Mediterranean Diet For Dummies by Rachel Berman

Author:Rachel Berman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2013-08-04T16:00:00+00:00

Don’t be fooled by the small size of nuts, seeds, and legumes: These three food groups are super strong when it comes to their nutrition power! Because the Mediterranean diet is mostly plant-based, you may think you’d be lacking in nutrients like protein, feeling sluggish, and constantly hungry. But nuts, seeds, and legumes know how to be the star in Mediterranean dishes, and when they’re not the featured item on the place, they round out any meal with additional heart-healthy fats, protein, fiber, antioxidants, and plenty of vitamins and minerals. As you start decreasing the amount of meat and dairy you eat, supplementing with these versatile vegetarian foods helps boost your energy levels, keeps you satisfied, and adds unique flavors to your dishes.

This chapter breaks down the nuts, seeds, and legumes that are the MVPs of the Mediterranean diet and tells you how to start adding them to your meals today. If you’ve never explored the ways you can enjoy these foods, you are in for a treat!

Of course, no one got healthy by eating an excessive amount of any one food group. On that note, you’ll also discover how to integrate nuts, seeds, and legumes in your diet in appropriate quantities and how you can best balance these foods with the other items on your plate. Finally, to maximize their nutrient benefit, you’ve got to know how to best choose and store these nuts, seeds, and legumes. This chapter covers that info, too.

Getting the Basics on Nuts, Legumes, and Seeds

Nuts, legumes, and seeds have been touted as “super foods” since way before the Mediterranean diet entered the spotlight. Before getting into the specific varieties common to the people who live around the Mediterranean sea, this section explains what these food groups are and identifies the health benefits that lie within. With this information in hand, you’ll understand why these groups should be staples in your diet, too, instead of being relegated to a part of a snack you have from time to time.

Understanding what they are

Nuts and seeds and legumes can be very confusing to define because all nuts include a seed, but not all seeds are nuts. You think of almonds and pistachios as nuts, but they’re really seeds from drupes, another category of fruit altogether (one in which the fruit surrounds a single pit). And you think a peanut is a nut, too, right? Think again — it’s a legume.

What?! Take a breath and try not to get all caught up in the details. For education purposes, here are the true definitions of nuts, seeds, and legumes from a botanical sense (you’ll notice some overlap between these, too):

True nuts have a hard shell containing both the fruit and seed of a plant. The fruit does not open up to release the seed. Examples of true nuts include hazelnuts (one that’s popular in the Mediterranean), chestnuts, hickory nuts, and acorns.

Seeds refer to small plants containing embryos that are used to reproduce plants, fruits, and drupes. The seeds also contain a store of nutrients used by the plant to grow and develop.

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