The Mediterranean Diet: The Nutrition of Italian Food

The Mediterranean Diet and its Many Healthy Aspects

Italian food could be placed into the "Mediterranean dietary group." This article is about the simple Italian diet and typical Mediterranean diet which is similar. In the Middle East, for example, pasta is not as common, so chick peas and other grains replace the pasta in their diet. However, the dietary principles are similar: it is a balance of simple and complex carbohydrates, proteins, and non-saturated (and some saturated) fats. There is a heavy reliance on complex carbohydrates, vegetables and fruits, though it differs from the northern European diets. The extensive use of olive oil is common in both diets, and as a mono-saturated fat is healthier than saturated fats, it allegedly helps lower cholesterol levels.

Below is a list of a Mediterranean diet's characteristics from the American Heart Association:

• Fruits, vegetables, bread and other cereals in high consumptions
• Vegetables and legumes; potatoes, peas and beans
• Nuts and seeds
• Olive oil-which is an important monounsaturated fat source.
• Dairy products
• Fish and poultry are consumed in low to moderate amounts, and little red meat is eaten
• Eggs zero to four times a week
• Wine consumed in low or moderate amounts

Pasta is now normally part of an athletes' diet as is Parmesan cheese. Athletic trainers believe in Parmesan cheese's highly nutritive qualities and it is now their recommended diet. As I mentioned on several parts of the web site what comes to mind as Italian food in the United States is not what Italian eat in Italy - from a nutritionist's point of view.

According to FAO, data for yearly food consumption is as follows: England: 91kg fruit 89kg of vegetables. USA: 113kg fruit 129kg Vegetable Italy: 140kg fruit 180kg of vegetables! You can see from the data that the English do not consume a large majority of fruits and vegetables, and if they keep on cooking vegetables "English style" they can assume to take in even less nutrients (even though I have to say, that recently, English food has improved drastically). The Italians consume large portions of fruits and vegetables. However, this Italian fruit and vegetable habit can not assume to be the same with Italian cooking habits in the United States. The most 'popular' Italian food in the United States is "pizza." This "pizza" can not be considered eligible for satisfying one's daily vegetable requirements (considering veggie toppings?-they are minuet and cooked).

When people talk to me about going to an Italian restaurant, they mention pizza or pasta (like the famous "Alfredo" sauce which is unknown in Italy).Only the high-end Italian restaurants in the United States offer a good variety of vegetables. May I add, it is even rarer to find fruits being served at the end of a meal. Salad itself is most often served with pre-prepared dressings, that Euro-Italians have never seen, and lack good quality which cannot compare to the taste of fresh olive oil and a mild vinegar (Actually some of these salad dressings are so high in fat, that they eliminate the benefits of eating salads). I see many vegetables used in Chinese-American cooking, but Italian-American cooking lacks essentials of a good old-fashioned Mediterranean diet.

Salads and vegetables are overwhelmed with sauces and cheese. Maybe, you'd be able to find eggplant parmigiana, but some disadvantages also arise, like that of eating this eggplant that was fried and smothered with fatty cheeses. Pizza itself is cooked differently in the United States than in Italy. Once somebody sent me a recipe, it started by suggesting to grease a pan with butter and then went on, "Open a can of Alfredo sauce….and we can say no more!

Here are the ingredients of a pasta sauce recipe which I came across:

• 3 TBSP of butter
• 8 fluid ounces of heavy whipping cream
• Salt to taste
• 1 pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

And just what do we do with all this?

Pizza and pasta do not have to be the Kamikazi's last meal! It can be quite healthy and any significant grease or fat can be avoided: (See my recipe)

Here is a Mediterranean diet simple test **:

• A brioche or croissant for breakfast -1 slice of bread, cookies, Fette Biscottate, or cereals for breakfast
• A portion of fruit 1x per day,
• A portion of vegetables 1x per day
• A portion of fish 2 or 3 times a week
• Do not consume more than 4 eggs per week
• Do not eat at a Fast food chain more than once a week
• Eat legumes more than once a week
• Eat pasta or rice at least 5 times a week
• Use olive oil as dressing
• Do not consume too much alcohol
• Eat less than 100g of meat a day

** Andrea Ghiselli - Lavinia Guffanti La dieta Mediterranea --The Mediterran Diet by Andrea Ghiselli

So what does it take in creating an authentic Mediterranean diet in the U.S.?

