Mediterranean Diet (vegetarian style)

susancats

I am in need of a healthy diet to lose weight so I don't have as high of a risk of recurrence.



I've been a vegetarian for 18 years. I've tried vegan but I LOVE cheese and yogurt.



Does anyone know about the Mediterranean Diet?

Does it have enough protein?



My surgeon suggested it to me as a possible diet to help fight breast cancer.

The MO said nothing about my weight. I'm about 60 lbs over. Kinda weird.

leggo

Hi susancats. I've been following a mediterranean diet most of my life. It definately has enough protein. Not sure exactly what you need to know, but basically, most calories come from fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. No margarine or butter, just olive oil. Fish and seafood are usually eaten three times a week. I'm not much into seafood, so while the rest of the family pigs out on seafood, I usually eat a quinoa salad. Very high in protein. Poultry and dairy are a very small part of the diet. No more than a very small portion during the week. Red meat and sweets, hardly ever. A daily glass of red wine is also a big part of the diet.

Try greek-style yogurt, plain, with a few nuts and honey instead of the run-of-the-mill fruity yogurt. I eat a lot of that. Cheese is a eaten a little less. I only eat a very small portion of cheese a couple times a week and it's almost always feta, usually on a veggie pizza. I'm sure the diet will work for you because you're already vegetarian and that's the biggest part of the mediterannean diet. You don't have to make any major changes, except for the cheese! 

And this is just my personal opinion, and I'm not sure how it falls into a mediterranean diet, but I don't do milk, ever....milk is for baby cows.

susancats

Thank you, Gracie.

I need to investigate more about quinoa. I've never used that and hear lots of people saying its chocked full of protein.



Aside from fish, this sounds easy.

Are omega 3 vitamins a good replacement for fish, anyone know?

Thanks

leggo

The dietician in me says the actual fish is better, but I can very much relate to not liking the taste of water critters. The structure of the fatty acids in fish is different than that in Omega 3 supplements, but it is better than none at all, so I would certainly take the supplement, especially if you're going to stay strictly vegitarian. Your body can generally convert the fats as needed.

I find that I can usually hide the taste of salmon or tuna in a nice sushi roll. Ginger and a dipping sauce can hide the fishy flavor. Little bits and pieces in a salad also mask the taste. Just for the record, not canned tuna....all the fats have been removed. There's almost no benefit to canned tuna.

Good luck with the new diet.

Momine

For omega3, try walnuts. You can eat them plain or on yogurt, or you can make sauces with them.

The Greeks make two kinds of dips with walnuts.

One is skordalia - garlic dip. You simply put walnuts, maybe a little brown bread that has been soaked in water and squeezed, lots of garlic, a drop of vinegar or lemon in the blender, then add olive oil in a stream until you have a thick dip-like thing going on. Eat it with raw or steamed veggies.

The other is a version of eggplant salad. Bake the eggplant with the skin on until soft and collapsed. Let cool, Poke a knife in and drain the water, open it and scrape all the meat into a bowl. Do not puré, rather mash it coarsely with a fork. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice and chopped flatleaf parsley, squeezed garlic chopped walnuts and olive oil.