At Luna Grill, we value healthy food choices above all else. That’s why we’re here to tell you about a breakthrough nutrition plan: The Mediterranean keto diet.
Read on to learn about how easy it is to follow and to get some inspiration for delicious, diet-approved meal ideas.
What Is the Mediterranean Diet?
Recently, the Mediterranean diet has surged in popularity. But did you know that the diet first gained traction in the 1960s? It all began when a scientist named Ancel Keys successfully proved that the traditional dietary habits of people living in the Mediterranean region (in countries like Greece, France, and Spain, for example) contributed to enhanced cardiovascular health.
So what exactly is the Mediterranean diet, and what makes it so healthy? All-natural, plant-based foods such as vegetables, grains, beans, fruit, olive oil, and fish make up the bulk of this healthy eating pattern.
More specifically, there are four basic principles that the diet follows.
- The majority of calories stem from carbohydrates including whole grains, legumes, lentils, fruits, and veggies. Over 50 percent of the diet is carbs.
- Fish and legumes provide most of the diet’s protein, rather than processed meat. Roughly 15 percent of the diet is proteins.
- Olive oil and select dairy products comprise the bulk of the fat intake, which makes up around 35 percent of the diet.
- Moderate consumption of red wine is a plus.
All in all, the main factor that sets the Mediterranean diet apart from a typical Western diet is a lack of processed foods and animal fats. This eating style is considered one of the best dietary strategies for maintaining good health and weight.
What Is the Keto Diet?
The ketogenic diet, also known as the ‘keto’ diet, is high in fats, low in carbohydrates, and consists of a low to moderate amount of proteins. Like the Mediterranean diet, this eating pattern has a long history. The keto diet was originally used in the early 1900s to treat epilepsy. The main objective of the keto diet is to achieve ketosis. This metabolic state occurs when your body produces energy by burning fat and producing ketones rather than burning glucose. To enter and sustain ketosis, people must limit their intake of carbs to five to 10 percent of their daily calories, 75 percent of their daily calories from fat, and 10 to 20 percent from protein. Doing so initiates a process in the liver called ketogenesis which is responsible for ketones. You might be wondering, where does all that fat come from? On a keto diet, your fat intake should not consist of stereotypical, unhealthy fatty foods like bacon, butter, and steak. To reap all of the possible benefits that the keto diet has to offer, stick with healthy fatty foods like olive oil, salad dressing, nuts and seeds, and high-fat produce such as avocados.
The most important trick to remember when adopting a keto diet is to avoid high-carb foods such as grains, sugar, fruit, and starchy vegetables. This can be accomplished by setting and following macronutrient rules.
Differences Between the Mediterranean and Keto Diets
Let’s review what sets the Mediterranean and keto diets apart. For starters, carb intake.
While the Mediterranean Diet relies heavily on healthy fats, it also consists of high consumption of carbohydrates, including grains, veggies, and fruits. On the other hand, the keto diet revolves around eliminating carbohydrates, no matter their nutritional value. Fat intake.
The Mediterranean diet is much lower in fat than the keto diet. While most of a keto dieter’s calories come from fatty foods, Mediterranean dieters get most of their calories from carbohydrates. That said, the Mediterranean diet is still high in fat compared to diets focusing on reducing fat. Types of fat consumed.
On the Mediterranean diet, most of the fat intake is natural and unsaturated, coming from foods like olive oil and fish, for example. However, since most of the calories consumed on the keto diet come from fat, dieters intake a variety of fats, including saturated and unsaturated fats.
Similarities Between the Mediterranean and Keto Diets
Although the Mediterranean diet is rich in carbohydrates and the keto diet replaces carbs with fats, the two eating patterns are more alike than you might think.
Here are some of the aspects that both diets have in common:
- Both diets avoid packaged foods and refined sugars and rely instead on minimally-processed whole foods.
- Compared with Westernized low-fat diets, both the Mediterranean and keto diets are more effective at helping us maintain healthy levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and blood pressure, contributing to overall health.
- Long-term weight loss is an outcome of both diets, especially after the diets are held for one to two years.
- In dietary intervention studies, both eating patterns have similar adherence levels and relatively low drop-out rates. In other words, people are just as likely to stick with one or the other. This suggests that both diets are relatively easy to follow.
- Both diets have a strong potential to positively impact health.
