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Authentic
Italian Food - Debunking The Myth That It Is Fattening
Italian food has got a bad reputation among the health
conscious because it is thought to be fattening. In
reality Italian food can be the basis of a healthy diet.
Italian food is the part of what is often referred to as
the Mediterranean diet that has been shown to be good
for weight control and heart health.
The food pyramid that is now recommended by doctors is
based on carbohydrate food. It contains plenty of fruit
and vegetables, oily fish and only small amounts of
dairy foods and red meat. That could be a description of
the Italian diet.
We often think of pizzas dripping in cheese and loaded
with meat, or pasta served in rich cheese sauces when we
think of Italian food. But real Italian food is not like
that. If we move away from this commercial variations on
Italian food and get back to real thing then we have a
healthy diet.
Italian food is not just about pasta and it is certainly
not just about pizza. It is rich in all those things
that are lacking in the diet that most of us eat.
The modern Western diet is typically low in the healthy
omega oils that are contained in oily fish such as
sardines and anchovies that make up an important part of
Italian cooking. Doctors recommend that we eat oily fish
at least once a week. There are any number of appetizing
Italian dishes that call for oily fish.
Fresh vegetables are an essential part of any Italian
meal. They are eaten raw in salads and cooked in a
variety of flavor filled ways. The common complaint that
vegetables are boring does not apply to Italian food.
Fruit is almost always served at Italian meals. It is an
essential part of the sweet course.
Research has shown that eating soup is a good way of
controlling weight. There are a wide range of Italian
soups that will all make a good first course of simple
meal in themselves.
Olive oil and garlic which are essential to Italian food
have been shown to have a good effect on the heart. The
same is true of redwine.
The carbohydrates in Italian food such as pasta, rice, polenta and
bread, have become unpopular as people have turned to
the Atkins Diet which avoids all carbohydrates. But the
Atkins Diet is far from healthy in the long term. A
healthy diet must include some carbohydrates.
Italian food is not just about pasta. italians love
bread, polenta and rice too. Polenta is especially good
in weight control because it has a low glycemic index.
That is to say it releases sugar into the blood slowly.
It leaves us feeling fuller for longer. A first course
of polenta and tomato sauce is a good way to start a
meal.
Rice has a slightly higher glycemic index but eaten in
small portions is a healthy food.
Pasta need not be fattening.
Italian bread is
typically lower in salt than other bread. The texture of
breads such as foccaccia and ciabatta is
much denser than most commercial bread so that a small
amount will satisfy the appetite. Nor do Italians
normally eat butter with their bread.
If you avoid smothering your pasta, rice or polenta in
rich sauces and avoid butter on your bread then they are
healthy foods that are healthy foods that are low in
fat.
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