Try eating pasta with a simple sauce with fresh tomatoes, or a clam sauce or ragù sauce (Ragu in Italy is not a brand, but pertains to a type of sauce made with meat and tomatoes). Avoid "Alfredo Sauce" (which is not known in Italy) and cream and butter based pastas. In Italy, cream-based pasta has been out of style since the 1980s. Avoid those strange bread sticks that come with American Pizza - fresh bread is healthier.

In any authentic Mediterranean diet, note there's a division of nutrition energy that should be roughly: 20% 10% 30% 10% 30%.

An Italian Breakfast

An Italian breakfast is frugal: It usually consists of milk or coffee and milk with a Cornetto (or if you are eating it at home cookies) Over and over, they tell me in the U.S. that this type of breakfast is unhealthy and that you should eat a decent sized energy breakfast to start out your day.

This has some truth in it. Maybe seventy years ago when people would go working the fields, right after breakfast a nutritious breakfast was vital. Nowadays, if we go sit down in an office for a continuous eight hours, we may think twice about letting all the fat from that energy breakfast get comfortable around our waist. The goal is to limit our calorie intake.

In the United States, I have witness people consuming potatoes with tomato sauce or eggs and steak for breakfast. A high fast breakfast is different than a high energy breakfast. Fast makes your body slow down, takes longer to digest, and fogs the mind. Grains give high energy without all the fat and mind fogging. Each of us uses a certain quantity of calories to stay alive, to regulate body temperature, and to assist in involuntary movements essential for living: like breathing) .If we take in more calories than are burned throughout the day, these calories or sugars transform themselves into fat.

Cereals and toast with fruits are fine for breakfast, so the Italian breakfast is not so far off.

Snack: Having a snack in the middle of the morning is good: usually an Italian snack is either a cappuccino or cornetto at the bar. Some other choices are either an orange juice or succo di frutta with a toast or pizzetta or tramezzino.

Lunch: Of course what you have for lunch varies from family to family and varies as well all over Italy. Most typically, I would say it is a one course meal: meaning pasta and a salad with fruit (That is at least what you should have)

My mother is pretty good at that: She is either cooking pasta with tomato sauce and making a salad or sometimes baking fish in the oven with potatoes. Or maybe prepares a light meat dish with a tossed salad or vegetables. Usually fresh fruits compliment the end of the meal.

Afternoon snack: A yogurt or some fruit would be a good choice for example.

Dinner:

I noticed, that dinnertime in a modern working family has become the major meal of the day. Not eating too late (giving time to digest before going to bed). I usually cook a one course dinner followed by a salad or vegetable. Sometimes I make "pasta e fagioli" (pasta with navy beans) or a soup with fish and vegetables. During the weekend, I might have friends over and in that case push to create a two-course meal like pasta or rice followed by meat or fish, then followed by a salad or vegetable. All this is followed by fruit and is a mandatory following to the Italian etiquette.

*Note that pasta should be cooked "al dente" to be more easily digested

Drinks:

According to a 2002 FAO study "The high and increasing consumption of sugars and sweetened drinks consumed by children in many countries is of alarming concern. It has been estimated that each additional can or glass of sugars-sweetened drink consumed increases the risk of becoming obese by 60%. Most of the evidence relates to carbonated drinks, but many fruit drinks and cordials are equally sugary, and may promote weight gain if drunk in large quantities. Overall, the evidence implicating a high intake of sweetened drinks in promoting weight gain was considered moderately strong". Italians consume a limited amount of carbonated beverages and prefer mineral water to accompany their meals.

Unfortunately, the Italian diet is in itself changing for the worse. According to new studies even in Italy; kids are getting fatter. This is reported due in part to an increase in proteins and fatty foods in the Italian diet. A large part is due to time spend in front of the television and usage of Video Games versus inventing games out in the yard and running around. Italian foods (in Italy) and the lifestyle were healthier twenty years ago. The state of Italy, however, reacted quickly to this new health threat and distributed seven million pamphlets with guidelines for a healthier diet Movements such as "Slow Foods," (which has its world headquarters in Italy), contributes to the population's nutrition with television ads. A way to react to the new threat which Italians are attempting to reverse hurriedly and go back to the old Mediterranean diet.

By Paolo Nascimbeni

I wrote the above article myself – It does however contain material extracted from other articles; Andrea Ghiselli - Lavinia Guffanti La dieta Mediterranea 2005 - The article was also informally reviewed by a doctor and a nutritionist

You may read on similar subjects here: Mediterranean Food Diet

Another Reading is about Ancel Keys found here: Ancel Keys History