5. Seafood Seafood: D escribes, collectively, fish and other aquatic animals such as crustaceans and molluscs. Fish: Aquatic vertebrates having gills, fins and typically an elongated body usually covered with scales. Crustaceans: A large family of arthropod animals, characterised by a hard, close-fitting shell that is shed periodically. Includes crabs, lobsters shrimps. Molluscs: Invertebrates characterised by a soft unsegmented body with a calcareous shell (clams, mussels,oyster) or without (squid,octopus,cuttlefish).

6. Health benefits fish consumption Disease or health condition Strong evidence or significant health benefits Promising preliminary results Possible health benefits (require more substantiation) Coronary heart disease X High blood pressure X Irregular heart beat (arrhythmia) X Diabetes X Bowel cancer X Laryngeal cancer X Pancreatic cancer X Asthma X Rheumatoid arthritis X Crohn’s disease X Neural development X Memory X Depression X

7. Health benefits fish consumption In the last decade it has been observed that the consumption of two or more servings of fish per week is associated with a lower prevalence of heart disease . Beneficial effects of seafood consumption have also been reported for other diseases or conditions. These benefits have been linked to the long-chain, highly poly-unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids , eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which are found in seafood. This has further highlighted the possibility of additional health benefits associated with eating fish.

8. Seafood is high in beneficial fats Humans can manufacture some types of fatty acids in the body, but must obtain those essential for good health (the poly-unsaturated omega-3 and omega-6) from diet. Omega-3 fats are best found in fish (walnut, flaxseed) Omega-6 fats are also found in seafood of all kinds: crustaceans, molluscs, shellfish and, to a variable extent, fish. Regular seafood intake plays an important role in allowing a healthy ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids. Food plants alone may not provide enough essential fatty acids , especially long-chain omega-3 fats. These are best obtained from seafood.

9. Seafood is high in Omega-3 Species Oil (%) Omega-3 (mg/100g) DHA (mg/100g) Shark 0,9 300 250 Swordfish 7,7 1350 550 Spanish mackerel 1,2 400 275 Atlantic salmon 2,7 650 425 Tiger prawn 0,8 180 75 Blue mussel 1,7 330 170 Oyster 1,0 300 150 Anchovies 1478 Eel 653 Trout 1175 Fresh tuna 1298

10. Don’t overlook small oily fish Wild fish are among the healthiest things you can eat, yet many wild fish stocks are on the verge of collapse because of overfishing. Avoid big fish at the top of the food chain – tuna, swordfish, shark – because they’re endangered, and because they often contain high levels of mercury . Fortunately, a few of the most nutritious wild fish species, including mackerel, sardines and anchovies , are well managed, and in some cases are even abundant. Those oily little fish are particularly good choices . According to a Dutch proverb, “A land with lots of herring can get along with few doctors”.

11. Seafood and Selenium Selenium is now recognised as an essential element for humans; it plays a major role in the enzymes that make up part of the body’s antioxidant defence and other systems. It helps to prevent DNA damage caused by various chemicals and radiation. Dietary deficiency of selenium has not been demonstrated in humans — although animals on a deficient diet develop a number of symptoms including retarded growth, muscular dystrophy and necrosis of the heart, kidney and liver. Seafood can be a useful source of dietary selenium . In the Usa, low levels of selenium in soils make this an important factor.

12. Seafood and Co-Enzyme Q10 Seafood is one of the good sources of C-Enz.Q10. Although more than 40 years ago C-Enz.Q10 was known to function as an anti-oxidant at the sub-cellular level , it has only recently received attention in relation to its food sources. C-Enz.Q10 concentrations rise under the influence of oxidative stress (e.g.physical exercise) and in degenerative conditions of the brain, such as Alzheimer’s disease, whereas it is reported that its concentrations drop in several diseases, including degenerative muscle diseases and liver carcinomas . Although C-Enz.Q10 can be synthesised in the body, additional intake from food is required.

13. Seafood and Taurine Seafood contains a large amount of taurine. This amino acid is known for its role in the formation and excretion of bile salts, which are the breakdown products of cholesterol. It also plays a role in the function of the neonatal retina and in cognitive function

14. Which is better — fish or fish oil supplements? On the basis of omega-3 fatty acid content, fish oil is an attractive commodity, because it has a higher concentration of these than the whole fish. Fish oil can be a useful option for people who are unable to eat seafood, or who cannot eat it in quantities sufficient for their health needs. For example, to achieve the required effects of omega-3 fatty acids, some people may need to have the equivalent of 2–3 servings (at 100 grams per serving) of fish a day, or about 6–9 grams of fish fat per day (an average fish has about 3 grams fat per 100 grams).

15. Which is better — fish or fish oil supplements? Such effects may be to reduce the concentration of blood triglyceride (a blood fat), decrease the risk of an abnormal heart rhythm or perhaps correct a mood disorder (depression). Fish oil may achieve these effects much more conveniently than eating fish. However, some health effects of fish are not seen with fish oil.

