Mediterranean Way Research Articles

Mediterranean diet: not only food

The proposal of a Mediterranean way of life is much more than advise how to eat. The Mediterranean Diet, a model of Sustainable Diet, is an example of how to combine personal choices, economic, social and cultural rights, protective of human health and the ecosystem. There is in fact fundamental interdependence between dietary requirements, nutritional recommendations, production and consumption of food. In literature studies and nutritional and epidemiological monitoring activities at national and international level have found a lack of adherence to this lifestyle, due to the spread of the economy, lifestyles of the Western type and globalization of the production and consumption. To encourage the spread of a culture and a constant practice of the Mediterranean Diet, there are some tools that are presented in this article. The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid in addition to the recommendations on the frequency and portions of food, focuses on the choice of how to cook and eat food. The "Double Food Pyramid" encourages conscious food choices based on "healthy eating and sustainability. All the nutrition professionals and dietitians in particular should be constantly striving to encourage the adoption of a sustainable and balanced nutrition.

Conversations with Camus as foil, foe and fantasy in contemporary writing by Algerian authors of French expression

Albert Camus's conflicted legacy in Algeria not only reveals his vague place in the annuals of Algerian history, but also offers authors a means to segue into other moral, humanist and postcolonial questions confronting Algeria's post-années noires (the Dark Years, also known as the Black Decade), the rarely discussed and psychologically troubling 1990s civil war period. Challenging how history has been documented in Algeria since 1962, contemporary authors, Kamel Daoud and Hamid Grine, use Camus as a metaphorical foil to expose topical and often delicate issues, as well as the murky choices made by political authorities and the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) following decolonisation. What would have happened if Camus had stayed, and if Algerian revolutionaries had thought more about his pensée méditerranée (Mediterranean thought, or ‘a Mediterranean way of thinking'), a concept that, although flawed, did promote a certain unique Mediterranean, multicultural way of being-in-the-world?

Patio 2.12: Vivienda prefabricada, sostenible, autosuficiente y energéticamente eficiente. Participación en la competición Solar Decathlon Europe 2012

The prototype “Patio 2.12” was Andalucia Team’s proposal for the 2012 Solar Decathlon Competition (SDE 2012), that was held in Madrid during September 2012, where it was awarded several prizes like the first one in Energy Efficiency. The team comprised a group of teachers and students from four Andalusian Universities. It worked for two years in the design and construction of a housing prototype that could be an example of several concepts at the same time: energy efficiency, architectural integration of solar systems, intermediate scale of prefabrication and a today´s interpretation of traditional Mediterranean way of living and building. Patio 2.12 was intended to be a compendium of energy, sustainability and passive conditioning devices.

La fortune de la diète méditerranéenne

This article describes the recent registration of Mediterranean Diet in the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage as an historic issue of an approval process involving medicine, politics and myths about food. Indeed, the medico-scientific « discovery » of the benefits of this diet is coupled with social and political contexts focused on public health emergencies about « bad » food habits (mainly overweight and cardiovascular diseases). Thus, we will try to demonstrate how this patrimonialisation process implyied a global restyling of the so called Mediterranean way of eating, involving both a selection and reorganisation of its tangible (olive oil especially) and intangible components (historic transmission, healthy cuisine…) as an unique cultural pattern. The following analysis therefore deals with three interrelated social frames – public health counseling, political agenda setting, territorial redefining – that produce the « symbolic edibility » of the modern Mediterranean Diet.

Mediterranean Way of Drinking and Longevity

The relation between alcohol consumption and mortality is a J-shaped curve in most of the many studies published on this topic. The Copenhagen Prospective Population Studies demonstrated in the year 2000 that wine intake may have a beneficial effect on all cause mortality that is additive to that of alcohol. Wine contains various poliphenolic substances which may be beneficial for health and in particular flavonols (such as myricetin and quercetin), catechin and epicatechin, proanthocyanidins, anthocyanins, various phenolic acids and the stilbene resveratrol. In particular, resveratrol seems to play a positive effect on longevity because it increases the expression level of Sirt1, besides its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticarcinogenic properties. Moderate wine drinking is part of the Mediterranean diet, together with abundant and variable plant foods, high consumption of cereals, olive oil as the main (added) fat and a low intake of (red) meat. This healthy diet pattern involves a “Mediterranean way of drinking,” that is a regular, moderate wine consumption mainly with food (up to two glasses a day for men and one glass for women). Moderate wine drinking increases longevity, reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and does not appreciably influence the overall risk of cancer.

