Speaker 1: Oh hello, thanks for joining us today. I hope you
Speaker 1: are feeling healthyish. Of course you have tuned into the
Speaker 1: daily podcast from Body and Soul with me Felicity Halle
Speaker 1: and joining us in the studio is the effervescent Sarah DeLorenzo.
Speaker 1: She has yet another book out. This one is called
Speaker 1: My Mediterranean Life and yes we are talking the fundamentals
Speaker 1: of the med diet and we get her verdict on
Speaker 1: the planetarian diet. Have you heard of this one? It's
Speaker 1: a goody. Now if you like what you hear from
Speaker 1: Sarah listening to Extra Healthy Ish, where she shares how
Speaker 1: you can incorporate Mediterranean eating and living into a busy lifestyle,
Speaker 1: you can catch that one where we get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: Sarah hio you. I'm very well and thank you so
Speaker 2: much for having me to now.
Speaker 1: Congratulations on your what another book is this?
Speaker 2: This is book and today is publication day, so it's
Speaker 2: a very special day. It always as an author, it
Speaker 2: feels like a birthday or Christmas. Like I woke up
Speaker 2: this morning and I was like, what day is it today? Oh? Yeah,
Speaker 2: it's publication day. Because there's that big build up you
Speaker 2: have with the well, the whole journey I mean you
Speaker 2: think of a journey as an author where it starts
Speaker 2: with the idea and the concepts and the flat plan
Speaker 2: and the writing and the editing and the design and
Speaker 2: the emotional journey that goes along with it, and then
Speaker 2: all of a sudden it's done. There's been the pre
Speaker 2: order campaign, and you think it's here, it's out, it
Speaker 2: can never come back. I've put it out there, and
Speaker 2: this book's really special.
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about this fabulous new book, Mediterranean.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it was interesting. Why it's an interesting journey
Speaker 2: on how we got to this book and how we
Speaker 2: chose this. So we hadn't planned this. The plan with
Speaker 2: my publisher was to do very similar to the Gut
Speaker 2: Repair Plan, the Mediterranean Plan. And I sat down and
Speaker 2: I battled with it because I just said, Mediterranean isn't
Speaker 2: a plan, it's a way of life. And as an author,
Speaker 2: when I write, I go through that kind of journey
Speaker 2: of you know, I think a lot. I get really
Speaker 2: immersed into the project. And I spoke to my publisher
Speaker 2: and I said, I need to do something completely different.
Speaker 2: I'm honestly feliciting of the world's worst liar, and I
Speaker 2: just it was the only thing I could do was
Speaker 2: right from my heart, and I felt confident enough in
Speaker 2: my own journey to share personal stuff and personal journey
Speaker 2: with food. And I actually thought about it a lot,
Speaker 2: and it's probably my Greek background is actually and my
Speaker 2: Greek upbringing is the very foundation of why I'm a
Speaker 2: clinical nutritionist today, growing up Mediterranean and that appreciation.
Speaker 1: Well, why is the med diet the best way to
Speaker 1: eat for health?
Speaker 2: Well we discovered, well, research is discovered in nineteen fifty
Speaker 2: that all of a sudden, people were living They were
Speaker 2: kind of looking at longevity around the world, and they
Speaker 2: realized people around the Mediterranean were living eighteen ninety one
Speaker 2: hundred and they were living with next to obesity, very
Speaker 2: low amounts of like scarce amounts of cardiovascular disease. And
Speaker 2: there are all of a sudden going hold on a minute,
Speaker 2: what's going on here?
Speaker 1: No modern lifestyle diseases?
Speaker 2: Correct, absolutely, and what can we take away from this?
Speaker 2: And I always say, with the Mediterranean diet, it's not
Speaker 2: it's it's something that is not by design. It is
Speaker 2: by default because people who live around that it is.
Speaker 2: It's arid, it's rocky. You can't if you've been to
Speaker 2: the Greek islands. You'll notice that it's quite windy, and
Speaker 2: it's rocky, and it's and that it's there's cliffs and
Speaker 2: they don't didn't have the land to be able to farm,
Speaker 2: so they had to pick foods that were seasonal. It's
Speaker 2: more fruit and vegetables and beans and legumes. And you
Speaker 2: always think of Greeks and how proud they are of
Speaker 2: their gardens and it's a very big thing. So that
Speaker 2: is and it was really interesting. But you think about
Speaker 2: why it is so amazing. It's it's the it's a
Speaker 2: plant primarily a plant based diet. People often think of
Speaker 2: the Mediterranean diet and they might think of like sort
Speaker 2: of laki and and different things. It's actually it's primarily
Speaker 2: plant based because meat was scarce because of because of
Speaker 2: the landscape. So what are some.
Speaker 1: Key foods of the Mediterranean diet and perhaps their health benefits?
Speaker 2: So first, when like the first as soon as you
Speaker 2: say that to me, one of the my first vision
Speaker 2: is tomatoes.
Speaker 1: Yes, it's like red, big, beautiful ripe tomatoes.
