The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners – by Jessica Aledo

10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

There are a lot of Mediterranean Diet books on the market, and not all of them actually stick to the Mediterranean Diet. There’s a common mistake of thinking “Well, this dish is from the Mediterranean region, so…”, but that doesn’t make, for example, bacon-laden carbonara part of the Mediterranean Diet!

Jessica Aledo does better, and sticks unwaveringly to the Mediterranean Diet principles.

First, she gives a broad introduction, covering:

  • The Mediterranean Diet pyramid
  • Foods to eat on the Mediterranean Diet
  • Foods to avoid on the Mediterranean Diet
  • Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet

Then, it’s straight into the recipes, of which there are 201 (as with many recipe books, the title is a little misleading about this).

They’re divided into sections, thus:

  • Breakfasts
  • Lunches
  • Snacks
  • Dinners
  • Desserts

The recipes are clear and simple, one per double-page, with high quality color illustrations. They give ingredients/directions/nutrients. There’s no padding!

Helpfully, she does include a shopping list as an appendix, which is really useful!

Bottom line: if you’re looking to build your Mediterranean Diet repertoire, this book is an excellent choice.

Get your copy of The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners from Amazon today!

Don’t Forget…

Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

Recommended

  • Glucose Revolution – by Jessie Inchauspé
  • Sunflower Oil vs Canola Oil – Which is Healthier?
    Sunflower oil edges out canola as a heart-neutral option in moderation, while olive and avocado oils reign superior for overall health.

Learn to Age Gracefully

Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • Honey vs Maple Syrup – Which is Healthier?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing honey to maple syrup, we picked the honey.

    Why?

    It was very close, as both have small advantages:
    •⁠ ⁠Honey has some medicinal properties (and depending on type, may contain an antihistamine)
    •⁠ ⁠Maple syrup is a good source of manganese, as well as low-but-present amounts of other minerals

    However, you wouldn’t want to eat enough maple syrup to rely on it as a source of those minerals, and honey has the lower GI (average 46 vs 54; for comparison, refined sugar is 65), which works well as a tie-breaker.

    (If GI’s very important to you, though, the easy winner here would be agave syrup if we let it compete, with its GI of 15)

    Read more:
    •⁠ ⁠Can Honey Relieve Allergies?
    •⁠ ⁠From Apples to Bees, and High-Fructose C’s

    Share This Post

  • Live Life in Crescendo – by Stephen Covey and Cynthia Covey-Haller

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Stephen Covey is of course best known for his “7 Habits of Highly Effective People“, while the dozen books he wrote afterwards, not including this one, did not get the same acclaim.

    Not including this one, because this one was published posthumously and, notwithstanding the order of the names on the cover, in all likelihood his daughter wrote most of.

    And yet! The very spirit of this book is in defiance of 7 Habits being his “early career” magnum opus. We say “early career”, because he was 57 already when that was published, but it was one of his earlier books.

    In this work the authors lay out the case for how “your most important work is always ahead of you“, and that it is perfectly possible to “live life in crescendo“, and keep on giving whatever it is that we want to give to the world.

    We also learn, mostly through storytelling, of how people are infinitely more important than things, and that it is there that we should put our investments. And that while adversity may not make us stronger, it just means we may need to change our approach, to continue to be productive in whatever way is meaningful to us.

    Bottom line: if ever you wonder how your future could live up to your past (in a good way), this is the book to get you thinking.

    Click here to check out Live Life in Crescendo, and figure out what your next great work will be!

    Share This Post

  • What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Fibromyalgia – by Dr. R. Paul St Amand

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The core claim of the book is that guaifenesin, an over-the-counter expectorant (with a good safety profile) usually taken to treat a chesty cough, is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, and is rapidly metabolized and excreted into the urine—and on the way, it lowers uric acid levels, which is a big deal for fibromyalgia sufferers.

    He goes on to explain how the guaifenesin, by a similar biochemical mechanism, additionally facilitates the removal of other excess secretions that are associated with fibromyalgia.

    The science for all this is… Compelling and logical, while not being nearly so well-established yet as his confidence would have us believe.

