Things you didn't know about the Mediterranean diet, part one

I have lost track of the number of times I have recommended that one of my patients follow a traditional Mediterranean diet, and lost track of all the reasons I may have said that.  But after all that, it's great to know there is still more to learn about this gift that has been passed down to us over generations and oceans.  For the next three blog posts, I will give a short summary of some things you may not have known, in addition to some food ideas you can cook up in your own kitchen!  Let's talk about food!

Did you know...

... that a pregnant mom's food choices affect a child's growth and risk of obesity later in life? Absolutely.  Researchers from Harvard tracked 1459 mother-child pairs for up to 18 years after they had collected data on mom's food choices in pregnancy.  It turns out that when pregnant moms eat a diet that is pro-inflammatory and less closely adheres to a traditional Mediterranean diet pattern, children born of those pregnancies are more likely to be heavier for age (higher BMI z-scores, to be exact) all the way out to 18 years of age, and diverging beginning at age 1 year. This also was a separate effect from that of breast-feeding, which we have known for a long time to lead to more healthy weight patterns in children (less likely to be obese). The new information here suggests that when a mother more closely adheres to a Mediterranean diet pattern in pregnancy, she protects the child against unhealthy weight tendencies all the way into adolescence.  The authors suggest that maternal diet choices literally write the program for how  the child's genes will respond to their food environment as they grow (a mechanism called epigenetics). 

With this, we have yet another way that ordinary people can change the future with healthy eating!  Think about that next time you are cooking a meal!  Speaking of cooking, how do you actually follow such a diet?  Here I can point you to the terrific resources from Old Ways, where you can find many resources from educational, to research reviews, to recipes.  

Please enjoy some good food today, and let us know how we can support you in your journey of health ownership.  Especially if you are having any trouble making this work in your kitchen and in the grocery store, contact the office and consider an appointment with our Registered Dietitian Karen Cota. 

To your good health!

Robert Pendergrast, MD, MPH

Aiken-Augusta Holistic Health

803-426-1421