Speaker 2: Taste Yes, that's my first vision is and and I'm
Speaker 2: a very visual person, so straight away I think of
Speaker 2: a beautiful ripe tomato and then I think of all
Speaker 2: the wonderful lycopene in the tomato, which is an incredible
Speaker 2: antioxidant that's really wonderful for prostate but also excellent for
Speaker 2: our heart health, so it's a great antioccident And you
Speaker 2: think about that two plus vitamin C as well, so
Speaker 2: it's great for our immune system. And then I'd think
Speaker 2: about things like feta cheese, of course, like I love feta,
Speaker 2: and then that's like out of my cheese is like
Speaker 2: I always think fetter is one of them. It's got
Speaker 2: lower matter of fat in it that feta cheese has.
Speaker 2: It's a great source of calcium as well as protein.
Speaker 2: My other thought would, obviously I think about all the
Speaker 2: different herbs like oregano that you think about in Greek cooking.
Speaker 2: Lots of herbs dominate basil. Basils wonderful as and antioxid
Speaker 2: and it's great for also lowering blood pressure and also
Speaker 2: really good for lowering trugless rides too, so it's wonderful
Speaker 2: for heart health. And tomato and basil together I think better. Well, yeah,
Speaker 2: but they're a marriage made in food heaven because they're
Speaker 2: both very cardio sort of what cardio bascular health. But
Speaker 2: then I kind in my mind drives off to when
Speaker 2: I think about my own childhood and what I was
Speaker 2: brought up on. And I was brought up on a
Speaker 2: lot of legumes, so where we would be brought up
Speaker 2: on things like lentils, which which as a little girl Greek,
Speaker 2: the greet did you eat them or they? Of course?
Speaker 2: I hate them? No, I love them. One. I loved
Speaker 2: all Greek food when I was I was very unusual
Speaker 2: compared to when I think about.
Speaker 1: I would just think, my say, five year olds, are
Speaker 1: you serving me?
Speaker 2: Mum? No, I've always been a good ada like that. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm just and I'm going I'll explain why in a minute.
Speaker 2: But I used to and this is a bit was
Speaker 2: very risky in my house because my Papa would live
Speaker 2: with us. But I would say, so lentil in Greek
Speaker 2: is fucky, and I thought that was the best thing
Speaker 2: to say that I would walk around say Papa, can
Speaker 2: we have some fuck eats? It was the way that
Speaker 2: I could swear without swear. It's so dumb, but anyway,
Speaker 2: it was so funny. But I think about and as
Speaker 2: I write this book, all those memories came flooding to me,
Speaker 2: which was why every recipe has got a little story
Speaker 2: in the book. But then I think about, you know,
Speaker 2: we had so many legumes in my house growing up,
Speaker 2: and legumes are affordable daily two to three times a week.
Speaker 2: Split pea which is a like a squirrespee called father
Speaker 2: which is basically like periods, but peas would have that
Speaker 2: every Saturday. Greens dominated, so the wild greens were really big,
Speaker 2: and my paple grew them. Of course, I can't even
Speaker 2: forget the amount of olive oil. Olive oil was always
Speaker 2: on our table, next to salt and pepper, so you
Speaker 2: always had We always had the pora there. There was
Speaker 2: always beautiful bread, and it was the dipping and then
Speaker 2: we often he used to actually put a little dish
Speaker 2: of v and dice up a bit of red onion
Speaker 2: in there as well. So all of that food was
Speaker 2: very dominant. But you think of olive oil, I mean,
Speaker 2: it's got oliocancel in it, it's got a leak acid
Speaker 2: in it, wonderful for heart, anti inflammatory and people in
Speaker 2: Greece and also longevity. All that omega three people in
Speaker 2: Greece would have up to I always tell my patients
Speaker 2: medicinally try to get two tablespoons a day. People in
Speaker 2: grease have up to six tablespoons a day of olive
Speaker 2: extraversionally well, yeah, which is a lot when you think
Speaker 2: about it. But it's the salads. It's the I'm thinking
Speaker 2: how because it can be a little bit if you
Speaker 2: try to drink it straight or if you've noticed you've
Speaker 2: ever had it and you think.
Speaker 1: Well, I think the TikTok trend was taking shots.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I can shot off. It was been debunked. Ye,
Speaker 2: it's experts. You can't do shots. But if you think
Speaker 2: about absorbing, enjoying the end of a meal and swishing,
Speaker 2: getting a bit of bread and mopping up the plate, delicious.
Speaker 2: That's one of my favorite That's actually one of my
Speaker 2: favorite rectis in the book is a Catherean salad because
Speaker 2: it's got the rusks the PUCKSI mother are, which is
Speaker 2: a Greek rask, all in the bottom, and at the
Speaker 2: end of it you actually get to you get to
Speaker 2: eat the rusk that's absorbed, or the salad dressing. And
Speaker 2: which is it's so good now dreaming of it now.
