Why mediterranean diet and not american's?

Unlike American food for example, Mediterranean is a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, beans, and seeds provides thousands of micronutrients, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that can help protect against cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease, among other conditions, experts say.

Studies show the Mediterranean diet's protective effect against obesity and type 2 diabetes is  likely due to its high proportion of plant foods, fish, and olive oil, along with moderate consumption of alcohol.

And it's important to note that the Mediterranean lifestyle is not just about food and wine; it also includes regular physical activity. Not only is the typical American diet much higher in calories and saturated fat, we are more sedentary. As a result, our rates of heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes are among the highest in the world.

How about "Pasta"?

I like all types of pasta, but I could not talk about all in one post, I also like word games so I'll start by Pttanesca Pasta.

Pasta Puttanesca roughly translates as “pasta in the style of a whore” – no doubt an enterprising whore who’s a little salty, a little spicy, and has plenty of bite to her.
Legend has it “ladies of the night” would lure customers into houses of ill repute with the enticing aroma of this sauce simmering away.

Quick, easy, cheap, delicious…

The dish is full of salt and brine – olives, capers, anchovies – flavors typical of Southern Italian cuisine.

I’ve thrown in some fresh touches to this Puttanesca, but in a pinch you could omit the eggplant, onion, garlic, or fresh herbs, and the essence of the dish would remain intact.

In a little time, we had a bowl full of delicious pasta to dig into, full of flavors. that was a brilliant combination in the night.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

24 ounces tomato sauce
1 pound spaghetti or angel hair pasta
5 ounces Italian tuna, packed in olive oil
2 ounces anchovies, packed in olive oil
1 eggplant, diced (and peeled if you prefer)
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olives (green or Kalamata), roughly chopped
1 teaspoon capers
1 tablespoon sugar
Red pepper flakes to taste
A handful of fresh oregano, parsley, or chives (finely chopped)
Preparation

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the pasta.
Over medium heat, pour the olive oil from the tuna and anchovies into a large saucepan. Add the onion and sautee until translucent. Add the eggplant and garlic; sautee until the eggplant is softened and the onions begin to caramelize.
Add the anchovies and stir until they have melted down. Add the tuna, breaking it into small chunks, and sautee for another minute or so.
Add the tomato sauce, olives, capers, sugar, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer. Serve over pasta and garnish with fresh herbs.

In summary, Whore and pasta: customer satisfaction, guaranteed.

Why "Hot Dogs"?

Have you ever asked to yourself why the
famous “ hot dog” is called that way?
I have the answer, I have been reading
about that funny and typical food of America. Its name is due to “hot
dogs” were thought to be made with dogs meat when they were
commercialized for the first time, of course, that was not true.
This product has been called in
different ways through the time, first; it was called “hot dog”
in 1830, then, after knowing the truth of its contain, ten years
later, it was called “sandwich dog” , and finally when the
“shops” that served this aliment at night they started to be
called “dog wagons”.

Spain´s products...

Since Spain almost got the best status on healthy food, now we can see how our own products are being sent to foreign countries.
Some years ago, we could not imagine that something so delicious for us, such as the iberican ham, could be sent to countries like China or North America.
This fact, let us to notice that we have the best products and the best manpower, that make others pay any price for them.
And talking about sweetness too, even thought that the sweetness and fast food is all around the world, ours are the most healthy, because while other countries use butter to cook we use a very healthy olive oil, which make the food way less greasy.

Having said this, we still can find some stadistics, which show, that there is still a middle-high index of chilhood obesity in Spain.
How is this? If we are one of the healthier country in the world... maybe bacause the bad food served in schools and public places?
Should some vending machines be avoided? Or should the media change towards the food served in public statemnts? Such as fish instead of hamburguers, or vegetables instead of pizzas and so on.. Do you think that would resolve the problem and low the index of chilhood obesity?

What do you think about that?

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_barber_s_surprising_foie_gras_parable.html 

I got seriously terrified after listening to the explanation of how the foie gras is obtained from the animal. I do not even eat foie gras, I have just tried it once in my life and now I’m happy by saying that. I am a fauna’s lover and I always do care about animals so after seeing that video I felt so bad about those poor animals. Since I do not eat foie gras I am curious about what is the opinion of any person who eats it and learns how that product is achieved. Can anyone eat it after knowing the “dark side” of the chain of its production?

Bad Feeding in my opinion...

The statement that our Mediterranean food is a healthy way of feeding is completely true. I think so because it is obvious and also because, as Alba, I was in London, in fact I went with her and other friends and we could see their style of life there. Their food is basically based on fast food. No one can have breakfast nor lunch in his or her own home so they do that outside. Although some Mediterranean people have to do that too, at least we have good quality food available at any bar or restaurant, also at supermarkets, but my experience abroad teached me that this is not that way in other places. I remember that we were in London for few days and that we travelled with a low cost company so we neither wanted to spend so much money in other things, since it was a cheap trip. One night we had dinner at the hotel so we went to buy a pizza or something fast to cook. I got very surprised when we did not find precisely a lot of kind of pizzas. We decided to buy a simple one and then add ingredients to it. But my surprise was bigger when searching for ingredients as ham or something like that we find nothing! and the only ingredients that we found, in terms of sausages, were too expensive ones and they also did not look desirable...

The Quality of Food in Different Countries

First, the concept of that
Mediterranean food is very tasty and good for our health is a
widespread belief but I feel that I am almost obliged to affirm it;
It is true !. I have been abroad during a month with five more
friends, living in a house, and we had to buy our own food and cook
it.
I must admit that the quality in food
differed so much from Spanish food; Fruits and vegetables for example
look great but when you try them you realize that they have not the
same quality than they have in Spain. It is due to the weather
conditions of the other countries which have not the same hours of
sun than us, due to that, fruits and vegetables have to grow up in
greenhouses and with lots of chemicals products.
Another interesting point to deal with
is that people is used to eat fast food several times in a week; fast
food is becoming the common food for busy persons that have not time
to cook by themselves, so we reach the conclusion that this kind of
food is becoming the base of their feeding. I am including a picture
of some portions of pizza that we bought in the street in London,
they were sold like pieces of bread in Spain !.

Finally , I confess that I am really afraid of this new way of living, I think that we live faster everyday, and that is bringing consequences to our health and to our life quality