16. Which is better, fish or fish oil supplements? Reduction of high blood pressure is an example; this is thought to be due to the relatively higher proportion of DHA to EPA in fish compared with that in fish oils. Again, factors from the flesh (muscle) of fish, other than fatty acids — such as protein and its amino acid content, micronutrients, or C.E Q10 — may be important to health. In fish there are also factors that are anti-oxidants, which protect the poly-unsaturated fatty acids from oxidation — whether before or after ingestion. These may not be as well represented in fish oil, although this can be addressed during processing .

17. Which is better — fish or fish oil supplements? On the whole, it can be said that seafood in general is to be preferred to fish oil, but where larger amounts of omega-3 fatty acids are needed and fish intake is a problem, fish oil can play a valuable health role.

19. Healthy ways to cook seafood Cooking seafood with various herbs could also be beneficial to health, for ex., supplementing seafood with garlic can significantly lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Spices and herbs are normally anti-oxidants as well . They can also help to preserve the essential fatty acid value of seafood and reduce the formation of potentially harmful chemicals such as heterocyclic amines (derivates of amino acids in proteins) if seafood is over-cooked . Fish do not lose their positive health benefits by being canned; in olive or canola oil they bring with them the health benefits of these oils; canned in brine or spring water, there are less calories.

24. YOGURT Why is yogurt important?

30. Yogurt Recipe A healthy Mediterranean Diet Recipe is “Turkish apricots stuffed with sweet, thick yogurt” (page 449 Mediterranean Diet Cookbook) where the ingredients are dried apricots, yogurt, pistachios, sugar and sweet dessert wine (Moscato).

31. Yogurt Recipe A healthy Mediterranean Diet Sauce is “Cacik” “Yogurt and cucumber sauce” (pages 59-60 Mediterranean Diet Cookbook) where the ingredients are yogurt, cucumbers, sea salt, garlic, white wine vinegar, dried mint, red chili pepper and fresh mint leaves. You can use this as a salad or you might serve it as a dip with bread or raw vegetable crudités.

35. milk fat Protein lactose minerals water human 4.0 1.1 6.8 0.2 88 cow 3.7 3.4 4.8 0.7 87 Holstein/ friesian 3.6 3.4 4.9 0.7 87 Brown swiss 4.0 3.6 4.7 0.7 87 lersey 5.2 3.9 4.9 0.7 85 zebu 4.7 3.3 4.9 0.7 86 buffalo 6.9 3.8 5.1 0.8 83 yak 6.5 5.8 4.6 0.8 82 goat 4.0 3.4 4.5 0.8 88 sheep 7.5 6.0 4.8 1.0 80 camel 2.9 3.9 5.4 0.8 87 reindeer 17 11 2.8 1.5 68 horse 1.2 2.0 6.3 0.3 90 Fin whale 42 12 1.3 1.4 43

47. Meat a special occasion food While it’s true that vegetarians are generally healthier than carnivores, that doesn’t mean you need to eliminate meat from Mediterranean Diet. Meat, which humans have been eating and relishing for a very long time is nourishing food. Mediterranean Diet suggest “mostly” plants not only. People who eat meat a couple of times per week are just as healthy as vegetarians . But the average American eats meat as part of two or even three meals a day – and there is evidence that the more meat there is in your diet – red meat in particular – the greater you risk of heart disease and cancer.

48. Eat animals that have themselves eaten well The diet of the animals we eat strongly influences the nutritional quality, and healthfulness, of the food we get from them, whether it is meat or milk or eggs. This should be self-evident, yet it is a truth routinely overlooked by the industrial food chain in its quest to produce vast quantities of cheap animal protein. That quest has changed the diet of most of our food animals in ways that have often damaged their health and healthfulness. We feed animals a high-energy diet of grain to make them grow quickly, even in the case of ruminants that have evolved to eat grass.

49. Eat animals that have themselves eaten well But even food animals that can tolerate grain are much healthier when they have access to green plants – and so, it turns out, are their meat and eggs. The food from these animals will contain much healthier types of fat (more omega-3s, less omega-6s) as well as appreciably higher levels of vitamins and antioxidants (For the same reason, meat from wild animals is particularly nutritious).

51. Eat wild meat when you can Wild animals and fish too are worth adding to your diet when you have the opportunity. Wild game generally has less saturated and more healthy fats than domesticated animals, because most of these wild animals themselves eat a diverse diet of plants rather than grain. Wild meat, is farm, hunt and find roaming in a natural state ( brado) in many regions of Italy. The principal game animals are wild boar ( cinghiale), red deer ( cervo ), roe deer ( capriolo), fallow deer ( daino) , hare (lepre), rabbit ( coniglio selvatico), pheasant ( fagiano)

52. Wild Boar Wild boar, still roams the wooded areas of north and central Italy and the south, where forage of various kinds and ponds and streams provide it with a congenial habitat. The meat is like rare-breed pork. A typical Tuscan recipe select the loin of a young animal, cut it into chunks, and brown it in olive oil with bay leaves and garlic, then add a glass of white wine and simmer slowly until tender, topping up with wine as needed. This method yields a tender, pale, aromatic meat, gentler than the treatment needed for an older beast. The meat of wild boar, especially in Tuscany, where it is got by hunting is used in cold cuts (salumi) like wild boar ham.