Mediterranean Diet?

Many of you have probably heard of the Mediterranean Diet. Lots of fresh fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts and olive oil. Whenever this diet is mentioned I always picture an intimate dinner party filled with beautiful, tan greek men feasting on freshly caught fish with lots of red wine. It sounds so glamourous compared to the typical American diet of cheeseburgers and coke. Apparently many other people feel the same way. There are countless diet books and products on the market encouraging us to eat in the style of another culture. Eat smaller portions like the French, eat chia seeds like the Aztecs, eat with chopsticks like the Chinese. It seems as though the key to healthy eating is to not eat like an American.

However, as this article points out, is this really true? According to the article, an increasing number of people from Spain, Portugal, and Italy are becoming overweight. In Beirut, the locals favorite restaurant is an American style diner with the motto, "There goes my heart. As America begins efforts to clean up its eats led by people such as Kingsolver, Bittman, and Pollan maybe it won' t be long before we see books titled, "How to eat like an American"!