• Happy Food - part 2

Happy Food Part 2: the Mediterranean cuisine

Time for part 2 of my series about happy food. Do you remember? Today we are going to look at Mediterranean cuisine. Because if you ask the experts what diet will make you feel good, then most will probably say the Mediterranean diet. There are a number of scientific indications that this diet really does help our mood!

Good oils and lots of antioxidants

Mediterranean cuisine may perhaps make you think of Italy. But all countries around the Mediterranean have this cuisine. From Morocco and Tunisia to Spain and Greece. And they make delicious dishes there! And not only delicious and tasty, their food is characterized by a rich variety, by freshness, but above all by good fats, fibre and lots of antioxidants. Just think about olive oil (it contains a lot of the antioxidant quercetin) and of course tomatoes (lots of lycopene), but also about other fresh fruit and vegetables (antioxidants and fibre) and fish (good fatty acids).

Give your menu a Mediterranean touch

Would you like to add a hint of Mediterranean to your menu? I’ve got a couple of simple tips:

 ♥ Make your salads tasty with extra virgin olive oil. Tip: invest in a good bottle. There are shops that get the olive oil directly from the olive groves.
 ♥ Put more vegetables on your menu. For example, use leafy greens as the base of a delightful salad.
 ♥ Eat fish, such as salmon, tuna, sardines and anchovies regularly.
 ♥ Eat less meat; there are good vegetarian alternatives.
 ♥ Use lemon more often (except with rosacea*). Also very tasty in a dressing on your salad and with fish.

(*Certain healthy products which are a rich source of histamine can aggravate rosacea)

The next post will be about fish, omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin D!

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