Thursday,
October 30, 2008
Life for Italians is so Different
from Ours in US
The
ANNOTICO Report
How
do Italians seem to live such healthy lives so effortlessly when
Americans have to battle our bulges by working out, dieting, carrying water
bottles everywhere and eating energy and protein bars by the ton?
Part
of it has to do with Italians love for walking, small breakfasts,
less stressed lifestyles; most days lots of salads, fruit is served with
the evening meal instead of desert, etc , etc.
Life for Italians is so Different from Ours
Vineland
Daily Journal -
By Carolyn Vinci
October 29, 2008
When I became a
member of The Daily Journal
After returning
from a two-week tour of
I have new ideas
for future columns about ways to prepare food based on what was served to us in
various cities. But I hope you will forgive me if I write about another kind of
recipe that I learned in my short time there -- one for good health.
I did a lot of
people-watching in
In fact, I only
saw one jogger and he looked like he was training for a marathon. People there
are trim and fit. They wear form-fitting clothes and beautiful shoes. I didn
How do Italians
seem to live such healthy lives so effortlessly when Americans have to battle
our bulges by working out, dieting, carrying water bottles everywhere and
eating energy and protein bars by the ton?
Our tour guide,
Irene, patiently answered my many questions about the Italian lifestyle and
their way of cooking and eating. We had lots of time to chat as our group of 46
people traveled to each city by bus.
Italians do a lot
of walking. The streets are crowded with cars and those cute scooters, so it is
sometimes quicker (and safer!) to walk places.
They eat a small
breakfast and enjoy a late morning snack. Lunch in the late afternoon is the
big meal and dinner starts about 8 p.m. and lasts for perhaps two hours.
The lifestyles
there are slower, too; they seem much less stressed than Americans. One of the
few things I saw them do quickly was drink their coffee or espresso.
Coffee, whether
ordered at a street side cafi or in what they call
self-serve, comes in a real cup and saucer. It is enjoyed standing up near
small tables in stores that are their version of a Wawa.
Our guide said it
After dinner, the
natives have what is called a "Cafi Correcto," which is espresso with a shot of liquor,
usually Sambucca or Grappa, which is distilled grape
juice.
Gelato is big in
But even that is
healthier than our ice cream because gelato contains much less butterfat.
Dessert is mostly
enjoyed on weekends, our guide Irene explained. Most days, fruit is served with
the evening meal.
And forget what
you heard about cheesecakes, cannoli and biscotti. I
only saw one place selling cannolis and after a week
of not seeing any cheesecake, I learned they don
Italians also eat
a lot of olives and have olive oil in most savory dishes. They love their fruit
(they grow a lot of kiwi) and eat their salads as a last course to help the
digestion. Wine is everywhere and there is no minimum drinking age. Irene said
kids don
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ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed (With Archives*) on:
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www.AnnoticoReport.com
Italia
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