Food for thought eh?!

Why is it that the Italians who eat more pizza, pasta and olive oil than any other country are the thinnest people in Europe with the lowest amount of obese and overweight citizens? Food for thought eh?! Pizza, pasta and olive oil are considered to be off limits to weight loss experts and nutritionists who advocate a Low carb and Low fat diet, yet the nation which is considered to be the birthplace of all three have less heart problems than any other European nation.

At Ukmedix News we have seen research which shows that while it is true that the Italians eat large amounts of pasta and pizza they tend to eat them in smaller and healthier portions. One of the secrets of Italian pizza is (unlike the Americanised version of the pizza) that it is very thin, meaning that there is far less fat and carbohydrates in a normal Italian pizza. American pizza tends to be thicker and full of unhealthy trans fat in the dough.

An Italian pizza has far less cheese and more healthy tomato sauce, and probably weighs less than half the amount of the same diameter American pizza. Also Italian pizzas tend to have less unhealthy toppings such as processed meat like pepperoni and are more likely to have healthy toppings such as broccoli and tuna.

Another thing to take note of is that when an Italian eats pasta, despite the stereotype of a big fat Italian man stuffing his face with spaghetti, the average portion is considerably less than in American and British restaurants. Pasta is often served as a starter in a very small portion in Italy where the emphasis is on quality and not quantity.

Lastly on the subject of olive oil, the typical Italian will be extremely fussy about the quality of the olive oil. The better and the purer the olive oil, the less harmful fat it contains. Of all the different types of fat that there are, the natural fats found an olive oil are the best for you and are the least harmful for your arteries and your heart. American and British diets contain more unhealthy hydrogenated trans fats which are known to clog arteries and increase the risk of heart disease.

So think carefully about the quality of the food that you are eating and remember that if you eat in moderation and select only the best and healthiest ingredients you should really be able to eat anything that you want!