|
|
|
Mediterranean Madness Makes Sense!
 If there aren’t already plenty of reasons to envy life in the Mediterranean, here’s another: The traditional Mediterranean diet continues to be the healthiest, as well as one of the most delicious food lifestyles, in the world.
For years, Registered Dietitians have been lauding the Mediterranean diet as a way to lower heart disease risk. Now the latest evidence also suggests that it doesn’t just lower heart disease risk but may also protect people who already have had a heart attack!
|
|
|
 In the GISSI-Prevenzione Study, presented at the conference of the American Heart Association, Italian scientists followed 11,324 Italians who had suffered heart attacks, keeping track of the amounts of Mediterranean-style foods they ate as well as their intake of butter, a decidedly non-Mediterranean food. Those who slathered on butter were three times more likely to succumb to disease earlier in life as those who filled their plates with the four traditional Mediterranean foods (vegetable, fruit, fish, and olive oil).
Other new findings suggest that the Mediterranean diet also:
- Prevents LDL (the bad cholesterol) in the blood stream from damaging the lining of blood vessels (a process known as oxidation).
- Lowers blood pressure, which would further decrease heart disease danger.
- Lowers the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
- Helps prevent allergic rhinitis and asthma symptoms in youngsters.
 OK! So what is the Mediterranean Diet?
To be exact, there is not merely one Mediterranean diet. What is eaten varies significantly from one Mediterranean country to another. However, the shared features of what is usually spoken of as the Mediterranean-style diet are as follows:
- High consumption of fruits, vegetables, bread and other cereals, beans, nuts and seeds
- Olive oil is the key monounsaturated fat source used in cooking
- Dairy products, fish and poultry are consumed in low to moderate amounts
- Little red meat is eaten
- Eggs are eaten zero to four times a week
- Wine only in moderate amounts
What makes the Mediterranean diet different is this is a low-fat diet that focuses on limiting saturated (and trans) fats. This means replacing your red meat, butter, and full-fat milk with fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, olive oil, and skim milk. Although this is not a vegetarian diet, there is a strong emphasis on plant foods.
Eating the Mediterranean way is definitely a more healthful eating choice for your life. But without clear and precise nutrition guidance, you can easily become frustrated and confused (for instance, binging on nuts just because they are healthy). Therefore, figuring out your individual needs with the help of a Registered Dietitian is key. Without knowing how much to eat, you are going to have a tough time watching your portion sizes.
Ask your Sound Family Medicine physician if he thinks you are an appropriate patient to benefit from nutrition therapy (a physician referral is warranted). Many insurance companies will cover up to 90% of the cost of the 'Physician Prescribed Medical Nutrition Therapy' consultation, with qualifying diagnoses. Also, check your employee benefits plan at work. Some plans cover up to $500 for counseling by a Registered Dietitian per year.
Once you experience the delicious and healthy choices the Mediterranean diet has to offer, it just might become your new lifestyle! Glittering beaches, hillsides stitched with gnarled grape vines, lemon trees glistening in the sun…
Brooke Douglas, RD, CD
NutritionAuthority.com
Here is a link to buy the book for yourself:
http://beta.bordersstores.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0060578785
Back to top of
page |
|
SFM brings Dr. Komarow to Bonney Lake
Clinic
 In joining Sound Family Medicine, Dr. Julie Komarow has come full-circle. She began her career in family medicine 21 years ago with Everett Family Practice Center. After the closure of EFPC in 2001, she found herself working for a corporate owned clinic in Covington for the past five years.
The opportunity to join SFM, and return to an environment in which the bottom line is excellent patient care, proved irresistible. “I wanted to go back to a physician owned and run practice, providing full-spectrum family medicine – that’s where I came from and where I belong,” Dr. Komarow emphasizes.
With Sound Family Medicine, Dr. Komarow will provide family and hospital medicine, with a special emphasis on obstetrics and preventive care. As a breast cancer survivor, Dr. Komarow has a personal perspective on the value of heading off problems before they become serious. Patients who select her as their provider need to plan on seeing her on at least a yearly basis, she says.
The daughter of an Air Force pilot, she inherited a love for speed and has given it an outlet competing in sprint and endurance races with local and national sports car clubs. She has driven BMWs and Porsches in races all over the US. “Just don’t call me ‘Camaro’, she says, semi-jokingly. “I’m a German car kind of woman.” (Her name is pronounced ‘Comma-Row’.)
At the opposite end of the speed and noise spectrum, she and her husband also own six llamas, who behave more like big dogs than livestock. Smart and affectionate, each has its own personality. She adds that the llamas ride nonchalantly in the family van when heading out on a camping/hiking trip.
Dr. Komarow grew up all over the U.S., but has lived in the Pacific Northwest since high school. She knew that Washington state was where she wanted to live and practice medicine. “Family medicine specialists are much appreciated in Washington’s medical community,” Dr. Komarow says, and the partnership between primary care providers and specialists provides patients with care that’s both efficient and effective. The respect other physicians hold for Dr. Komarow is evident in the fact that, for the last 15+ years, she has represented the state as a trustee for the Washington State Medical Association and as a delegate to the American Medical Association.
Dr. Komarow looks forward to serving her existing patients, as well as new patients, in the Bonney Lake area beginning later this month.
Back to top of
page |
| |
