We all hear about the value of the Mediterranean Diet but internationally recognized registered dietitian, culinary nutritionist, and author, Layne Lieberman, looked beyond and discovered the diet secrets of Europe’s three healthiest countries. In her research and travels, she took a deep look into how people were eating and what the effects were. Her book, Beyond the Mediterranean Diet: European Secrets of the Super-Healthy, offers  insight into eating healthier whether we’re at home and how to make better choices when we travel.

For more than two decades, Americans have followed the Mediterranean Diet for healthier living, replacing butter and beef with olive oil and seafood. Yet as a nation, rates of obesity and related illnesses are higher than ever. Even with globalization expanding the fast-food playing field outside of America, how is it that Europeans continue to have some of the highest health statistics–yet don’t deprive themselves of decadent food?

Being diagnosed with dangerously high cholesterol at a young age, I know how hard it is to give up the enjoyment of favorite foods. However, as a pre-teen, I started what would turn into a life-long pursuit, finding ways to eat healthfully and still indulge–first for myself, and then for others. After receiving my graduate degree and working in the field for more than thirty years as a registered dietitian nutritionist, I was determined to learn more, so I moved to Europe.

I spent two years researching the three European countries with the longest lifespans and the lowest rates of heart disease and obesity. When I came back to the U.S., I wrote my book: Beyond the Mediterranean Diet: European Secrets of the Super-Healthy, which uncovers why Americans are losing the battle and explains how to incorporate the European secrets of a healthy diet and lifestyle whether at home, eating-out or traveling.

The traditional Mediterranean diet may no longer serve us in today’s modern global world where we have so many food choices. The secret is to know how to identify and incorporate fine food, as it is an essential part of life’s enjoyment, while practicing the dietary habits of the super-healthy European countries.

The Mediterranean Diet assumes that everything you eat is produced locally, and those living in the regions where it began didn’t have to factor in the temptations we have in our modern world, so following traditional ways of eating was much easier. When Americans were first sold on the diet in the 1990s, the essential element upon which it was based–eating more fresh foods in appropriate portions rather than rely on the convenience of what’s processed and packaged–was oversimplified and only zeroed in on individual components of the diet, such as swapping out one fat for another.

This simplified approach to the Mediterranean Diet was not the answer. Through extensive research, I found that people in Europe’s three healthiest countries–France, Italy, and Switzerland–have adopted how to have a wholesome diet that allows for eating a variety of foods, including favorites such as pasta, cheese, bread, chocolate and wine-without the need to go on and off any particular diet. It is a lifestyle, not a diet.

In six easy steps, Beyond The Mediterranean Diet spells out how to achieve this healthy European approach to eating and enjoying food while staying healthy. The photography takes you on a journey through parts of each country while sharing diet secrets and straightforward rules to follow. There are tools to incorporate these concepts into daily life, including:

• An aisle-by-aisle guide on how to avoid the traps of the American supermarket
• “Super-Healthy Plates” that show appropriate portion sizes for meals and snacks
• A guide on how to order boldly when traveling and dining out
• Delicious and quick European-inspired recipes, with a variety of low-fat, gluten-free and vegetarian options

People in these countries are excellent role models for us. If we can change our eating habits to mirror what they do, we too will be able to leave the fad diets behind and live healthier, happier lives.  — By Layne Lieberman, MS, RDN, CDN, LDN

Hungry for more? Read these tips for using olive oil to make cocktails.