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Finding a sustainable diet for a healthy lifestyle can be a challenge. Many find weight loss diets too restrictive, and more often than not a diet ends the minute the goal is met, which often leads to reverting back to the original bad habits you were following before the diet. The Mediterranean diet, however, is one that is praised for its practicality and ability to be followed in the long-term.
Before diving deeper into what the Mediterranean diet is, it is first important to know what the terms “alkaline” and “acid” refer to. Alkaline and acidic are two ways to describe foods or beverages based on how your body reacts to the foods. Most Americans, for example, eat a highly acidic diet. Acidic foods, like processed foods, sugars, fish, meat, and even grains can cause your body’s pH levels to drop.
The human body runs optimally at a very specific pH range, from 7.35-7.45. When a diet is too heavily reliant on acidic foods, it can cause the body to stop functioning properly. To balance out an overly-acidic diet, it is important to eat alkaline foods, like fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
The Mediterranean diet was created to model the way people living around the Mediterranean Sea eat, emphasizing fresh, plant-based foods and avoiding processed foods (1). It provides general guidelines on what to eat instead of being one single “Mediterranean diet.”
Because the diet focuses on promoting healthy eating habits without drawing hard lines about what can and cannot be eaten, many people find the Mediterranean diet to be more sustainable than other diets. It is an easily-adaptable diet, “focusing on healthy plant foods and moderate intake of dairy products and fish or seafood” (2). It provides your body with a plethora of nutrients while avoiding heavily processed and sugary foods.
The Mediterranean diet is divided into three categories: high intake foods, moderate intake foods, and low intake foods. The intake determines how frequently each type of food should be eaten.
High intake foods can be eaten several times a day. These foods include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, and extra virgin olive oil (1).
Moderate intake foods should be eaten several times a week. These foods include fish, seafood, poultry, eggs, and dairy.
Low intake foods are typically avoided, but can still be eaten several times a month. These foods include sweets containing added sugar or honey, processed foods, and red meats.
The Mediterranean diet cannot be labeled as "alkaline" or “acidic,” since it provides guidelines to follow instead of listing foods that can and cannot be eaten. The diet contains both alkaline and acidic foods, and you can choose to make the diet more alkaline by leaning into certain foods.
For example, the foods that can be eaten the most often include many alkaline foods, like fruits and vegetables. Nearly all vegetables are an excellent source of alkalinity, and they are packed with other healthy nutrients. Fruits including apples, bananas, and oranges can also boost your body’s pH levels, while also giving your body natural sugars that can help as you adjust to avoiding processed sugars. Nuts, legumes, and extra virgin olive oil are also staples in the Mediterranean diet, and both are alkaline or alkaline-yielding foods.
Whole grains, on the other hand, are considered slightly acidic. While they are also foods that can be leaned on during the Mediterranean diet, whole grains will not have an alkalizing effect on your body.
While the diet leans heavily on alkaline foods, most of the moderate and low intake foods are not alkaline. Dairy, poultry, fish, meat, and processed foods are all acidic foods (3).
Despite the Mediterranean diet not being explicitly alkaline, it still promotes a healthy lifestyle and can greatly benefit most people who partake in the diet. First, according to dietician Katherine Marengo, the Mediterranean diet “may help prevent weight gain, stabilize blood sugar levels, promote heart health, and enhance brain function” (2). Additionally, studies find that following the Mediterranean diet long-term may lower your risk of high cholesterol and high blood pressure (4).
The Mediterranean diet may not be explicitly an alkaline diet, but it still encourages eating many foods high in alkalinity, like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts. Despite the diet also welcoming acidic foods like whole grains, fish, and chicken, the Mediterranean diet is known for its positive health effects. Its easy-to-follow guidelines make it the perfect diet for people needing a flexible guide to incorporating more nutrients in their diet.
To balance out some of those acidic foods supported by the Mediterranean diet, you can easily add more alkalinity to any diet by drinking alkaline water. Alkaline water can quickly be made at home through aSeychelle alkalizing water pitcher, ensuring that any diet you are on can be turned into an alkaline diet.
Is the Mediterranean diet alkaline or acidic?
While the diet is not explicitly alkaline or acidic, since it encourages eating both types of foods, the diet relies heavily on alkaline foods like fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
Is the Mediterranean diet okay for acid reflux?
Yes. Both the Mediterranean diet and the GERD diet encourage eating whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, while avoiding highly processed foods that could trigger acid reflux.
What is not allowed on the Mediterranean diet?
The Mediterranean diet discourages eating processed sugar or other processed foods, but no food is specifically “banned” from the diet. Instead, the diet provides guidelines to encourage healthier eating habits.
References
Jenette Restivo,Harvard Health Publishing,https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/guide-to-the-mediterranean-diet
Katherine Marengo,Healthline,https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mediterranean-diet-meal-plan
Sonya Collins, et. al.,WebMD,https://www.webmd.com/diet/alkaline-diets
