Mediterranean Keto Diet: Best Foods for A better Healthy Life

Having tried all the possible weight loss techniques, you are now on the verge of exhaustion of not finding a suitable method that caters to your needs. You may be a teenager who is embarrassed about not being able to fit into the kind of clothes you had been eyeing for a long time or a middle-aged person who is struggling to lose weight as per your doctor’s prescription. Fear no more as the method that will unfurl before you cater to everyone’s weight loss/physical needs, irrespective of age. The all-new Mediterranean keto diet is in town, and it is here to stay for all the right reasons.

Mediterranean Keto Diet

The Mediterranean vs. Keto

A diet is roughly defined as portions of food that are usually consumed or not consumed by a person regularly. It may restrict the different food options available and is generally used for weight loss purposes, health reasons, or even as a part of one’s personal choices. The Mediterranean keto diet involves the benefits of both the Mediterranean and the keto diets, both being two separate entities. Certain researchers claim that the Mediterranean diet is more of an eating pattern than a diet. In contrast, the Keto diet is a proper diet as it involves specific rigid rules regarding the amount and measurement of food ingested.

  • The Mediterranean diet is known for its worldwide acclaim for being one of the best diets that aid in weight loss and maintaining your overall health. Since this is an entirely plant-based diet, it has opted for a more safe, effective, and reliable diet than the typical western diet that mainly consists of processed foods.
  • The Mediterranean diet causes much fewer instances of coronary artery disease and fewer instances of inflammation, hence making your life last longer.
  • A ketogenic diet is known as high fat, low carbs diet, which aids in weight loss through a process known as ketosis.
  • The keto diet also has a positive impact on various neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Epilepsy.

Thus, both the Mediterranean and the Keto diet have surplus advantages under different contexts. Mediterranean keto diet hence combines the positive aspects of both the dieting methods giving rise to a fool-proof diet plan that aids in the overall development of your health. The incredible discovery regarding this successful diet plan is the significant reduction in your LDL cholesterol levels and a substantial rise in your HDL cholesterol levels. This method of combining both diets helps in remarkable fat loss and reduced cardiovascular diseases and thereby the mortality rate.

 

Benefits of the Mediterranean Keto diet

Studies have shown that the Mediterranean keto diet is here to stay for its incredible health-promoting aspects. The following five key aspects encapsulate the benefits of this life-saving diet plan.

Low carbs= effective ketosis

Lowering your total carb intake to below 35g and your net carb intake to below 25g helps stimulate ketones’ production, thereby paving the way for effective ketosis. This level of carb restriction aids in the reduction of your appetite, boosting your weight loss, and the notable decrease of your insulin levels along with your blood sugar and triglyceride levels.

Consumption of a fair amount of monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats

Avocados, olive oil, avocado oil, fish, seafood, poultry, low-carb nuts, seeds, and hard cheese are storehouses of good fats essential for your body’s healthy functioning. These power foods can be swapped with unhealthy fats such as coconut oil, butter, red meat, and processed meats.

Carbs from keto-friendly veggies

Vegetables that are leafy, colorful, and contain low carb levels can be incorporated into your daily meals. This will provide you with plenty of vitamins and minerals, which help to optimize your healthy development.

Fish and hatch your Proteins

Seafood, fish, poultry, and eggs are excellent protein sources packed with unsaturated fats and many health-promoting compounds. Omega -3 fatty acids are abundant in sardines and wild-caught salmons, making them the best options for aiding your optimum health and because they are more environmentally sustainable than other varieties of fish.

Protein and fat intake should be adjusted based on your goals

Consumption of sufficient protein levels helps you maintain your muscle mass, and adequate fat consumption will help you control your weight loss rate.

