Yet many people still have misconceptions about the Mediterranean diet: mainly that it’s expensive and difficult. “I think that people just have to be told that it is affordable and it's quite easy,” says Joan Saldge Blake, clinical professor of nutrition at Boston University, author of the book Nutrition & You, and the host of the nutrition podcast Spot On!
We spoke to experts about easy ways to start adopting the Mediterranean diet.
A great way to start getting more produce on your plate is through your freezer and pantry, Blake says. When you’re first learning to prepare fresh fruits and vegetables, they can become expensive—especially if they end up rotting away, forgotten, in a fridge drawer. Since grocery bills have skyrocketed over the last few years, that can make the shift even more daunting. But Blake points out that frozen and canned produce can carry the same nutrients in an easier-to-store, more cost-effective format.
It’s also easier to deal with. “Canned and frozen produce is cleaned, chopped, and ready to go. It's like having Rachael Ray in your freezer and pantry,” she says. “Fresh is not always best.”
Choose frozen or canned seafood
“It could be frozen. It could be out of a can,” Blake says. Tuna and salmon also come packaged in a pouch, which is “extremely, extremely affordable and really, really good for you based on the science that we have today,” she says.
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“We get kind of fixated that it has to be animal protein, and that's clearly not the case,” says Planells. For animal protein, the Mediterranean diet favors seafood and leaner cuts of meat, and it also recommends plant-based sources of protein like beans and lentils.
“Everyone wants protein, protein, protein, but we're going to go broke,” says Planells.
You can also add leaner, greener proteins into meaty dishes you already like. “If you're going to make a chili, what you can do instead of putting in like 2 lbs of ground beef is put in 1 lb of lean ground beef and double up or triple up on beans,” Blake suggests. “You cut the cost of that meal per serving, and you also decrease the saturated fat and increase the fiber per serving.”
Take baby steps
“Every time we have a meal or snack, it's an opportunity to try to make it as nutrient-rich as possible,” says Planells.
Movement is just as key to the Mediterranean lifestyle as the food is. When researchers originally started studying the diets and lifestyles of people in the region, Blake says, they found that physical activity was an important part. “We really need to start getting movement in our life as a habit,” says Blake.
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