    In other words, he could be completely wrong, because adequate testing has not yet been done. However, he also could be right; scientific knowledge is, by the very reality of scientific method, always a step behind hypothesis and theory (in that order).

    Meanwhile, there are certainly many glowing testimonials from fibromyalgia sufferers, saying that this helped a lot.

    Bottom line: if you have fibromyalgia and do not mind trying a relatively clinically untested (yet logical and anecdotally successful) protocol to lessen then symptoms (allegedly, to zero), then this book will guide you through that and tell you everything to watch out for.

    Click here to check out What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Fibromyalgia, and [check with your doctor/pharmacist and] try it out!

    Share This Post

Related Posts

  • Glucose Revolution – by Jessie Inchauspé
  • Hummus vs Guacamole – Which is Healthier?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing hummus to guacamole, we picked the guacamole.

    Why?

    First up, let’s assume that the standards are comparable, for example that both have been made with simple whole foods. The hummus is mostly chickpeas with tahini and a little olive oil and some seasoning; the guacamole is mostly avocado with a little lime juice and some seasoning.

    In terms of macronutrients, hummus has slightly more protein and fiber, 2x the carbohydrates (but they are healthy carbs), and usually slightly less fat (but the fats are healthy in both cases).

    In terms of micronutrients, the hummus is rich in iron and B vitamins, and the guacamole is rich in potassium, magnesium, vitamins C, E, and K.

    So far, it’s pretty much tied. What else is there to consider?

    We picked the guacamole because some of its nutrients (especially the potassium, magnesium, and vitamin K) are more common deficiencies in most people’s diets than iron and B vitamins. So, on average, it’s probably the one with the nutrients that you need more of at any given time.

    So, it was very very close, and it came down to the above as the deciding factor.

    However!

    • If you like one and not the other? Eat that one; it’s good.
    • If you like both but feel like eating one of them in particular? Eat that one; your body is probably needing those nutrients more right now.
    • If you are catering for a group of people? Serve both!
    • If you are catering for just yourself and would enjoy both? Serve both! There’s nobody to stop you!

    Want to read more?

    You might like: Avocado Oil vs Olive Oil – Which is Healthier?

    Enjoy!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • The Green Roasting Tin – by Rukmini Iyer

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    You may be wondering: “do I really need a book to tell me to put some vegetables in a roasting tin and roast them?” and maybe not, but the book offers a lot more than that.

    Indeed, the author notes “this book was slightly in danger of becoming the gratin and tart book, because I love both”, but don’t worry, most of the recipes are—as you might expect—very healthy.

    As for formatting: the 75 recipes are divided first into vegan or vegetarian, and then into quick/medium/slow, in terms of how long they take.

    However, even the “slow” recipes don’t actually take more effort, just, more time in the oven.

    One of the greatest strengths of this book is that not only does it offer a wide selection of wholesome mains, but also, if you’re putting on a big spread, these can easily double up as high-class low-effort sides.

    Bottom line: if you’d like to eat more vegetables in 2024 but want to make it delicious and with little effort, put this book on your Christmas list!

    Click here to check out The Green Roasting Tin, and level-up yours!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • The Seven Sins Of Memory – by Dr. Daniel Schacter

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    As we get older, we often become more forgetful—despite remembering many things clearly from decades past. Why?

    Dr. Daniel Shacter takes us on a tour of the brain, and also through evolution, to show how memory is not just one thing, but many. And furthermore, it’s not just our vast memory that’s an evolutionary adaptation, but also, our capacity to forget.

    He does also discusses disease that affect memory, including Alzheimer’s, and explores the biological aspects of memory too.

    The “seven sins” of the title are seven ways our (undiseased, regular) memory “lets us down”, and why, and how that actually benefits us as individuals and as a species, and/but also how we can modify that if we so choose.

    The book’s main strength is in how it separates—or bids us separate for ourselves—what is important to us and our lives and what is not. How and why memory and information processing are often at odds with each other (and what that means for us). And, on a practical note, how we can tip the scales for or against certain kinds of memory.

    Bottom line: if you’d like to better understand human memory in all its glorious paradoxes, and put into place practical measures to make it work for you the way you want, this is a fine book for you.

    Click here to check out The Seven Sins of Memory, and get managing yours!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails: