Mediterranean diet: budget menu for the best diet of the year

The Mediterranean diet is considered one of the most balanced and gentle diets in the world. For the fourth consecutive year, it has been first place in one of the most authoritative ratings of diets, which is annually compiled by the American portal US News & World Report. This diet has a great many advantages: it practically has no contraindications, it has very few prohibited products, it does not have a negative effect on health and teaches a person to correct diet. Cons - slow weight loss and the relative high cost of the diet. Basic food items (lean fish and seafood, low-fat cheeses and whole grain cereals) are not cheap in our supermarkets. Nevertheless, if desired, and for this diet, it is quite possible to draw up a budgetary diet.

The principles of the Mediterranean diet

Meat will have to be replaced with fish and seafood / istockphoto.com

Strictly speaking, the Mediterranean diet is not a diet in the sense that we are used to understanding it. It does not provide for strict calorie restrictions or a ban on a number of foods, you do not need to eat on it by the hour and strictly observe the intervals between meals. The main principles of this diet are based on the traditions and food culture of the inhabitants of the Mediterranean countries (Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain). They suggest a balanced diet based on complex carbohydrates, lots of unsweetened fruits, vegetables and herbs. Every day you need to include in the menu enough protein, but with fats on this diet, you need to be more careful: almost all meat dishes here are replaced by fish and seafood. Only occasionally can you pamper yourself with a rabbit, turkey or veal.

The rules of the Mediterranean diet are not strict and quite simple:

Food portions must be no more than 300g / istockphoto.com

• Complex carbohydrates constitute the basis of nutrition (60%). These are whole grain cereals and wholemeal bread, vegetables, herbs, legumes, and some types of fruits. Proteins account for 30% of the diet, the rest (10%) can be "left" to fats and simple carbohydrates
• It is advisable to divide the daily diet into 5 meals: three main (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 2 snacks (after lunch and before bedtime). You can snack on low-fat cottage cheese or cheese (for example, mozzarella), nuts, unsweetened fruits, vegetables and herbs
• Serving volumes (for the main meal) should not exceed 300-400 g, so as not to provoke distension of the stomach
• Be sure to drink a lot: at least 2 liters of clean non-carbonated water per day. At the same time, it is not recommended to replace water with compotes, juices or tea.
• When preparing dishes, it is advisable to avoid frying in oil. Better to boil food or steam it in the oven or grill. If possible, eat vegetables and fruits raw or subject to minimum heat treatment
• The main share of carbohydrates should be transferred to the first half of the day: for breakfast and lunch, you can pamper yourself with sweets or pastries. But for the evening, try to eat less carbohydrate and more protein foods.
• Pork, lamb, fatty beef are allowed on the menu no more than once a week. It is advisable to completely replace this meat with lean sea fish and seafood. If difficult, prepare hearty meals from dietary meat. Rabbit, chicken, turkey, lean veal are allowed 3-4 times a week
• In cooking, you need to minimize the amount of salt. It is allowed to replace it with spices and spices, natural sauces and herbs based on herbs.
• Sugar must be completely replaced with natural honey, and it is advisable to put it in dishes after cooking in order to avoid heating and loss of useful properties.
• When choosing oil (for frying and dressing salads), give preference to unrefined cold-pressed oils
• Eliminate convenience foods (with the exception of frozen vegetables and fruits) and fast food from your diet. Replace store-bought sweets with homemade cakes (priority for cottage cheese casseroles). Alcohol is allowed in very limited quantities - no more than a glass of dry red wine per day.

Pros and cons of the Mediterranean diet

A flexible menu will help you avoid dieting disruptions / istockphoto.com

This diet can be considered almost ideal. Nutritionists from US News & World Report ranked the Mediterranean diet as not only the best diet of the year, but also named it the best healthy diet, the best plant-based diet, and also the best diet for diabetes and for heart health. She really has almost no contraindications: the Mediterranean diet is suitable for pregnant women and lactating, people with gastrointestinal disorders, cardiovascular diseases, adolescents and the elderly age. The only exception is individual food intolerance (for example, allergy to fish or dairy products). But even in this case, you can adjust the menu so as to adhere to the principles of a diet without compromising health.

A flexible menu without strict prohibitions and restrictions helps to avoid disruptions and stress for the body. In addition, this diet can be followed throughout life. Nutritionists say: the longer you practice the Mediterranean diet, the more your health improves and your metabolism, disturbed by an unhealthy diet, gets better. True, the process of losing weight is rather slow: in a week on such a gentle diet, you can lose no more than 3 kilograms. So with severe obesity, the ideal picture in the mirror will have to wait long enough. But such a smooth weight loss will not affect the health of the internal organs, and the kilograms will go away not for the duration of the diet, but forever.

Menu for the week for the Mediterranean diet

The Mediterranean diet can be tailored to our liking / istockphoto.com

Monday:

• Breakfast: oatmeal in milk with seasonal fruit or honey, whole grain toast with mozzarella
• Dinner: fish soup, 2 whole grain breads, cucumber and tomato salad with sour cream
• Dinner: broccoli or cauliflower casserole with eggs, unsweetened yogurt without additives.

Tuesday:

• Breakfast: millet porridge in milk with nuts and dried fruits, baked apple
• Dinner: vegetable soup with croutons, risotto with chicken
• Dinner: baked white fish with tomatoes, stewed cabbage

Wednesday:

• Breakfast: 2 boiled chicken eggs, 2 slices of whole grain bread with mozzarella, a glass of kefir
• Dinner: soup with beef meatballs, grated carrot or beetroot salad
• Dinner: a piece of salmon baked in foil, vegetable slices with a drop of vegetable oil

Thursday:

• Breakfast: Muesli with dried fruits in milk, can be sweetened with honey
• Dinner: buckwheat soup with chicken, baked vegetables with cheese
• Dinner: Braised rabbit in sour cream sauce, vegetable salad with vegetable oil

Friday:

• Breakfast: two egg omelet with milk, avocado toast
• Dinner: fish soup with meatballs, a small portion of pasta with tomatoes
• Dinner: chicken cutlets with rice, vegetable cuts

Saturday:

• Breakfast: steam cottage cheese pancakes with sour cream, apple
• Dinner: durum wheat spaghetti with boiled beef and tomato sauce
• Dinner: baked salmon fillet with cheese, rice with vegetables

Sunday:

• Breakfast: Buckwheat porridge with milk, toast with soft cheese
• Dinner: soup with beef meatballs, grated carrot or beetroot salad
• Dinner: risotto with seafood, vegetable salad with sour cream

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