Mediterranean diet food list

  • Seafood– fish varieties such as sardines, mackerels, anchovies, salmon, and herring are rich in DHA and omega-3 fatty acids that help in your brain development.
  • Olives/olive oil– these are storehouses of vitamin D and are rich in monounsaturated fats that aids in effective ketosis and should be consumed in its raw form for lasting effects.
  • Avocado/avocado oil– avocado oils can be used in cooking instead of olive oil due to its higher smoke point, which helps in your overall healthy development.
  • Leafy greens– these are low in carb levels and help in effective ketosis.
  • Artichoke–

these are rich in antioxidants and are the best prebiotic fibers that help combat oxidative stress related to aging.

  • Asparagus-these are excellent sources of vitamin K and are prebiotic fibers that help in improving your digestive health.
  • Broccoli/cauliflower–

these aid in weight loss as they are rich in fiber and also help in the detoxification process of your body.

  • Spinach / Zucchini– these are good sources of zinc and phytonutrients as well as antioxidants, flavonoids, and carotenoids that strengthen your bones and your immune system.
  • Lean proteins/ higher grade– lean meats are excellent sources of proteins and are known for their fewer calories than non-lean meats.
  • Almonds–

they are good sources of vitamin E and are known to lower LDL cholesterol in your body. They are also rich in magnesium and potassium, thereby circulating oxygen and nutrients more freely through your blood.

  • Brazil nuts-these are rich in the mineral selenium and help regulate your thyroid gland, reduce inflammation, and support your heart, brain, and immune system.
  • Pecans-These are rich in calcium, magnesium, and potassium, which helps in lowering your blood pressure. They are also rich in proteins, healthy fats, and fiber, which helps you feel full and satisfied for a more extended time.
  • Macadamia–

they are rich in monounsaturated fats and also contain essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that aids in your healthy development and wellness.

  • Chia/ flax– these are rich in nutrients and promote a healthier heart, lowering your blood sugar levels and acting as a shield against certain types of cancer.
  • Eggs-these are good sources of quality proteins and are rich in nutrients, thereby helping in your health’s overall development. Eggs also make you feel fuller and ultimately aids in your weight management.

 

A Study on Mediterranean Keto Diet: Shows It’s the Future

Mediterranean Keto is the future of Keto, where we can live for so long, seeing people eat a bunch of cheeses and a bunch of low-quality dirty foods. Now some research shows it in practical applications, so I’m going to break down a study published in the Journal of Medicine food.

It talks about a Mediterranean ketogenic diet related to the metabolic syndrome of getting unhealthy people healthy. The ketogenic diet has a bad rap and stigma because it’s high in fat, and it’s so hard for the layperson to understand. But it is going to alter them in so many different ways, and it makes them healthier.

So while breaking down this study, we came into 22 obese subjects with metabolic syndrome, and these subjects had a BMI on average of 36 or higher. So here, moderately overweight individuals with metabolic syndrome are going for a 12-week study by eating a Mediterranean Keto diet. They called it the Spanish Mediterranean keto diet, but that’s just because the research was conducted out of Spain.

First, we want to go ahead and give you the actual results because the general side of this is it’s pretty easy for 12 weeks to eat a Mediterranean keto diet. Here are the results after 12 weeks.

  • LDL levels (cholesterol) went from 126 down to 103 after just three months
  • Weight went on average from 106 kilograms down to 91 kilograms
  • Plasma glucose went from 118 down to 91 (fasting)
  • Triglycerides went all the way down from 224 to 109

So we’re talking about 15 kilograms lost in three months on the Mediterranean keto diet. Then talking about glucose level, it’s basically taking someone that essentially is diabetic and not making them diabetic. Also, there is over a 50% reduction in triglycerides, and they are the storage form of fat right before it’s really utilized. When we see triglycerides being reduced that much, that alone is phenomenal, so that means that we’re reducing that available fat, and we are truly changing the human body.

In essence, by definition, all the subjects were able to get rid of their metabolic syndrome just by doing 12 weeks of a Mediterranean keto diet. There were criteria that they want people to be all the same; they don’t want to have many variables if you take someone with metabolic syndrome. Someone exercising a lot versus someone with metabolic syndrome that isn’t exercising, a lot of their chemistry and physiology will be radically different between the two of them. Here the point is they wanted sedentary people that were just generally unhealthy with metabolic syndrome.