Speaker 1: I wanted to get your thoughts. I recently read a
Speaker 1: review calling for world recognition of the planetarian diet. So basically,
Speaker 1: I mean so many, there were so many studies. I
Speaker 1: think it's the most study diet, the Mediterranean diet, and
Speaker 1: you know, obviously we all know that it's wonderful for
Speaker 1: our health. So this planetarian diet is basically the principles
Speaker 1: of the med diet, but adapted to each country's locally
Speaker 1: available foods. I mean, I think this is fabulous. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so tell me what are your thoughts about it? And
Speaker 1: how can we make the Mediterranean diet work in Australia
Speaker 1: with our produce.
Speaker 2: We can so easily. I mean, I give me a
Speaker 2: challenge and I will give you a solution. And I
Speaker 2: absolutely love this. So bringing the Mediterranean diet in first
Speaker 2: and foremost people forget. They often think because like sometimes
Speaker 2: certain like fish can be expensive for example, and you
Speaker 2: can look at the budget as well, salmon, and salmon
Speaker 2: is fright for leg I bought it. I bought two
Speaker 2: filets the other day and it was twenty two dollars
Speaker 2: and I was looking at it. I was like, that's
Speaker 2: two filets. But you can get cheaper cuts of fish,
Speaker 2: but not only forgetting it, don't you know? I always
Speaker 2: say to people, tinfish is fine in moderation. I mean
Speaker 2: it's not my preference. But you know, if you did
Speaker 2: that once a fortnight or twice a fortnite to balance
Speaker 2: out a meal, you can still use tinfish other things.
Speaker 2: Not forgetting legumes, like people forget when they make soups
Speaker 2: and stewice and even like piluffy which is salads and
Speaker 2: salads and stuff. You can always bring legumes in it.
Speaker 2: Like they're a dollar. They're seriously so cheap, and they've
Speaker 2: full of protein. Chickpeas as well. I mean, there's like
Speaker 2: they're an excellent source of protein. Plus we know they're
Speaker 2: amazing for guts. So I always had to people think
Speaker 2: about that. And the other thing I encourage people to
Speaker 2: do to bring to live Mediterranean in Australia is do
Speaker 2: what Mediterranean people do, shop seasonally. So when you learn
Speaker 2: so it's when you learn seasonal eating, you can actually
Speaker 2: you will save. I'm a seasonal eater. First of all,
Speaker 2: it's what your body needs at that time of year.
Speaker 2: You think about potatoes in winter and to get to
Speaker 2: all those kind of root vegetables to help keep you warm,
Speaker 2: but you think about citrus in winter to support your
Speaker 2: immune system because of the weather changes, all the leafy
Speaker 2: greens that come out in spring that we have in
Speaker 2: all of our salads, which are great for supporting detox pathways.
Speaker 2: You think of melons in summer which are hydrating. You
Speaker 2: think of avocados and olives in autumn to fatten us
Speaker 2: up for winter. It's all logical eating. But the thing
Speaker 2: is you will save so much money. And I always
Speaker 2: said to my patients when I'm presenting about learning season
Speaker 2: or eating it is what is at the front of
Speaker 2: the supermarket. It's not because the buyer there had a
Speaker 2: bad day and ordered too many avocados or too many
Speaker 2: many rawberries. It's because they're in season locally like locally farmed.
Speaker 2: They're harvested when they're ripe, and they're nutrient dense, so
Speaker 2: they are delicious. So produced when it's harvested, when it's ripe,
Speaker 2: and it's prime nutrient density. So it's and I just say,
Speaker 2: just shop at the front of the supermarket and make
Speaker 2: recipes according to that so and over time you will
Speaker 2: save so much money the foods had minimal transportation. Then
Speaker 2: there's the other side of things, so looking at legging
Speaker 2: seasonal produce, different cuts of meat, different cuts of proteins,
Speaker 2: not forgetting You can also use other things like tofu,
Speaker 2: which is cheap to kind of accelerate the nutritional profile
Speaker 2: of a meal, and frozen options too, which are a
Speaker 2: lot cheaper. But think about the Mediterranean because it's not
Speaker 2: just what you eat. It's a holistic approach. Think about
Speaker 2: preparing food together, sitting down together, making it a part
Speaker 2: of life culture, No phones, the togetherness, the warmth, the
Speaker 2: friendship that entire, feeling, the hydration, a little bit of
Speaker 2: red wine and just celebrating life, love, being together and
Speaker 2: beautiful food. And that's that's I'm Sarah.
Speaker 1: Thank you for coming, going to help, thank.
Speaker 2: You, thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure,
Speaker 2: mark my words.
Speaker 1: People. I think we'll hear more about the planetarian diet
Speaker 1: over the next couple of years. If you want to
Speaker 1: hear more from Sarah Well, read more from Sarah grab
Speaker 1: her new book. It is called My Mediterranean Life and
Speaker 1: it is out now. If you do have any ideas
Speaker 1: for upcoming epps for Healthy Ish or Extra Healthy Ish,
Speaker 1: dm me across social media at Felicity Harley, anything else,
Speaker 1: head to Body andsoul dot com. Do you follow us
Speaker 1: on socials? G of our print edition which is our
Speaker 1: in your local Sunday paper. Thanks again for listening, and
Speaker 1: stay healthy ish