If you have already been to Italy you are aware that the “French Paradox” is alive and well and living here.  How do they do it? If you have sat through one of the multi-course dinners that are so common here you know that the amount of food consumed is nothing to sneeze at.  Every table has wine, every table has bread, some more bread, and as long as there is sauce to soak up, more bread.  What are the keys in the ability to consume so much good food as a culture and not have any apparent obesity issues? Of course there are a few Italians who are a little chubby but as a rule, the entire country appears to be a living example of an ideal weight chart.

There are few major differences in the components of the typical Italian diet and the typical American diet.  One if these differences that might seem minor at first is beverages.  An Italian typically has a few coffees per day (one ounce each), perhaps a small glass of orange juice with breakfast, a glass of wine with dinner, and a water bottle permanently attached at the hip.  Iced tea is common in the summer, but with minimal sweetening.  Sodas of most types are not consumed often, along with all of the chemicals and high-fructose corn syrup that come along with them.  If you adopt this style of beverage consumption you reduce sugar intake, chemical intake and sugar related mood swings as well.

Another big difference is the frequency with which Italians eat versus Americans.  Meals are eaten more slowly, over longer periods of time.  There are a number of benefits here; the more slowly you eat, the less likely you are to overeat; when courses are served you reach “sensation saturation” sooner so smaller portions leave you satisfied; and hey, the more slowly you eat, the more you can enjoy the flavors.  Snacks that are fairly healthy are also eaten throughout the day.  Some bread or fruit seems to always be at hand, or otherwise a small panini.

A final factor is the freshness of the food.  Weekly grocery shopping is fairly common, but with trips every couple days or so for produce or meat.  You see canned food consumed, and frozen items, but very little food here has preservatives or additives. And people eat fruit and vegetables here as much as your mother tells you to, maybe even more. Every house seems to have a bowl of fresh fruit that is never empty, the gutters always have orange peels in them and if you don’t eat your fruits and veggies Nonna will come after you with a wooden spoon.  If you balance your pork, your cheese and wine with every color of fruit and vegetable you can’t go wrong.You can eat all of the tastiest foods, but slowly and with relish.