Discover three typical characteristics of the Mediterranean diet

To get back on the Mediterranean diet and enjoy its health and environmental benefits, you must embrace it in full, including both the food and the rituals and customs involved. Do you know whether you follow the Mediterranean diet?

Two studies by the FoodLab research group at the UOC’s Faculty of Health Sciences can help you identify three keys to this diet:

1. According to Francesc Xavier Medina, director of the UOC’s UNESCO Chair on Food, Culture and Development, and his team at the UOC, habits such as eating with others, sharing food and consuming local produce are equally important for our health and the environment, with benefits such as regulating our appetite and encouraging us to choose healthier foods.
2. According to the researcher, the Mediterranean diet must be taken as a whole package in order to maintain its benefits and adapt them to each country. “When talking about sustainability, for example, we’re talking about much more than merely the environment,” he explained. “We need to incorporate the social and cultural dimension to achieve good habits across the food chain, from the way we grow food to what we finally buy at the market or supermarket”.
3. Even the fight against disease requires a more comprehensive approach. In his study on obesity and the Mediterranean diet, the researcher emphasizes that we must stop viewing a high intake of calories as the sole cause of this health problem and expand our focus to include our lifestyles.

At times such as this, promoting people’s health and self-care is a top priority for the UOC. This is why we have encouraged the entire in-house team to follow a healthy lifestyle, stay in touch and share good times throughout the academic year. Among other actions, we have held six nutrition workshops led by an expert who has also provided all UOC staff members with quarterly diets for various groups of people.

Find the proposals at Healthy UOC!