This diet helped me in many ways, except for one personal challenge.
Reviewed by Dietitian Katey Davidson, M.Sc.FN, RD, CPT
Key Points
- The Mediterranean diet may improve energy and reduce afternoon crashes.
- Anti-inflammatory foods may help reduce aches and joint stiffness.
- The diet is easy to customize based on personal needs and preferences.
I don’t typically follow strict diets, instead opting to eat food that makes me feel good, and foods that I feel good about eating. For the last decade or so, that has meant following a flexitarian diet packed mostly with plants, whole grains and dairy, and only occasionally consuming animal protein (choosing local producers whenever possible).
But as with most things in life, my diet ebbs and flows. Whether it’s due to season changes, my schedule, stress, major life events or the whims of my family, I’m familiar with switching things up. As life continues to change, so do my health priorities, which means looking for ways to improve my nutrition to support long-term health. This had me thinking: What would it look like if I strictly followed a diet known as one of the best for weight management, healthy aging and heart and brain health?
To find out, I followed a Mediterranean diet for two weeks, tracking any changes and benefits I experienced, in addition to the challenges I faced along the way. Despite its name, the Mediterranean diet isn’t about eating foods only from that region of the world. Rather, it’s an eating pattern that emphasizes whole, minimally processed foods, particularly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, lean proteins and healthy fats.
So, why did I try the Mediterranean diet? First, research shows it may improve cholesterol, blood pressure and cardiovascular health. As a busy 44-year-old dad, those are all things I’m acutely concerned about, so this was a no-brainer. But perhaps just as important, the Mediterranean diet isn’t too far from how I already like to eat, so the flavors would feel familiar and comforting. The good news is, I saw some clear benefits pretty quickly, but I also experienced some very unique and personal challenges along the way.
Improved Energy
The very first thing I noticed while eating a diet consisting mostly of whole grains, plants, olive oil and fatty fish was improved energy throughout the day. My mornings started with tangy smoothies, often with berries, avocado, kale, beets, almonds, cherries or spinach, all of which are chock-full of fiber, vitamins and antioxidants. For busy weekday mornings, I liked to have jars of overnight oats ready to go. My kids love them, too, and they are super easy to customize.
Starting the day with fiber-rich breakfasts meant I felt full and satisfied until lunch. In the past, I often skipped breakfast until about 10 a.m., usually just eating a piece of toast with peanut butter or a bowl of cereal and milk. Just an hour later I’d be hungry again, but eating Mediterranean diet breakfasts helped sustain me for several hours, meaning less late-morning snacking.
My afternoon energy crashes seemed to vanish within a matter of days. My lunches consisted of grain bowls, salads and baked sweet potatoes. Importantly, all of my lunches included protein, like leftover chicken breasts, tinned fish, quinoa and beans. This may seem like a no-brainer, but I typically eat a very light lunch, perhaps a quick sandwich or a handful of salad greens with a simple vinaigrette. Having a more substantial, fiber-rich and protein-packed lunch meant I felt energized to take on the rest of the afternoon.
Reduced Joint Stiffness
While improved energy was noticeable quite quickly, it took more than a week to feel looser and less tense in my joints. I can’t make bold statements that all the inflammation in my body vanished in just two weeks—because that simply isn’t true, nor could I measure it myself—but my body felt a little better by the end of my experiment.
That said, it makes sense that I noticed some improvements. After all, the Mediterranean diet is known for its anti-inflammatory benefits. It’s packed with anti-inflammatory foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, fatty fish and perhaps most importantly, extra-virgin olive oil. Together, these foods provide antioxidants and other phytonutrients that can help keep inflammation at bay. Plus, the diet discourages more pro-inflammatory foods, like processed foods high in saturated fats and sugar.
For joint health, research points to the Mediterranean diet as helpful for reducing joint pain, especially in people with arthritis. There’s less research, though, on joint health in individuals without arthritis or other inflammatory conditions.
It’s likely that two weeks isn’t long enough to feel the full impact of this diet on inflammation, but I woke up with less aches and found my recovery after workouts was shorter than in the past. While anecdotal, this alone makes me want to continue the diet to explore its full anti-inflammatory potential.
Digestive Changes
Here’s where the diet had mixed results for me. Some days my gut felt happy, gurgling pleasantly with minimal bloating. However, many days were the exact opposite, filled with painful bloating and cramps. The reason is pretty simple: I’m unfortunately impacted by certain carbohydrates, known as FODMAPs (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols), which can contribute to painful bloating.
It took me many years to determine that my body doesn’t do well with galacto-oligosaccharides, which are found in legumes. As a result, I’ve practically eliminated all beans from my diet over the last several years. In addition, I have a tough time with onions and garlic, though those are actually easier to avoid on the Mediterranean diet, especially when cooking at home.
For the sake of this experiment, however, I tried including more legumes into my diet. I actually love the taste of black beans, butter beans, lentils and chickpeas, so I was happy to give them another try. I learned the hard way that moderation wasn’t enough for me, and I had to drastically limit my servings to about ¼ cup per day. I still experienced occasional pain, but at least I know it’s due to my personal sensitivities, not a flaw in the Mediterranean diet itself.
With some modifications throughout the two-week experiment, I was able to find foods that worked well for my digestion, including fish, nuts, seeds and fresh vegetables. I was pleasantly surprised that my gut felt pretty good on days I ate foods like quinoa, farro and wheat berries, all grains that taste delicious and are easy to prepare in advance for lunches and dinners.
Thankfully, the Mediterranean diet is an eating pattern, not doctrine. That meant I could customize it based on my personal needs and preferences.
My Overall Take
A couple of weeks is a great starting point for any diet, but it’s certainly not long enough to see all the impacts on health. For example, I didn’t do any lab work to test my cholesterol, blood sugar or inflammatory markers before or after this experiment, so it would be unfair to make bold claims about the diet improving my health. But anecdotally, there were noticeable improvements.
In just two weeks, I noticed substantially better energy throughout the day, and by the end of the experiment I frequently woke up with fewer aches and pains. Aside from navigating my personal challenges with digesting certain carbohydrates, I’m incredibly impressed with how I felt on the Mediterranean diet. Another bonus? My wife loved it too, so you bet we’ll stick with it to see how this way of eating continues to improve our lives.
Comments are closed.