whats good to eat essay

Food plays an important role in all our lives. Apart from the physical impact food gives off (weight gain or loss) it is powerful in manipulating emotions especially when we eat the “wrong” kinds of food. As a result of those conscious feelings, dieting became a popular way to eating healthy and feeling better. But what is eating healthy? Which diet is the best one? After examining the things I eat daily, I realized I follow the Mediterranean diet; a diet consisting of moderate amounts of poultry, dairy and higher amounts of fruits, vegetables, breads etc. In this diet, olive oil plays an important role and little red meat is eaten. This to me seems like a balanced way of eating because most food groups are consumed in “moderate amounts” and the protein the body receives comes mainly from the nuts rather than the red meat. The Mediterranean diet is not the best way of dieting but it is a good way of eating.

(To begin, this is a food pyramid of the Mediterranean diet…)




This diet originated from the Greek Island of Crete, where statistically shown the people that live there and follow this diet live longer. When we think of olive oil, or any type of oil we think high in calories, fattening and unhealthy. However, as shown above olive oil is consumed daily and the consumption is more frequent than the intake of fish, poultry, eggs, “sweets” and red meat. The people of the Mediterranean first began using olive oil for cosmetic reasons such as the use to skin. Internally, olive oil (a monounsaturated fat) is proven to help lower LDL cholesterol, raise HDL cholesterol and prevent chronic disease like cancer. Olive Oil as well, is great for the stomach working as a laxative and fighting off ulcers and gastritis. It prevents constipation without bothering the intestinal tract. The affects of olive oil on the digestive system is all due to its chemical structure. This oil is great for infants since it contains an oleic acid which also is found in breast milk that helps the growth of infants. The same oleic acid is necessary for bones which could also be a great source of nutrience for the elderly that have bone calcification problems. Overall, olive oil is rich in vitamins A, C, D, E and K and as well rich in iron.

Eating grains (especially whole grains) is good for the body as well. Like oil, grains help reduce the risk of some chronic diseases. It is rich in fiber which reduces the risk of coronary heart disease & helps to relieve constipation. The fiber in whole grain also helps control blood cholesterol levels. Whole grains contain B vitamins, Folate (folic acid), magnesium and iron. B vitamins help the body release energy from protein and fat, which is important to the body’s metabolism. A type of B vitamin, called folic acid helps the body produce red blood cells, which can reduce the risks of Spina bifida and neural tube defects during fetal development. The magnesium found in grains is used to build bones and the iron in whole grains is key to carrying oxygen in the body. This can be extremely useful for young girls with anemia.

As shown above from my facts, the Mediterranean diet is healthy but like any diet it also depends how people consume the food and whether in low or high moderations. Grains & olive oil, the two major food groups are “safe” to eat and the vegetables, fruits & nuts as well. Nuts are high in protein, carbohydrates and fiber and contain many minerals and vitamins. They are high in fat, which is why in this diet they are not a huge part of the daily intake (shown in chart). However the fats found in nuts are mostly ‘mono’ and polyunsaturated which are considered “good fats.”

The question of whether the Mediterranean diet is affordable or not, is difficult to answer for various reasons. On one hand buying meat products, poultry, fish, eggs, sweets can be very expensive. The consumption of a lot of meat is costly compared to buying grains, vegetables, fruits, etc. (which are food groups highly consumed in this diet). Because in this diet, meat is hardly ever eaten, you would think that it is affordable to maintain this routine of eating. However, it’s important to consider that in reality there is no real affordable way to dieting or in consumption in general…especially in this society.


To make this Mediterranean diet “ethical” for myself, I would make sure that the food I eat would not come from unfair labor exploitation. The high amount of whole grains, should not come from a place where workers are earning .50$ or even lower a day. This includes, the “quinoa” I eat that is grown in the Andes in South America. Or the “buckwheat” used in pancakes that also comes from farmers being paid very little for a days work in north central Asia. Aside from the whole grains, we in this society enjoy the choice of buying fruits from the local grocery store in our neighborhoods. While eating for example, a banana, what many of us don’t know is that they are imported from places such as Honduras, Guatemala and Costa Rica. The banana farmers in these countries are heavily exploited and have been as far back as the 1920’s. Years ago, the “United Fruit” of United States paid Honduras a “penny tax” on 38 million bunches of bananas. In the Mediterranean diet, fruits & vegetables are a huge part of the daily intake and personally I wouldn’t want to support the labor exploitation seen in these countries by eating these foods. However, if you know where the food you eat is coming from by buying it in the farmer’s market or buying from the ‘producers’ themselves, the diet itself will be made up of food from the hands of those not being exploited. Therefore, one can follow it’s “ethical values.”



In conclusion, this diet is a good way to eat. It’s healthy, consists of somewhat moderate amounts of food in each food group and is affordable. The Mediterranean diet is not the best way of eating and personally I don’t think there is any great way of eating. It all depends on how one feels when they eat, for example, if they feel comfortable and if each individual personally feels in contact with the ethical value of everything they consume. We are all different, we all eat different, our bodies are all different and there are great ways of eating physically and mentally. No diet rules all diets.