Another thing is they had to check their ketone levels and make sure they were in ketosis. Every morning they had phone consults with people to make sure that they were within that range. If they weren’t following it and weren’t getting into ketosis, they were removed from the study. They want people that were strict and are actually remaining in ketosis. So it truly is a measure of the Mediterranean ketogenic diet.

Now we get to the fun stuff; what was incorporated into this diet? What did they eat? Because you want to eat this well. They are incorporating 30 ml of olive oil; that’s mostly what made it a Mediterranean keto diet. A large part of their fats was coming from omega-3s from fish and olive oil. So 30 ml of olive oil is split up three times evenly throughout the day. High amounts of olive oil, which most people, at least in the Western world, are not really using. So the first order of business, get that olive oil into the equation in your diet.

Secondly, they ate many omega-3s from fish, so they divided their diet into what they called fish block days and lean meat days. About four times per week, they had to eat only specific fish like salmon, mackerel, sardines, and anchovies.

Now here is the really cool unlimited calorie diet, which literally means they could eat as many calories as they wanted to. The only stipulation was that they couldn’t exceed 30 grams of carbohydrates from vegetables, usually leafy greens. The point is to eat as many calories as you want; just don’t exceed the carbohydrates. This simulates what is called a free-living condition. If we were to just indoctrinate this kind of eating pattern for these people, they could only go through daily life, eat as much as they usually would.

Here’s the one that many of you guys are going to like, they consume 200-400 ml of red wine per day. So 100-200 ml with lunch and 100-200 ml with dinner. This is truly is part of a Mediterranean keto diet and still had phenomenal results.

Let’s jump back to the protein blocks again, so four times per week, they were consuming these fish blocks, ended up taking in about 14 to 15 grams of omega-3s from their diet. This is a lot okay compared to taking 14 or 15 fish oil pills per day, where you’re not generally getting that much omega-3 in your diet. They couldn’t eat the fish on the regular protein block days where they were eating things like cheeses, lean meats, or eggs shellfish. Then they supplemented with 9 grams of salmon oil 3 times per day. So they made a concerted effort to keep those omega-3s exceptionally high. Also, it’s essential that you have to get high oleic acid content from olive oil. So converting this bad kind of fat into the good kind of fat elevates our core body temperature.

This was more of a breakdown of the study in general that outlines the Mediterranean keto diet is the future. Now, I know you are so excited to follow this Mediterranean keto diet to lose your extra weight. So please do check out down below for the Mediterranean keto diet meal plan.

 

Conclusion

Getting into shape is what mainstream society is focused on in today’s world. But how about getting additional health benefits along with getting into shape? This can be easily achieved by adopting the all-new Mediterranean keto diet that has only the positives that may sound equally appealing to everybody. I am pretty sure that once you adopt this diet style as part of your everyday lifestyle, your optimum health goals can be achieved in no time.

FAQs

 

  1. Can you combine Keto and Mediterranean diets?

The all-new Mediterranean keto diet combines both Keto and Mediterranean diet benefits, giving you the ultimate fool-proof diet. The combination of two diets gives you more flexibility in the foods you choose to consume, and last but not least, this eating pattern allows you to unwind with some red wine while providing you with the benefits of the keto diet.

2. What is the Mediterranean Keto diet?

Although the Mediterranean keto diet has no fixed definition, it is thought of as a combination of both the Mediterranean as well as the keto diet. The keto diet is commonly known as a high-fat, low-carb diet that tricks the body to burn fats and ketones instead of carbohydrates. On the other hand, the Mediterranean diet is mostly a plant-based diet that involves the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables along with lean proteins in the form of lean cut meats. Combining the goodness of these two diets, the Mediterranean keto diet is the go-to diet plan for effective weight loss along with the overall development of your health.