Getting the Mediterranean diet's benefits is a marathon, not a sprint

Athens (dpa) – A Greek salad instead of a ham-filled croissant on your lunch break. Fish instead of red meat on the grill in the evening. If you follow a Mediterranean diet, it may well be for health reasons. Maybe your doctor recommended it to lower your risk of cardiovascular or other diseases. Don't expect quick benefits though, says nutritional medicine specialist Dr Stephan Bischoff: "Reducing your risk factors for diabetes or a heart attack won't occur overnight – it'll take a while." Sometimes the diet's positive effects only show up after years or even decades. Its followers should also bear in mind that, like everything in medicine, there's no absolute guarantee it'll help. "In all diseases there's both a lifestyle and a genetic component, so inherited risk remains," Bischoff explains, adding that following a Mediterranean diet is worthwhile nonetheless. "People with an elevated genetic risk also benefit from it," he says. So converts to the Mediterranean diet can forget about getting rapid results. "It's not a matter of sticking to it religiously for a few weeks," Bischoff says. "We're talking about years." But once you've started the diet, there's a good chance you'll carry it through, he remarks. "People follow it voluntarily for very long periods of time, if not the rest of their lives" – so long as they find a way to neatly incorporate it into their daily routine. Something else to consider: The diet isn't suitable for short-term weight loss, as it's not focused on calorie reduction, says Bischoff. If you want to shed a few kilograms, you've got to adjust your food intake and lifestyle so that you ingest fewer calories than your body burns. So – exercise more, eat less. The following information is not intended for publication dpa/tmn ksp yyzz n1 rid nhr ob coh

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