OUTLINE
Why should you eat and cook more Italian food?
INTRO
You are what you eat. There are a lot of diet in the world but which of these is healthy and tasty at the same time? Sometimes it is difficult to choose whether to satisfy our mind or your heart. Should you eat those fries or a salad? You are what you eat, and sometimes it is difficult to choose. But what if you could satisfy both your heart and our mind?
Importance: Today I will explain you why you should eat and cook more Italian food.
I am Francesca and I grew up in Italy eating and cooking Italian food. Italian food is part of the Mediterranean diet and many experts say it is one of the healthiest diets in the world.
Today you will know that Italian food is healthy, it is for everyone and you can use it to surprise your friends.
BODY
1.In first place, you should eat and cook more Italian food because being part of the Mediterranean diet, it is one of the healthiest in the world and is recognized as one of the Heritages of Humanity by UNESCO for this reason.
But why is it healthy? The physiologist Khanna Navya, in her academic article named “Awareness of the Mediterranean diet among university studies – A survey”, says that this diet consists of a high use of fruit, vegetables, legumes and complex carbohydrates, with a moderate use of fish and olive oil as the main source of fat and it try to reduce red meat and sugar. Khanna claims that this diet reduces the probability of contracting diseases, not least, Sardinia (an Italian region) has the lowest number of cases of cardiovascular disease and cancer in the world.
I arrived in the US a few months ago and the first thing I noticed is the difference in sugar inside the food here compared to Italy. In US, food is very sugary, so much so it is difficult to taste the true flavor of things, and this is also dangerous for our health, as a high use of sugar promotes diabetes.
So, eating Italian means saving money in your healthcare because you avoid contracting cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes and so on. This would imply a reduction in the purchase of medicines and the most important thing increase your lifespan. About this, I want to show a chart that illustrates obesity deaths in US compared to the Europe and Italy. As you can see, obesity deaths in the US are very high compared to Italy and Europe.
Now that I’ve talked about how healthy Italian food is, I can talk about what people enjoy about Italian cuisine.
You should eat and cook more Italian food because it is for everyone
Italian cuisine has thousands of recipes suitable for any kind of diet: vegan, vegetarian, for people with intolerances and allergies, etc.
Italian cuisine is simple, I remember that I could cook for my little brother when I was in middle school and my parents worked. Traditional recipes have been created by grandmothers more than the chefs, which is why many Italian recipes are suitable for home and daily cooking. Speaking about Grandmothers, since I arrived in the US, I miss my grandmother’s food so much, in particular “pasta con sugo allo spezzatino”. It is simply pasta with tomatoes sauce, spices and stew but it is divine, believe me. Fun fact, if you travel in Italy, never tell a grandmother you are starving, you could get stuck in her kitchen for the rest of the trip, the Italian grandmothers are known for their very huge meals, mine is an example.
So, Italian food is healthy, and it is for everyone, and this brings me to my last point. How can you use Italian food?
You should eat and cook more Italian food because you can surprise your friends.
Imagine you want to organize a dinner and invite your friends and you don’t know what to make.
Italian food is the solution (I remember the huge dinners I had at my house with all my friends in Italy). You can choose from a plenty of recipes and compose your menu.
When everything is ready, have a seat with your friends, chat and enjoy your dinner. An Italian meal is famous for its duration. Friends and family could stay at the table eating and speaking for hours.
At the end of your dinner you will discover what you did was not just eating. You were knowing new things. You were tasting new flavors. You were protecting your health. You were sharing your magical experience with your friends.
OUTRO
In conclusion, you should eat and cook more Italian food because Italian food is healthy, it is for everyone and you can use it to surprise your friends.
You are what you eat. Probably if I had to choose to preserve my health, I would always eat healthy, but sometimes even the heart needs to be feed and thanks to Italian food I can always do both: feel good and enjoy my food with my friends.
References:
Khanna, Navya, et al. “Awareness of Mediterranean diet among college students – A survey.” Drug Invention Today, vol. 11, no. 9, Sept. 2019, pp. 2277-79.
Mazzocchi, Mario. “Tasso di obesità.” Associazione Alessandro Bertola, Dec. 2005,
“Cucina Italiana.” Wikipedia
