herbs. With Bread or couscous or pasta. Fruits and cake. Wine. Oh, and cheese before desert, (usually goat cheese and a cow cheese of high quality, always changing the variety) with butter and a little bread. Coffee. Afternoon black coffee with a little honey and perhaps a little amaretto biscuit. In the evening very late around ten, some veggies or salad, with fresh bread or a quiche or onioncake (pissaladiere), or tourte des blettes (mangold and rice cake). Sometimes salmon smoked or smoked duck (I love them) or chicken from the grill at the local butcher. Or selfmade Tzatziki and selfmade humus. Again greek yoghurt. Fruits. Always wine in the evening but no coffee. Lots of water with every meal, also with coffee always a glass of water. When I go to the beach I always eat some gelato. But small. About wine: in summer Rose wine, in winter red wine. There are exceptions :-) I will not say no to champagne :-) Oh, and I buy only French or Italian or Greek food and wine.
What a nice life! I live in Paris and hope to have your life some day ! Enjoy !
Your assessment of the MD is as I remembered it while growing up in Portugal.
The Mediterranean diet has an exact definition, scientifically. It is what was consumed on the isle of Crete from 1940's to 1950's, early 1960's. As a matter of fact the scientists invoved collected meals from several villages and froze them., so they are pretty clear on the composition of the diet. You cannot visit the Mediterranean today and find an exact copy of that period. The meat, fish, poultry amounts from that period was much less than today. The obvious reason was that food was local and shipped to the island only infrequently.
I'm from Malta, a small island just south of Sicily. Here, it's pretty easy to live on whole, natural, and local produce. Our traditional diet is based on seasonal vegetables, meats, fish, and local sourdough bread. However, in the last 10 years, more fast food places have popped up, and unfortunately, a lot of people are adopting these unhealthy options. But if you're committed to eating healthy, it's still very easy, as fresh food is available everywhere. So really, staying healthy comes down to the choices you make.
ABSOLUTELY EXCELLENT ANALYSIS AND I BELIEVE YOU ARE 100% YOUR CORRECT .WELL DONE YOU ARE BRILLIANT ❤
Mediterranean cows produce a milk with a different cassein protein that digests more easily.
I love your Channel! I lived in the U.S the first 13 years of my life and moved to an Island in Greece. We barely had beef. We had alot of chicken pork goat lamb and fish, but maybe 3 times a week. The rest of the days would be a lot of legumes cooke with Olive oil and veggies like potatoes green beans green mostly wild greens. We used to have alot of bread with these foods. Some pasta and rice was included in our diet. Cheeses and milk was mostly from goat and lamb. Which consisted in our breakfasts with boiled eggs tomatoes olives and coffee or tea.
I don't know if this helps you.
In my experience it’s not so much the food as the fact that they walk everywhere that keeps them leaner. Of course, overall use of less food preservatives in Europe is another important factor to consider. So, walk daily and eat whole foods cooked from scratch and Do Not snack. We became obese when we started snacking.
Thanks so much for this very informative talk. Yes here in Europe as a general lunch time is the main meal, but for this the family has to home at lunch time. So in the Mediterranean countries they come home lunch time and have a long break and then go back later afternoon and work till late. Its a very different life rhythm . And evening meal is a light meal
A large study from a few years ago (over 100,000) accidentally found that the higher the saturated fats in the diet (up to 30%) the lower the rate of strokes. Could this be due to C15:0 which only exists in saturated fat sources?
Likely the dairy is also raw - not the processed, Pasteurized, homogenized milk products we have in the US
In the 70s the US fast food industry started with the whole SUPERSIZE ME campaign. This has fundamentally changed the way many americans eat and has been catastrophic.
agree. Built on the cultural credo of "more bang for the buck", interpreted as a purely visually signal, so "bigger heap fo the buck", instead of content. ...like ford 350 for visiting a theater (or buying burgers), instead of content and relational capacity, self-directed imperialism, a perverted style of materialism... of course there are regional differences.
A major contribution/amplifier to that is geography, more radical and uncontrolled capitalism, lower average education, and less regionalism
And it's getting progressively worse. Every other ad on TV is for pizza or fast food. They've normalized a fast food diet to the point where large numbers of people eat it daily. For some that's all they eat.
In France, at least in the monasteries, the pattern of largest meal at midday predominates, with light breakfast (mostly just bread and maybe some fruit, and coffee), main meal at lunchtime, and the evening meal "souper" (where we get the English word "supper") most often soup, a little salad, and maybe a small cooked side dish. And a little yogurt for dessert, if you're lucky. Wish it were easier to adopt that pattern in the US, but French typically get a lot longer lunch break than we do...
