What do you think?
Rate this book
The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Mediterranean Diet: Indulge in This Healthy, Balanced, Flavored Approach to Eating
Get everything you need to know to transform your health with the Mediterranean diet.
Whether you’re looking to lose weight or transform your health, The Complete Idiot’ Guide to the Mediterranean Diet is the only guide any beginner will need to get started with this life-changing diet. The Mediterranean diet is widely considered to be one of the healthiest diets on the planet, and but people often don’t know how to get started on it, or understand exactly what they can and can’t eat. This straightforward guide will give you everything you need to know to get started and stick with this amazing diet that can transform your health.
Here’s what you’ll find
• Everything you need to know about the Mediterranean diet , including how it works, the key components, and the health benefits, as well as how the Mediterranean diet stacks up against other popular diets
• More than 75 delicious, easy-to-prepare recipes —each with complete nutritional breakdowns
• The basics you need to know to get started with the diet, including how to transition from bad eating habits to healthy habits, how to shop for key ingredients and stock your pantry and fridge, and how to cook the Mediterranean way
• Detailed chapters on all the food groups and nutrition , including primers on olive oil and other key ingredients
Whether you’re looking to lose weight or transform your health, The Complete Idiot’ Guide to the Mediterranean Diet is the only guide any beginner will need to get started with this life-changing diet. The Mediterranean diet is widely considered to be one of the healthiest diets on the planet, and but people often don’t know how to get started on it, or understand exactly what they can and can’t eat. This straightforward guide will give you everything you need to know to get started and stick with this amazing diet that can transform your health.
Here’s what you’ll find
• Everything you need to know about the Mediterranean diet , including how it works, the key components, and the health benefits, as well as how the Mediterranean diet stacks up against other popular diets
• More than 75 delicious, easy-to-prepare recipes —each with complete nutritional breakdowns
• The basics you need to know to get started with the diet, including how to transition from bad eating habits to healthy habits, how to shop for key ingredients and stock your pantry and fridge, and how to cook the Mediterranean way
• Detailed chapters on all the food groups and nutrition , including primers on olive oil and other key ingredients
352 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2010
5 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 14, 2015
Excellent recipes. I'm ashamed that the more I read them the more I wanted old bay seasoned chicken wings. It's a shame you can't become healthy just by reading.
July 16, 2019
I loved the organization of this book. It was very easy to follow all the comprehensive information contained. The recipes are fairly easy to follow and I'm excited about more healthy eating.
January 25, 2023
This is a great resource, but very dated. The fact this author had to explain what a pomegranate is tells you how old this book is. But for anyone interested in this diet, this is a great resource for establishing a baseline.
June 15, 2018
Good info...easy to understand.
January 24, 2023
Helpful information with some good recipes.
June 15, 2014
I checked this out from the library due to my passion for anything food and diet related. I should probably clarify that I am by no means an expert on nutrition, but this was my take on it:
If someone is eating a typical modern American diet of frozen convenience foods, take-out and McDonalds...following the advice in this book will probably be a huge improvement to your diet and health. The authors advocate lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, modest amounts of meat and dairy, and very limited processed foods. This sounds great. Many of the recipes look quite tasty, too. So for people who aren't eating all that well and want an accessible diet and nutrition book, I would recommend this.
But to be honest, I wasn't that impressed by it. For one thing, some of the dietary advice runs contrary to what works best for me. Such as, they recommend canola oil. This is a highly industrialized product, which certainly never graced the kitchens of the traditional people of Crete or Sardinia, some of the long-lived populations of the Mediterranean. Personally, I would never recommend it. If olive oil doesn't work for you...use butter.
The authors also fall prey to the low-fat fad that plagued the nutrition landscape of the 1990s and beyond. While they point out that the traditional Med diet is NOT low-fat, they recommend choosing low-fat dairy. Again, I don't see why...especially as low-fat selections are, once again, a product of the modern food factory, not the traditional kitchen. Now that the evidence is casting doubt on the low-fat bandwagon, especially, I see no reason not to pick up the real thing.
Another point: I didn't think the advice or recipes seemed all that "Mediterranean," to be honest. For example, I have read that the traditional diet of Crete is rich in wild greens and snails, neither of which are featured in this book. In my own experience, I spent two years living in a country that borders the Med (Morocco), and this diet is not at all similar to what people eat there.
So where am I heading with all of this rambling? Well, diet cannot be divorced from the culture at large and then declared "healthy." I don't care what you eat, if you are sedentary and stressed out all the time, you won't see "Mediterranean" results. And this book does not really describe a true Med diet based on either my research (of Crete and Sardinia) or my experience (of living in Morocco, traveling in Spain, or learning to cook from Lebanese friends...who cultured their own most delectable full-fat yogurt!) But even so, I can't disparage this book too much, as it does have some advice which would help most industrialized eaters, as well as some yummy recipes.
If someone is eating a typical modern American diet of frozen convenience foods, take-out and McDonalds...following the advice in this book will probably be a huge improvement to your diet and health. The authors advocate lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, modest amounts of meat and dairy, and very limited processed foods. This sounds great. Many of the recipes look quite tasty, too. So for people who aren't eating all that well and want an accessible diet and nutrition book, I would recommend this.
But to be honest, I wasn't that impressed by it. For one thing, some of the dietary advice runs contrary to what works best for me. Such as, they recommend canola oil. This is a highly industrialized product, which certainly never graced the kitchens of the traditional people of Crete or Sardinia, some of the long-lived populations of the Mediterranean. Personally, I would never recommend it. If olive oil doesn't work for you...use butter.
The authors also fall prey to the low-fat fad that plagued the nutrition landscape of the 1990s and beyond. While they point out that the traditional Med diet is NOT low-fat, they recommend choosing low-fat dairy. Again, I don't see why...especially as low-fat selections are, once again, a product of the modern food factory, not the traditional kitchen. Now that the evidence is casting doubt on the low-fat bandwagon, especially, I see no reason not to pick up the real thing.
Another point: I didn't think the advice or recipes seemed all that "Mediterranean," to be honest. For example, I have read that the traditional diet of Crete is rich in wild greens and snails, neither of which are featured in this book. In my own experience, I spent two years living in a country that borders the Med (Morocco), and this diet is not at all similar to what people eat there.
So where am I heading with all of this rambling? Well, diet cannot be divorced from the culture at large and then declared "healthy." I don't care what you eat, if you are sedentary and stressed out all the time, you won't see "Mediterranean" results. And this book does not really describe a true Med diet based on either my research (of Crete and Sardinia) or my experience (of living in Morocco, traveling in Spain, or learning to cook from Lebanese friends...who cultured their own most delectable full-fat yogurt!) But even so, I can't disparage this book too much, as it does have some advice which would help most industrialized eaters, as well as some yummy recipes.
May 23, 2013
I really enjoyed the Complete Idiots Guide to the Mediterranean. It had a lot of information on the importance of eating healthy and of why each food group in the Mediterranean diet is important. It also had some great recipes. Love the book and the diet.
January 2, 2012
this book has lots of good tips and what look to be a few good recipes for changing my life style of eating. I think this is a good broad overview book, which is very helpful.
May 11, 2015
want to buy
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews