The Mediterranean diet has become a hot topic on the Plateau.

St. Elizabeth Hospital in Enumclaw recommends the Mediterranean diet so highly that it is offering classes for anyone who wants to know more about it.

A study published by the New England Journal of Medicine in February showed people who primarily follow a Mediterranean Diet could greatly reduce their risk of cardiovascular events.

Registered dietitian Tricia Sinek has facilitated several health talks at Franciscan hospitals over the years and recently the program has grown more popular. Two talks were offered at St. Elizabeth this year but due to high demand, a third will be held on April 30.

The two-hour health talk is titled Healthy is Delicious – Eating a Mediterranean Diet. It covers the diet fundamentals and includes recipes, a cooking demonstration and taste testing.

The diet itself is based on the historical lifestyle of people in countries such as Italy, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Syria and many others that straddle the Mediterranean Sea.

These populations ate what they had available to them, based on their financial status and geographic placement. Meals focused on vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes and lean meats like fish. Milk, dairy and butter were limited but cheese, yogurt and olive oil were available in abundance. It’s also worth noting that they were not sedentary people.

Sinek said the diet isn’t really a diet at all; not in the way we typically think of the word. Diet is supposed to describe how a person eats. In the last several years diets have begun to have some negative connotations attached to them. Diets are notoriously restrictive and hard to stick to. Sometimes they even prove to be dangerous.

The Mediterranean diet doesn’t list any food to avoid entirely, but processed, heavily salted and high fat meals are discouraged. A glass of wine, on the other hand, is encouraged for those of an appropriate age.

Sinek doesn’t typically encourage weight loss diets, although it is a desirable effect that many people experience. She also said that it provides excellent benefits for those who suffer from obesity, heart disease, diabetes and other health concerns.

“It’s not a diet, per se, it’s a lifestyle,” she said. “It’s about learning to eat in a way that is life giving.”

To register for a health talk at St. Elizabeth, or another Franciscan Health System hospital, please call 1 (888) 825-3227 or visit www.FHShealth.org/StElizabethHealthTalks.