The Mediterranean Keto Diet
Now that you’re familiar with the Mediterranean and ketogenic diets individually and know their common benefits, we present the best of both worlds: The Mediterranean keto diet. It’s more than just possible — this hybrid diet, invented by Spanish researchers in 2008, is a little-known health hack that’s on the rise in popularity, and it’s simple to follow.
Here’s what it boils down to:
- Olive oil as the primary source of fat
- Green veggies and salads as the bulk of carbs
- Fish as the top source of protein
- A moderate amount of daily wine
Combining Mediterranean and keto diets is easier than it sounds. The basic idea is to adopt the Mediterranean diet minus the carbs. If you’re wondering what that looks like, whole grains, beans, and starchy root vegetables are a no-go. Instead, turn to olive oil, fish, leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, eggs, poultry, and dairy.
Benefits
The Mediterranean keto diet is both effective and approachable. For one, the combined nutrition plan offers a solid compromise for people who aren’t leaning towards one diet in particular.
Additionally, the Mediterranean keto diet features all of the health benefits of both eating styles while avoiding some of the downsides of the keto diet (namely, calorie-counting and elevated levels of potentially-harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL).
The benefits of the Mediterranean keto diet are vast. One study found that people on this diet lost an average of 31 pounds after three months and had improved blood pressure levels, blood glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol.
According to another study, individuals who lost weight were able to keep the weight off after a full year. Yet another study showed that the Mediterranean keto diet reduced causal factors of heart disease.
Of all the findings from these studies, the most significant was that the Mediterranean keto diet reduces LDL cholesterol, commonly known as ‘bad’ cholesterol while increasing high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. A higher level of HDL cholesterol is good for your body because it transfers cholesterol from the blood to the liver, where it is eliminated.
What Can I Eat on the Mediterranean Keto Diet?
If you are on the Mediterranean keto diet, you’re probably looking for non-GMO, fresh ingredients that you can cook with. Look no further. At Luna Grill, we are dedicated to cooking without additives, preservatives, or unhealthy fats. Our fresh ingredients will make delicious, healthy meals that adhere to your diet incredibly easy.
Whether you are trying out the Mediterranean keto diet for the first time or are a long-time follower, we recommend trying the following fan-favorite dishes and ingredients offered at Luna Grill to spice up your daily routine. Who knew dieting could be this easy?
Flat Cut Chicken Kabob
Thinly cut pieces of savory chicken will power you up with protein. Fresh, colorful veggies sprinkled on a bed of fresh lettuce. Treat yourself to one of our most popular dishes — we applaud you for prioritizing your health with a low-carb Mediterranean diet, and you deserve to feel good and enjoy yourself while doing it.
Grilled Salmon
Grilled over an open flame, our simply seasoned sustainable salmon is an obvious Mediterranean keto top pick. In addition to containing omega-3s, our salmon is low in saturated fat and cholesterol and packs a protein punch.
Get your keto-approved carb fix with Salmon on our Keto Luna Vida Bowl, and don’t forget to enjoy our creamy salad dressing for some healthy fat. This dish will leave you feeling light as a feather and full of energy.
Modern Greek Salad
Our colorful Modern Greek Salad is just what you need to satisfy your cravings for fresh Mediterranean food while also enjoying the benefits of the low-carb keto diet. This dish comes with a fresh lettuce medley, crumbly feta cheese, rich Greek olives, sweet sliced pepperoncini, sun-kissed tomato, ripe cucumber, homemade pickled onions, crispy chickpeas, and our house vinaigrette.
Keto Luna Vida Bowl
Created for patrons practicing the keto diet, our Luna Vida Keto Bowl is a protein-packed meal. This bowl features grilled sustainable Salmon served on top of a bed of lettuce with lemon vinaigrette, spicy feta, Greek cabbage, cucumber, tomato, and feta drizzled with housemade tzatziki.
We also have plenty of other keto-friendly options including the Modern Greek Salad. Chicken Kabob, and our Spicy Feta served with veggies.
Putting the Delicious in Dieting
The Mediterranean keto diet is chock-full of health benefits, from supported heart health and maintained blood pressure and cholesterol, but dieting can be hard. Just because you’re dieting does not mean you should have to be hungry. Incorporating Luna Grill’s quality meals into your Mediterranean keto diet will make you forget you’re dieting in the first place and motivate you to keep it up in the long run.
With Mediterranean diet month just around the corner, it’s not too early to start celebrating. Place your first order today, and learn just how easy it is to stick to the Mediterranean keto diet when it means juicy kabob and fresh salad.
Sources:
Diet Review: Ketogenic Diet for Weight Loss | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