I live in Bulgaria (which is in the Balkans but we are the country north to Greece)
Many Bulgarians including myself go to holiday in Greece because sometimes it is closer than our own seaside.
Even in Greece fish is becoming expensive and a delicacy.
So even Greeks don't consume it very regularly.
There needs to be a distinction between vacationers and regular people.
Vacationers usually have budgeted their fish and seafood expenses so it may appear all people eat fish and seafood frequently which is not the case.
Both in Bulgaria and in Greece we eat a lot of pork because of the Ottomans (they would take your chickens but would not touch your pig)
Pork is also the cheapest meat and very tasty and versatile.
I do think the Mediterranean diet is a bit over romanticized in the US but this is not a bad thing.
A thing that is not discussed much is the alcohol consumption.
Rakia (in the Balkans) / Grappa (in Italy) a 40% alcohol from grapes, Wine, Ouzo (an aniseed and herb and spice alcohol from Greece)
Alcohol is drank not to pass out but to enjoy the food. (and it might reduce stress if not overdone)
And there are many variations of salads and dips and cheese BEFORE the main meal.
Some people are full before the main protein meal.
And eating is slower in general so you have time for your stomach to send a signal to your brain that it is full.
Don't think any type of alcohol consumption has any potential positive effect, more like regard that consumption they have healthy long lifespans, because all the data says zero alcohol is the most healthy thing
Good point. They fill up on healthy cheese before the big meal! That way they eat less.
Would you please tell us more of the Ottomans taking your chickens. Did they steal the chickens or just banned Bulgarians to grow chicken?
@@davidflorez1196 I personally don’t drink alcohol.
But to take the Mediterranean diet and exclude the alcohol is not looking at the actual way people live.
Overconsumption of alcohol is definitely bad.
And even moderate consumption can be bad.
However with the bad of alcohol there MAY BE positives.
A lot of people in my country would not eat a salad without a bit of alcohol (not saying it’s good it is how it is)
There is the social aspect - let’s go out for a glass of wine.
There is the stress reducing aspect (people are not meditating and doing yoga in general in the Mediterranean)
Pure alcohol like (Grappa, Whiskey, Vodka) lowers blood sugar and has blood pressure (as is dilating your arteries)
There needs to be a study of the balance of negatives with positives.
Hot Chillies hurt us with the heat but there is a net benefit to our bodies because of their vitamin C content.
If researchers are looking at the meal timing, the walking, the sleep cycles they cannot exclude alcohol consumption as it is a part of the lifestyle.
Again I am not an alcohol drinker and am NOT advocating for alcohol.
I just want to paint the full picture.
@@Mike65809 And salad goes with cheese and it fills you up a lot.
And when you add a bit of fresh bread with some dips (that are usually made from vegetables and healthy fats) you can become full before the main dish.
When I go to vacation in Greece with my mom and dad they usually share a salad. (For some reason salad portions in Greece are HUGE)
With a seafood appetizer and piece of bread and she is full. She usually doesn’t eat a main dish.
as an Italian I can confirm. small sweet breakfast, bigger lunch (usually pasta/rice and veggies or a sandwich) and a smaller dinner with protein, a side of veggies and olive oil. we also tend to snack on sweet foods like milk/yogurt and cookies
I'm Moroccan and normal Moroccans eat LITTLE meat, a lot of sardines and fatty fish, a lot of légumes and a potato based diet. But if you are a tourist they will serve you a lot of meat which is considered a luxury. Meat is of the highest quality in Morocco and therefore expensive.....which makes overal meat consumption very low.
Yes, there is this distinction between European + Anatolian Med and Arabic one. You eat more beans and legumes and spices from what I see.
Finally someone mentioned legumes!! I am Portuguese and we put beans or chickpeas on almost anything 😊. I fully agree with your point of view. People tend to forget that restaurants are offering more fancy food than a poor man's dish locals eat on a regular week day. Love Moroccan food ❤❤❤
@@anaribeirinho4439 Portugal isn't Mediterranean.
Morocco has at least 10 years LESS life expectancy so its not the best example of this way of eating.
Can't agree more on locally sources foods. I remember how amazed we were by the bread in a local Spanish restaurant in Benalmádena, just the bread on its own was delicious. We asked the waiter where they got it from and he replied: "Ah, it's from a village nearby."
Mediterranean Diet works best for my 55-year-old postmenopausal body - no belly fat and ideal labs! 🎉😊❤
I'm postmenopausal too but always confused as to what is the best diet for age group. High protein, More plants, low fat, hmmm. The Mediterranean diet can mean so many things. I've bought so many Mediterranean books, they're all different. Would love to know what your perception is of a Mediterranean Diet???
@rebella5769 For me, my proteins mainly consist of fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, beans, and lentils; my fats include olive oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds; my carbs include berries, non-starchy vegetables, leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, Japanese sweet potatoes, a bit of whole grains. I drink one coffee in the morning with some half & half and water throughout the day. I avoid alcohol, added sugar, and ultra-processed foods. So probably not strictly Mediterranean but close to that way of eating.
@@rachelmcgill8143 ohhhh THANK YOU SO MUCH. I love all the foods you mentioned. I really appreciate your input. I eat healthy and perfect body weight but my recent bloodwork showed LDL in the red, so frustrating when I thought I was eating so good. Maybe I eat too much animal protein even though lean. I noticed you only eat fish as your animal protein source, is that correct? I love that you can use half and half daily and still have great labs, you give me hope. Do you sweetened your coffee with anything? Do you consider yourself a pescatarian? Is there any particular book or cookbook you have followed when you first started this path. With so much gratitude.
@rebella5769 Hello. Yes, primarily fish and very rarely chicken or a burger. No sweetener in my coffee. I consider myself an omnivore. 😊 No cookbook, just combine different whole foods together, combined to my liking, creating concoctions. My kids are grown, and my husband eats only some meat and then ultra-processed foods and snacks and treats throughout the day, so I am able to food prep for myself on the weekends and focus on what works for me. ❤
@@rachelmcgill8143 You inspired me today. Exactly the clarity I needed. I have the tools now and I begin 👍
Great video! It sounds like you had an awesome trip. The food looked soooo good!
Re dairy products I believe they use dairy from A2 casein cows. Here A1 predominant casein cows milk is used which is very inflammatory.
ye im from greece, people are flat broke, i have no idea ihow they financialy survive, but they have incredible quality of live, definetly life first, they enjoy life and also they have good quality localy sourced food like you mentioned.
My parents came over from France. I grew up on butter! Everything, practically, was cooked in butter. Big on veggies and dairy.
Now that I have access to raw A2 dairy and organic veggies, grassfed beef, etc. I feel I am better able to mimic the true Mediterranean diet. Starches/einkorn sourdough bread on occasion, along with brie or pecorino romano after the meal...after a little bit of salad...
If there is "dessert" then it usually a little bit of fruit.
Done!
No snacking, because there is no need. The food is nutrient dense enough to hold you until the next meal.
Their farming practices are different over there, their grains aren't adulterated/hybridized... their food is actually closer to real!
Europeans(at least old school) know how to eat for a good life.
100% agree about meat consumption. My brother in law lives in Spain and we visited Spanish family and they ate a lot of meat, seafood and dairy
I live in Greece and meat is a staple here Also feta and goat cheese
Spent a lot of time in the south of France. Breakfast was coffee and croissants.everyone came home for lunches often consisted of eggs, pasta, bread with olive oil, fresh sliced tomatoes topped with olive oil, herbs and cheese. Protein at dinner was mostly chicken. We are a lot of pasta, Cous Cous (my favorite meal), chicken and eggs.
It’s the walking and stairs to your apartment - period!
We have high protein filtered milk in Australian supermarkets, endorsed by the Australian Institute of Sport. ●I notice the food at local Greek & Italian festivals at my beach side suburb are certainly centred around meats, with veg & carbs.
There's no such thing as THE Mediterranean diet.
To be precise there's lots.
The Greek don't eat like Italian or Spanish or Croatian or Northern Africans.
precisely that variety enables to distill the fundamentals.
Someone typed for us this:
"The Mediterranean diet has an exact definition, scientifically. It is what was consumed on the isle of Crete from 1940's to 1950's, early 1960's. As a matter of fact the scientists invoved collected meals from several villages and froze them., so they are pretty clear on the composition of the diet. "
I’m 60. Ultra Runner. Drink half gallon of organic whole milk every day during training and racing blocks. I eat a lot of good quality meat of all types. I eat whole fruits. I eat some vegetables. I believe the milk is the key to my success.
Thanks for sharing 😜
i live in mediterenean region in morocco front of spain, spanish hunt the fish from our ocean side because we do have more fish unfortunatelly no one knows this in america, the daily food routine we consume almost every day fermented black olive and olive oil two times a day not every one like to eat meat every day but the basic protien dish that every one like to eat is all kind of fish two times in week, the sardine people consume on barbecue in the summer session where people love to eat because its he's best session and people don't go with big sardine size they always go for meduim size, comment back thomas if you like what we eat on here
Love the channel, love the content. This is really good information.