The Cretan diet or Mediterranean diet for a healthy and diversified diet.
The real Cretan culinary diet would allow us to live potentially longer and healthier lives. There are also many similarities with the Cretan diet and Japanese cuisine. The consumption of fruits and vegetables is important and daily, about 400gr of fruits and 200gr of vegetables. Meat is little present in favour of fish flavoured with olive oil and lemon, consumed in small quantities, about 250gr per week. Dairy products are almost absent from the Mediterranean diet. The main source of fat comes from olive oil. A healthy and natural olive oil has many properties beneficial to health due to oleic acid, monounsaturated fatty acids, the presence of vitamins and omegas.
Industrial dishes, sugar, sodas, biscuits and confectionery are therefore to be excluded from the Mediterranean diet. Preference will be given to home-cooked dishes, ripe fruit and fresh local vegetables eaten according to their seasonality, dried fruit and vegetables, cereals and wild aromatic plants. Meat, fish and dairy products are eaten in moderation. Olive oil complements all dishes and is used raw, cooked and fried. Other oils (peanut, sunflower, palm …) and other fats such as butter, margarine, fresh cream are necessarily excluded from the Mediterranean diet.
The Cretan diet model is ancestral and is associated with simple pleasures.
When Mediterranean diet means pleasure of eating well
Mediterranean cuisine is never monotonous. On the contrary, it is very diverse. It is a simple cuisine that promotes a balanced diet. But not only that! Mediterranean cuisine means culture, the search for moments of sharing and the pleasure of cooking. Seasonality and locality of food products are also at the heart of the Mediterranean or Cretan diet. Raw vegetables are accompanied by a vinaigrette with olive oil. Vegetables are always cooked quickly to avoid losing vitamins and trace elements.
Cooking enthusiasts are well aware that the use of good extra virgin olive oil can enchant a tasteless dish. A few onions quickly returned in olive oil work wonders! Garlic, aromatic herbs or spices bring incomparable taste notes and many healthy properties to Mediterranean cuisine. Pulses (beans, chickpeas, lentils, flageolets…), rich in protein, are combined with good extra-virgin olive oil. Cereals and especially bread are indispensable in Mediterranean meals. A simple drizzle of PDO or AOC extra virgin olive oil from France on a good natural sourdough bread becomes a real pleasure for the taste buds!