Nutrition and protein energy homeostasis in elderly

Protein-energy homeostasis is a major determinant of healthy aging. Inadequate nutritional intakes and physical activity, together with endocrine disturbances are associated with of sarcopenia and frailty. Guidelines from scientific societies mainly address the quantitative aspects of protein and energy nutrition in elderly. Besides these quantitative aspects of protein load, perspective strategies to promote muscle protein synthesis and prevent sarcopenia include pulse feeding, the use of fast proteins and the addition of leucine or citrulline to dietary protein. An integrated management of sarcopenia, taking into account the determinants of muscle wasting, i.e. nutrition, physical activity, anabolic factors such as androgens, vitamin D and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids status, needs to be tested in the prevention and treatment of sarcopenia. The importance of physical activity, specifically resistance training, is emphasized, not only in order to facilitate muscle protein anabolism but also to increase appetite and food intake in elderly people at risk of malnutrition. According to present data, healthy nutrition in elderly should respect the guidelines for protein and energy requirement, privilege a Mediterranean way of alimentation, and be associated with a regular physical activity. Further issues relate to the identification of the genetics determinants of protein energy wasting in elderly.

Sensory Attributes of Snail’s Meat Prepared in Different Ways

Snails are used in human nutrition daily in some regions of the world. The acceptability of snail meat affected by many different factors (habits, customs, etc.) but the most important is way of preparing. This paper describes sensory attributes of snail’s meat quality, prepared in two ways, French and Mediterranean. During meals preparation with snail’s meat, various supplements and spices can greatly enhance the sensory properties, especially smell and taste. Results of overall acceptability in this paper show that the Mediterranean way of prepared snails are statistically significant (p<0.05) more acceptable.

Drivers of Value In The Beer Market: Comparing an Imported And A National Brand

1. Introduction Today, Spain is the fourth largest producer of beer in the European Union and the ninth producer in the world. The brewing industry is a key economic sector within the Spanish agribusiness industry and beer is considered a beverage for social gathering and its consumption is integrated into patterns of Mediterranean way of living. Within the Spanish territory there are 6 large beer producer groups, the group Mahou, Heineken Espana, Damm Group, followed by other smaller brewery companies. Moreover, it should be stressed the presence of the Spanish National Association of Brewing Companies, entity that is composed of the represents all brewery groups in the beer industry. Spanish beer exports amounted in 2010 up to 902.575hl, to reach over the 75 million euros in sales outside the national territory. Nevertheless, if we analyze the total beer consumption in Spain, the data show that over 92% of consumption is domestically produced. This research aims two different objectives. In first place, obtain an approximation of the profile of Spanish beer consumer, and secondly, to compare the Brand Equity for a national and an imported beer brand. So, this study has been structured as follows. It begins with the theoretical framework, then it sets out the research objectives. In section four, the methodology is analyzed. Then, in the fifth section, we present the results, to continue with the conclusions. 2. Antecedents and Theoretical Framework 2.1 The Concept of Brand Equity The brand has become one of the main intangible assets of companies (Keller and Lehmann, 2003). A very relevant aspect is to understand the value of brands, especially from the consumers' standpoint. For this purpose, there are several theoretical models, characterized by the selection of different variables related to consumer behavior, perceptions and preferences (Aaker, 1991, 1996; Keller, 1993). The most recent literature on Brand Equity has focused on developing models for the measurement of Brand Equity, as well as for the analysis of the variables determining Brand Equity (Yoo and Donthu, 2002; Pappu, et al, 2005). According to the literature on brand equity lies in the minds of consumers (Leone et al, 2006), and several authors like Aaker (1991, 1996) and Keller (1993, 2007) have proposed models for measuring Brand Equity, characterized by the use of different variables that are related to consumer behavior, perceptions and preferences. Among these theoretical models, there are a number of researches that emphasize the multidimensional nature of Brand Equity (Lassar et al., 1995; Agarwal and Rao, 1996, Kim et al, 2008). Out of all these models there is worth mentioning those proposed by Aaker (1991, 1996) and Keller (1993), since they had a great acceptance in the literature (Yoo and Donthu, 2001; Pappu et al, 2005, 2007; Jung and Sung, 2008). According to Aaker (1991), Brand Equity is a multidimensional concept, which could be defined as the set of assets linked to the brand, its name or logo, that either add or reduce the value provided by a product or service offered from a company to its customers. Following Aaker (1991), Brand Equity consists of five dimensions that are brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality, brand associations -or brand image-, and finally, other assets linked to the brand. Below, we analyze each one of these dimensions. In first place, brand awareness is concept related with the recognition and the recall that the consumer has of a particular brand, as well as their ability to identify the brand in some particular situations (Rossiter and Percy, 1987). The role of brand awareness depends on the level of notoriety a particular brand has reached on the market; so the higher the brand reputation, the greater likelihood that the brand would be considered in the purchase set (Nedungadi, 1990). Other authors, such as Hoyer (1990), point out that that consumers who are capable to recognize and remember a determinate brand within a given product category, are more likely to buy it, because products and familiar brands are usually preferred to those less familiar. …

