Eat well.
Sleep well.
Exercise.
The Science that Creates the Balance
Creating true, vital health isn’t about just one thing, like diet or exercise – or even vitamins. It’s about the balance of the things you do each and every day that join together, forming the health triangle that helps your body stand up to the stresses and strains of modern life that wear you down and leave your body at risk.
Why Go Mediterranean?
With approximately 100 million adults living with diabetes or pre-diabetes and heart disease ringing in as the #1 cause of death in the United States, it’s no wonder that so many people are looking for ways to live healthier, longer. The good news is that because much of the epidemic of illness is caused in large part by lifestyle habits, like poor eating and lack of exercise, going Mediterranean can help.
What Does It Mean to Live the Mediterranean Way?
Focused on plant-based foods, especially colorful fruits and vegetables, healthy fats such as olive oil and avocado, fish and whole grains, the Mediterranean Diet limits the consumption of sugar, refined grains (i.e. white flour bread), and red meat.
Beyond healthy eating, a Mediterranean lifestyle includes getting regular exercise and healthy sleep to help reduce levels of stress hormones that fuel inflammation and disease.
Your Health Triangle
Whether building a bridge, or building your health, a triangle is one of the strongest shapes. Build your health triangle daily with a Mediterranean lifestyle.
Eat well.
How Does the Mediterranean Diet Work?
The foundation of the Mediterranean Diet is the consumption of plant-based foods like fruits and vegetables rich in flavonoids(6). A 2019 study in Nature Communications found that regularly eating foods with flavonoids can lead to a reduced risk of heart disease and cancer. Flavonoids are antioxidants that reduce inflammation in the body (a key factor in many diseases), while playing an important role in mental health and heart health.
What Does the Research Say?
As one of the most researched diets and lifestyles, the Mediterranean Diet has been shown to reduce cardiovascular and heart disease by as much as 28% based on a study among 25,994 women published in JAMA Network Open (1) (2).
Other studies show lower incidence of Parkinson’s Disease(3), Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and as much as a 30% reduced rate of death from stroke among those following the Mediterranean Diet(4)! This is in addition as to lower body mass index, lower blood pressure, lower inflammatory markers, and a 33% lower risk of depression.(5)
The Flavonoid Power of the Mediterranean Diet
The secret to the Mediterranean Diet’s research-backed health benefits are found in the powerful antioxidants in that give its foods their rich colors.
Foods such as apples, berries, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, green tea, and red wine contain robust levels of this antioxidant which protects against the likes of Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease. A subset of flavanols, flavan-3-ols, are extraordinarily rich in nutrients. This includes tea, apples, red grapes, blueberries, strawberries, chocolate products.
A key subgroup of flavonoids, flavones are widely present in leaves and fruits as glucosides, especially in celery, parsley, red peppers, and mint, among others. One of the major health benefits from flavones is their anti-inflammatory effects. Inflammation is usually the common thread between many chronic conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, and cancer(8).
Found in the likes of citrus fruits, citrus flavonoids possess interesting pharmacological effects as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, blood lipid-lowering and cholesterol-lowering agents (9). Hesperidin, the most common flavanone found in oranges and grapefruit, is being studied for its possible role in protecting against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease according to February 2019 research published in Molecules (10).
These are the pigments that give fruits and vegetables their color. Research shows that potent sources of anthocyanins such as grapes, blueberries, sweet potatoes, plums, cherries, and red wine, have strong anti-inflammatory properties and are beneficial in helping with brain health, cardiovascular health, even possibly protecting against cancer(11).
Found in only a handful of plants soybeans (and soy products such as tofu), peanuts, legumes, and peanuts, isoflavones exhibit tremendous potential to fight several diseases including cancers.
As with the others, chalcones have antioxidant and anticancer properties. In fact, chalcones are used in the treatment of viral disorders, cardiovascular disease, pain, and certain cancers. Foods rich in chalcones include pears, wheat, tomatoes, strawberries and shallots.
Filling in the Gaps to Keep Your Health Triangle Strong
In a perfect world, we would all get the rest and exercise we need daily, as well as all of the nutrients we need by eating a clean, healthy diet.
But let’s face it…
It’s hard to be perfect 100% of the time. And even if we do get many of the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients we need from our dietary intake, many of us just don’t eat enough fruits, vegetables, fish, and other important foods, leaving gaps through which health problems can sneak in.
That’s where the premium research-backed supplements from Mediterranean Balance come in.
With Mediterranean Balance, you can fill in the nutritional gaps left over from your daily diet, support a healthy lifestyle and optimize your health. Whether you’ve committed to taking your lifestyle Mediterranean or just want to leverage the power of high-quality, evidence-based nutrients for better health, we’re here to help you find your balance, so that you can live your best life.