There are diets that most, if not all, of us are accustomed to, and the Mediterranean diet chooses to go a different way. People in this diet can eat nuts and eggs to their heart’s content, and even chocolate! Provided it contains more than 50% cocoa. It allows them to have as much fish, seafood, low-fat cheese, and whole-grain cereals as they want.

If you are looking to follow this diet, you must also stick to having olive oil, which you use on salads as well as cooked veggies abundantly. Also, you must have at least two servings a day of vegetables, with at least one of those servings in the form of a salad, on top of at least three servings a day of fresh fruit.

Legumes, which include garbanzo beans, lentils, soybeans and peas, must be eaten at least three times a week. Additionally, you should eat fish or seafood three times a week, with at least one meal of a fatty fish like salmon, tuna or sardines.

A sauce made with tomatoes, garlic and onions simmered in lots of olive oil at least twice a week must also be a staple in your diet. You can pour the sauce on pasta, rice or vegetables. If you're a wine drinker, you can have it with meals, at least seven glasses a week.

Suffice it to say, there is also a list of foods you have to limit. Those are: cream, butter, margarine, pâté, lunch meats, French fries, potato chips, soft drinks and other drinks with sugar added.

Bakes goods and pastries such as cakes, cookies and doughnuts must also be consumed in limited quantities. You must also get rid of what is being dubbed as "industrial desserts," and those include custards, puddings, and treats that are not homemade. Have white meat such as chicken sans the skin, and steer clear of processed red meat.

Don't fear the oil and nuts, since they tend to make you full, making you eat less of other foods. As a matter of fact, nuts are suggested to be eaten at dinner time, considering they are so filling. 

But wait, I'm rambling on while the key point was in the second sentence. You can eat as much chocolate as you want!

While I paraphrased this article from the New York Times, there is one other interesting point.  It says this diet "is based on what people in Mediterranean countries used to eat".  When did they use to eat this way?

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Joanna Maligaya

Staff Writer/Content Developer at Chocolate University Online

Ever since she can remember, Joanna has always considered chocolate as the ultimate food for her soul. She believes in the saying, “9 out of 10 people love chocolate, and the 10th always lies.”

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