How do you integrate the Mediterranean diet into your food plan? And what does that even mean, the Mediterranean diet? I had that question, and this video is all about the solution. And to find the solution, I went all the way back to the origin of the Mediterranean diet, Siracusa in Sicily, to tell you about the fundamental principles of the Mediterranean diet, and I had a problem that I solved.
I’m going to tell you all about it in this video. Hey everybody, I’m Dr. Drew Ramsey. I’m a board-certified psychiatrist. I’m one of the original Nutritional Psychiatrists thinking about how food impacts your mental health and brain health. We can all agree the modified Mediterranean diet or the modi Medi diet, which was the diet used in the SMILES trial. That’s the historic trial that showed using a Mediterranean diet can help people who have clinical depression reach full remission. It’s a great trial. We’ve got other videos up on that, but I want to get into what do we do with that data? How do we integrate a Mediterranean diet into what we eat and what does that even mean? Let’s talk about it.
Now, why do you need to know about the Mediterranean diet? Because your brain health, your mental health, that’s the most important asset you have and the data keeps coming in. The more of the ultra-processed foods we’re eating, the higher the risk of depression, up to 50-60% increase in your risk of depression. Exactly the opposite happens when you eat a Mediterranean diet.
But when you look around the Mediterranean region, what does that mean? What does that mean when you go to the grocery store? So I wanted to understand what are the foods of the Mediterranean diet, and then I’ve had a problem with this diet and I want to tell you about it.
When we think about the Mediterranean Sea or this Mediterranean basin, we’re often just thinking about the the northern part, the European countries, Italy, Spain, Portugal, amazing food. But we expand the options, the flavor profiles, and the reality of this amazing diet when we include the Levantine diet. This is moving into the Middle East with Lebanon, Turkey, and Greece, and then of course North Africa. It’s often not even included, but so much shoreline on the Mediterranean Sea, Algeria, Syria, Morocco, Egypt, all of these incredible, incredible culinary histories, and all of these diets are really at the foundation of human civilization. And so that’s where you want to really dial in.
What are the principles? What have humans always been eating? Because when we look at the data, it’s really clear. No matter how you say it, Mediterranean, Levantine, North African, we want to go back to these traditional foods. And Nutritional Psychiatry is all about inspiring you and exciting you to find new flavors, new ways, new kind of personal meaning to the foods you eat so you better support your mental health.
So let’s talk about some of the principles that I’ve tried to distill out from this whole region to help you today at the grocery store, tonight when you’re ordering dinner, tomorrow at lunch, apply these principles so you can get the benefits.
Now, real quickly, if you haven’t heard the benefits again, people who have clinical depression, about a third go into full remission when they adopt a Mediterranean diet. If you look at these studies, there’s just a few foods that people are adding in. And that’s what we want to do in Nutritional Psychiatry. We want to take the the research that’s coming out about how food impacts mental health, how foods can protect our brains from depression, anxiety, even things like PTSD and ADHD. And then what are the foods that that actually means we want to see on our plate, in your kids’ lunch boxes, when you’re planning dinner for the friends or for family? So let’s talk about these principles.
First, you’re getting a lot of different plants, you’re getting plant diversity, you’re getting leafy greens, you’re getting all the rainbows, you’re getting lots of nuts, beans, and seeds, and lots of legumes. And that’s what we’re always asking you to do in Nutritional Psychiatry. Think about that rhyme: seafood greens, nuts and beans, a little dark chocolate, rainbow celebrations, don’t forget the fermentations. That’s all about these traditional diets and helps you think about the food categories. With this principle, plant diversity, I’m asking you to think about 30 different plants a week to really kind of gamify or keep track of the plants that you’re eating.
Another principle you’re seeing around this region is lots of seafoods. Did you know that Morocco is one of the top exporters of sardines? As I was traveling in Italy searching for this healthy, wonderful Mediterranean diet and finding a lot of pasta, gelato, and espresso, as I got down to Sicily and in Siracusa. Sardines were everywhere. There was wild fennel and sardines in the pasta. It was amazing and delicious. Sardines filled with omega-3 fats, calcium, vitamin B12, complete protein. This is brain food. You get all these minerals, iodine, and this is what we’re looking for: these nutrient-dense foods that really form the foundation of our diet.
So, along with getting two to four seafood meals a week, we also want you to think about fermented foods. You see this throughout this dietary region, all types of different fermented dairies like yogurt and kefir. Two of the top recommendations I’m often making to patients, all these interesting fermented vegetables are really great to get on your plate.
And then a last and really the unifying principle, if we think about what we’re trying to achieve, Mediterranean, Levantine, or North African parts of the Mediterranean diet, we are trying to get you off of the ultra-processed foods. Right now, if you’re the average person in America watching this video, about 60 to 75% of your calories are coming from ultra-processed foods. These are foods that are made and they’re often marketed as really healthy, your protein bars and powders, your low-fat flavored yogurts, your chips and crackers and baked goods. They’re ultra-processed foods. When we eat more of these, our risk of anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders go way up. When we eat more of these throughout our life, our risk of dementia goes up.
The whole point and the goal of Nutritional Psychiatry is to get you on these real whole foods that form the core of a foundational human healthy diet. I hope this video has helped you think about the Mediterranean dietary region and how to apply some of these principles of Nutritional Psychiatry to what you’re thinking about eating today, tomorrow, the types of foods you want to share with your families and friends. When we think about the Mediterranean dietary region, think about these different flavor profiles, all of the rich nutritional and culinary history. It’s just a fun way to eat. I hope this helps you get more healthy, wonderful, colorful whole foods into your diet.
Make sure to sign up, check out some of the free downloads about eating for mental health, eating more Mediterranean style diet. Make sure and leave some comments below on some of your favorite foods from this region. And I’ll see you in the next video. Thanks so much.