Cancer prevention in Europe

In the coming years, European death rates because of cancer will further decline, but the overall number of cases will increase, mostly as a consequence of the ageing of the population. The target for cancer prevention in Europe will remain a healthy diet and control of obesity in addition to a decrease in smoking. A healthy diet model in European countries is the traditional Mediterranean diet, which is based on abundant and variable plant foods, high consumption of cereals, olive oil as the main (added) fat, low intake of (red) meat and moderate consumption of wine. The Mediterranean diet is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. The biological mechanisms for cancer prevention associated with the Mediterranean diet have been related to the favourable effect of a balanced ratio of omega 6 and omega 3 essential fatty acids and high amounts of fibre, antioxidants and polyphenols found in fruit, vegetables, olive oil and wine. The Mediterranean diet also involves a 'Mediterranean way of drinking', that is, regular, moderate consumption of wine mainly with food. This pattern of drinking increases longevity, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and does not appreciably influence the overall risk of cancer. However, heavy alcohol drinking is associated with digestive, upper respiratory tract, liver and breast cancers; therefore, avoidance or restriction of alcohol consumption to two drinks/day in men and one drink/day in women is a global public health priority.

The Mediterranean Diet and Your Health

The Mediterranean diet has long been celebrated as the gold standard of healthy diets for its highly palatable nature and favorable impact on the prevention of chronic diseases, promotion of greater longevity, and quality of life. A large body of scientific evidence has accumulated over the past several decades showing that Mediterranean-type diets are highly protective against the development of cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and certain cancers. A single definition of the Mediterranean diet is difficult because of the diversity of dietary habits of more than the 18 countries with coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea. There are, however, general food patterns that unify the variable diets of the Mediterranean people and reflect the more traditional eating pattern of the southern Mediterranean region during the early 1960s. Dr Ancel Keys wrote of this diet in his first book on the topic, titled How to Eat Well and Stay Well the Mediterranean Way, as a diet that provides clues for why the health profile of the Mediterranean countries was more favorable than the rest of the world during that period. The Mediterranean eating pattern warrants attention because this eating style has been repeatedly associated with protection against several chronic degenerative diseases and disorders. Although it is not clear yet which components of the diet provide the greatest health benefits, likely candidates have emerged in the literature that, when consumed collectively, provide a dietary pattern that is highly protective. Several potential explanations and biological mechanisms of action against the pathogenesis of chronic disease that these foods provide are reviewed.

Mediterranean way of eating: From epidemiology to clinical care

Mediterranean way of eating: From epidemiology to clinical care

NUTRITION: ILLUSTRATED

Eating the Mediterranean Way — For People with Diabetes has been produced by the Olive Oil Information Bureau. It incorporates the British Diabetic Association's latest recommendations which indicate that people with diabetes can benefit from eating a Mediterranean style diet high in complex carbohydrates such as pasta and rice, including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, little meat, fish and deriving most of the fat intake from olive oil. The leaflet includes information on the amount and type of fat people with diabetes should eat and which foods contain which type of fat. It also covers some of the scientific research on mono‐unsaturated fatty acids as well as the main ingredients of a Mediterranean style diet and the production of olive oil. Supplies of the leaflet, up to 50, are available free from Mediterranean Diet Leaflet, Olive Oil Information Bureau, 4 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3RA.

DARK AGE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MEDITERRANEAN WAY OF LIFE

ABSTRACT The Dark Age of Greece was the gestation period of Greek culture and the incubation of the Mediterranean way of life. Greek colonization of the west, based on grains and wine, was the earliest specialized commercial agriculture of the Mediterranean basin. Innovations were made in the arts, shipbuilding and bulk commerce, military tactics, the spread of iron, the use of waterproof plaster, and the use of the olive for food. Perhaps any period of cultural florescence is the result of germination in earlier, possibly unnoted, times. Depressions may be necessary to progress, because they provide a release from bureaucratic paralysis, and permit talented individuals to experiment with innovations. Innovations occur in politically fallow periods, and the spectacular events which fascinate historians are not conducive to human progress.