For the past several Tuesdays if you could have been a fly on the wall in our kitchen you would have seen 3 to 5 groups of participants working together to prepare a variety of Mediterranean dishes. You might have heard beach music or instrumental jazz playing in the background or participants laughing. You might have smelled the red chili powder in the fruit chaat or the nutty aroma coming from the oven as our med meringues baked. You might have tasted, well, any of the nineteen dishes we prepared together! 

Med Instead of Meds was created by a group of nutrition and health professionals from NC State University and NC Division of Public Health. Eating the Med Way (Mediterranean) has been shown to promote health and decrease risk of many chronic diseases. During this series, we take a deeper look at protein sources, different types of fats, strategies to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into our diets, snacking on nuts and seeds, refined vs. whole grains, and examining sugar added into our diets. We start each session with a presentation followed by hands-on recipe prep in the kitchen. 

One of the biggest takeaways from this program is that the Mediterranean diet isn’t a flavor profile. Med Way dishes can fit into any flavor profile- Italian, Greek, Indian, Mexican, etc. Med Way dishes are defined by the components that make up what you’re eating: high levels of fruits and vegetables, incorporating mono and poly-unsaturated fats, lots of fish, whole grains, etc. 

• “Shopping at the grocery store became an adventure, it made the process enjoyable, learning new methods of food prep” 
• “The class made me excited to try new foods & spices & taught me that healthy food can taste very good.”
• “I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. I really thought it would be boring, but it was so much fun & I learned a lot & came away with many useful resources.”
• “I am so glad that I attended this class! I have made life altering choices. I plan to frequently refer to the materials [from this workshop]”
• “Great program. Very ‘common sense’- not difficult to apply to daily life. Budget friendly.”
• “I feel better now that I am eating better.”
• “We’d like it to never end. The camaraderie, sharing with fellow students as we prepared dishes- was wonderful & it’s bittersweet to come to the end.”