In an Australian first, ‘The Mediterranean Health Expo’, will be a day jam-packed with health seminars, cooking demonstrations, entertainment, and plenty of Greek food and wine, held at The Greek Club in Brisbane, Australia, on Sunday 21st October 2018.
The expo is an initiative from Two Greek Girls Cooking- Desi Carlos and Lisa Peterson who have been running small-scale cooking demonstrations and education evenings on the Mediterranean Lifestyle and Diet for a couple of years now, as well as presenting annually at the Paniyiri Greek Festival. Lisa said “it was a combination of these events as well as our private practice education sessions that lead us to realise there are so many people we are not reaching and educating and what a better way to do it than run a Health Expo and get our entire community involved. We want to make sure that it’s not just our patients who are benefiting from our knowledge and love for all things Mediterranean, but our whole community.”
Personally, For Lisa, she remembers from a young age how she “loved the way food bought our family together whether it be our evening meal each night or even better at our big family functions.” She became interested in the science behind food when her grandfather was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes during her early teens, which eventually led her to become a dietician. “I was fascinated to learn about foods relationship in a chronic disease setting. I knew I wanted to help people in the health setting continue to love food and its flavours and social influence at the same time as food being used to improve and manage health outcomes for longevity” she said.
A number of speakers have been lined up for the Expo, who will discuss the various aspects of the Mediterranean Diet and its impacts on Chronic Disease Management, including a diabetologist (a doctor specialising in diabetes), a clinical psychologist (specialising in community, family and lifestyle aspects of the Mediterranean Diet), a cardiologist, a microbiologist (speaking on the Gut Microbiome), a psychiatrist (to discuss mental health) and of course the two girls!
“Whoever walks through the doors of The Greek Club on the day of our Mediterranean Health Expo can expect to be filled with the latest research and geared with all the knowledge to truly implement an evidenced-based diet to achieve the best health outcomes long term. They can expect to have any fads in the latest magazines myth bust by leading health professionals and they can expect to be greeted with Brisbane’s best Mediterranean produce and wine … what else could one want!” Lisa said.
The Expo will be open from 11am to 7pm, in which attendees are welcome to wander around and visit organisations, food exhibitors as well as listen to presentations from health professionals and watch cooking demonstrations. The Greek Club Taverna will also be supplying coffee, wine, mezze, dip platters and snacks on their new balcony.
Just in case you thought you couldn’t indulge in the mouthwatering Greek dessert you have been craving, “Desi and I truly embrace the idea that everything should be consumed in moderation… including Yiayia’s baklava andgalaktobourekoo. I will say, since writing our cookbook and modifying some of yiayia’s recipes to be lower carbohydrate and lower calories I have even managed to influence her cooking which I am extremely proud of given yiayia is the masterchef in our family. The moment I could get yiayia’s tick of approval I knew we were onto something good.”
Tickets to ‘The Mediterranean Health Expo’ are $45 per person, which you can purchase here twogreekgirls.com
