Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet is encouraged by the traditional dietary patterns of Greece, Southern Italy, and Spain^. This diet include proportionally high consumption of olive oil, legumes, seeds, fruits, and vegetables, quite high consumption of fish, reasonable consumption of cheese and yogurt, moderate wine consumption, and low consumption of meat and meat products.

This diet is rich in monounsaturated fat and fibre.

The moderate consumption of red wine contributes to good health because it contains antioxidant.

 Although a big group of these foods contain high level of salt (links to high blood pressure) the diet has beneficial health effect, which is reflected by the high life expectancy in these countries.

Addition to the diet the life style; culture and physical activity, labour is very important.

The Mediterranean diet appears to be better than low –fat diet, it decreases the risk of cardiovascular disease by 30% more, lowers the cholesterol level and blood pressure.

Compare your diet to the Mediterranean diet:

Content of Mediterranean diet	Your  diet
Olive oil Seeds Nuts Legumes Fruits Vegetables Fish Cheese Wine Meat Meat products

How you  should improve your  diet eating more:

Healthy Motherdough Wholemeal Bread

Following a healthy diet you want to avoid or definitely reduce eating processed foods, because they contain preservatives, homogenisers and food colourings.

Our daily bread is not exemption. I bake my own bread ones or twice a week. My family love it. The sunflower seeds are optional they make it more rustic  and to great extent they  enhance  the omega 3 fatty acids level of the bread. 

 Ingredients for the quick sourdough-- it needs about 14-16 hours to get fermented for the bread--.

Self rising flour	250g
Yeast	2 tsp
Water	200ml

·      Mix the ingredients and leave it at room temperature for a night

 Ingredients for the bread

Wholemeal flour	500g
Yeast	4tsp
Olive oil processed	3 tbsp
Salt	1 tsp
Water	200-300ml
Sunflower seed	Handful

·      Place the ingredients and the sourdough prepared previously into a medium size bowl.

·      Mix the ingredients into homogenous elastic dough using your hand or a mixer, if it needs more water add it slowly. (max 300ml)

·      Leave the dough to rise for 40 minutes.

·      Mix the dough again with your hand and transfer it into a buttered medium size casserole dish. Place the top on and leave it for 1 hour at room temperature.

·      Preheat the oven to 230⁰C.

·      Bake the bread for 45 minutes.

·      Bake it further 5-8 minutes without the top on.

·      Place the hot bread on a wooden board and sprinkle it with a little water

·      Leave it to cool.