Diets Debunked

The Mediterranean Diet is lauded as the be-all and end-all of nutritious diets. Doctors, dietitians, nutritionists, everyone recommends it for a longer, healthier and happier life. Hell, I myself recommend the Mediterranean Diet to a lot of my clients to help them manage their blood pressure and reduce their cholesterol, as well as limit their risk of any further chronic disease later down the line. And for good reason; it is perhaps the most extensively research diet type of all time, and consistently has been shown to improve longevity, reduce inflammation, improve health and wellbeing and reduce risk of chronic disease.

However; it isn’t the only diet to do this, and one thing which I have become increasingly aware of over the past few years is this Eurocentric recommendation which has no wiggle room for peoples cultural or ethnic diets. This leads to people being excluded, and due to feeling under-represented, doubling down on their current diet and being less likely to make changes.

Any diet can be changed or adapted to be healthier and more in-line with Mediterranean principles, which I think are the most important things to follow rather than the diet itself. So, let’s talk about those principles, and how they can relate to other ethnic diets, allowing you to make adaptations to your diet which are inline with the recommendations in a Mediterranean diet, but are still allowing you to eat your own, cultural foods.

Heart-Healthy Fats

The emphasis of the Mediterranean diet on olive oil is hard to ignore, and consumption of fats high in monounsaturated fats have been shown to help reduce cardiovascular disease risk and reduce total body inflammation. Equally, there is a strong emphasis on fatty fish, which are full of omega-3’s; reducing your risk for a heart attack or stroke in 4 different ways, and also shown to improve cognition as you age. Some swaps you can make in your diet to make it more heart healthy include:

• British/ English: Swapping butter and lard for vegetable oils, prioritising oily fish like mackerel, sardines, kippers or pilchards.
• Central/Southern American: Swapping lard, beef tallow or chicken fat for vegetable oils, avocado oils, sesame, peanut or olive oils.
• African: Refined palm oils and animal fats for unrefined red palm oil (small amounts), groundnut oil, olive oils or vegetable oils
• Asian: Swapping coconut oil or ghee for sesame, peanut, soybean or ricebran oils.

High in Antioxidants

Antioxidants are found primarily within the fruits and vegetables consumed, and increasing the amounts of fruits and vegetables you are eating will always be beneficial. However, there are many cultural foods which are also high in antioxidants which you may wish to include for a more healthful diet.

• British/ English: Any berry is very high in antioxidants (such as blackberries and elderberries commonly found on hedgerows), alongside apples and pears, dark green leafy vegetables, traditional English herbs such as rosemary or thyme, and of course, tea.
• Central/ Southern American: Acai beries, cacao and chia seeds are often packed with antioxidants, alongside spices such as chillis. Avocados are a great source, and beans provide an extra nutritional punch. Chia seeds and coffee are also brilliant!
• African: Dates are fantastic sources of antioxidants, but aren’t the only source. Many different herbal, floral or fruit teas provide a great source of antioxidants, and cultural leafs used in cooking such as bitter leaf or scent leaf in West African cuisine, Moringa leaves or Amaranth greens in Eastern African cuisine and Buchu Leaves and Rooibos teas in South African cuisine are all great. Consuming many of the spices and herbs used in African cuisine has also been associated with better consumption of antioxidants, alongside traditional fruits and vegetables such as okra, prickly pear and baobab fruit provide a fantastic hit of nutrition.
• Asian: Green teas and matcha are the things you may think of traditionally when you are thinking of things which pack an antioxidant punch, but they aren’t the only thing! Spices used across the continent are rich in antioxidants, as are other flavourings such as tamarind, lemongrass, pandan leaves, chillis, fenugreek, Thai basil and more. We also see large amounts of antioxidants in traditional fruits too; mangosteen, Indian gooseberry, bitter melon and barberries.

High in Fibre

Fibre is essential for keeping the gut healthy and reducing risk of colorectal cancer, but is also shown to have huge benefits throughout the body. Sources for each cuisine include:

• British/ English: Any wholegrain staples like porridge, brown breads (wholemeal, soda breads, or Welsh Laverbread), lentil and barley stews or high-fibre cereals such as Weetabix are loaded with fibre, but root veggies which are commonly consumed like potatoes (with skins), carrots, swede and parsnips are great too. Baked beans, broccoli, kale, cabbage and traditional fruits like berries and apples are also great fibre sources.
• Central/Southern American: Beans are a fantastic source of fibre; black, red and pinto all count. Chia seeds and other seeds or grains like amaranth, quinoa, barley and whole-kernel corn are great too. Fruits like acai and passionfruit, and vegetables like nopales, cassava and plantains all count.
• African: Many starches like yam, cassava, teff, sweet potatoes and plantains are great sources of fibre. Veggies like bitter leaf, ugwu, green bananas, okra and artichokes are good too. If you eat beans or pulses, such as chickpeas, barley, lentils or pigeon peas, they are worth adding more into your diet for more fibre.
• Asian: Buckwheat based noodles, alongside sweet potato, millet and bulgur wheat are great sources of fibre, alongside veggies like lotus root, banana blossom, bitter gourd and okra. Fruits like pomelo, coconut, jackfruit and pomegranate are great too.

Other things to consider:

• Eating more fish, both oily and non-oily: Most cuisines eat fish to some degree, and whichever cuisine you consume, eating more has been associated with reduced risk of CVD and reduced caloric intake. For those of you who don’t eat fish; try getting more omega-3 rich foods like walnuts, flax or chia, edamame, hemp seeds, algal oil, canola (rapeseed) oil or wild rice.
• Consuming less salt: using herbs and spices instead of salt is a great way to reduce the amount of sodium consumed, which is great for blood pressure.
• Lean poultry, eggs and dairy in moderation: Eating these a few times a week provide great protein and micronutrients, but also allows more consumption of the healthier proteins like fish and beans.
• Reduction in processed foods: sweets, cakes, pastries and other ultra-processed foods are best to be reduced as much as possible.

What things do you think you’ll implement into your diet to make it more nutritious? Let me know down below!