anyone living in Italy?

I was recently in Calabria for 3 weeks, and I'm quite fascinated about the foods they chose to eat and I'm wondering if anyone here lives in Italy, I would love to have a conversation about their diet and learn more about it.

What kinda foods?

Lunchtime is coming up... make me hungry lol

Posted by Earthling

I was recently in Calabria for 3 weeks, and I'm quite fascinated about the foods they chose to eat and I'm wondering if anyone here lives in Italy, I would love to have a conversation about their diet and learn more about it.

I'm not sure if they have a specific diet per se. My husband is Italian from Trieste. What I understand is that they love making food from scratch: pasta, sauces, bread, etc. Mostly fresh ingredients so I'd say healthier than usual food. They don't shy away from sweets for brekky matched with milk-heavy cappuccino before 11am. And when he was younger, he had abs galore and still looks great at 40. Hence why I mentioned before on one of the threads here, that he looks like an avenger.

Aussies are more diet conscious than anywhere I've been in the world. Talk about beetroot smoothies, low carb food from uber etc 5-6x a week with a Saturday/Sunday of binge drinking with your mates. Lol

Posted by LadyNeptune

What kinda foods?

Lunchtime is coming up... make me hungry lol

ok so breakfast was a big culture shock for me.

where im from we like to eat a protein, a carb, a fiber and some dairy for breakfast. People in my society never skip breakfast, we believe it is the most important meal of the day; we like sustainable energy.

in calabria they typically don't ever eat breakfast, and if they do its just a couple shots of espresso. When they do eat a food for breakfast, the only options are some kind of pastry like a nutella filled croissant or donut.

i was surprised that they wake up and theyre not hungry, and i was also surprised that they were able to indulge in sweets like this for their first meal of the day and then continue to work without any lethargy or sugar induced food coma.

i just thought it was interesting how genetics play a part in digestion. for example, these italians seemed to function perfectly fine after eating a wad of nutella and a lowsy piece of bread for breakfast and not get hungry until noon/lunch time. for me and my genetics, if i consumed this type of food first thing in the morning, i would become severely sick.

i was wondering if all of italy is typically this way with breakfast or is it only calabria.

Posted by MonaLisa26

Latter of mine was Italian from Philly so it is pizza and cheesesteak.

Current one Italian from Staten Island - so pizza and NY bagels. He said anything but gefilte fish 🤣

What diet? LMAO

Italians just know how to chose pasta that is good De Cecco and Barilla. Paired up with olive oil and sauce it doesnt have fattening effect on the body. I used to like soggy pasta but now I was thought taste al dente!

The rest is just Mediterranean cuisine that is in general healthy due to vegetables (not fruits) consumption and seafood and cooking from scratch.

Do not forget that as small as Italy is - every household and region has their own diet.

But you can eat anything you want if your dont overeat! In any cuisine.

Bon Appetite!

italian american and italian diets are slightly different.

in calabria unfortunately nothing was very healthy. fruit was extremely limited. the only fruit trees that i saw were lemons and plums, where were the grapes? Sooo many lemon trees.

The plums were ok, nothing special, flavor was not impressive.

it was fresh but not healthy because much of the food was fried in a lot of butter or lard.

the vegetables were rarely eaten fresh, they were always fried. the only vegetables that werent fried was the salad which was lettuce, onions, and tomatoes.

they often served things like fried potatoes, fried eggplant, fried artichokes, etc.

i was fed pasta every single day twice a day for 3 weeks. it sucked, and they eat pasta with bread which is very redundant in my opinion, pasta and bread is essentially the same thing.

oh and the pizza there tasted like wet paper, i couldnt even pick it up with my hands, it just crumbled apart.

pizza on the east coast of the united states is a million times better, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts...

so i didn't enjoy my food in calabria but im not willing to give up just yet on italy. i want to explore the north and see if perhaps they have better food there.

Posted by Earthling

Posted by LadyNeptune

What kinda foods?

Lunchtime is coming up... make me hungry lol

ok so breakfast was a big culture shock for me.

where im from we like to eat a protein, a carb, a fiber and some dairy for breakfast. People in my society never skip breakfast, we believe it is the most important meal of the day; we like sustainable energy.

in calabria they typically don't ever eat breakfast, and if they do its just a couple shots of espresso. When they do eat a food for breakfast, the only options are some kind of pastry like a nutella filled croissant or donut.

i was surprised that they wake up and theyre not hungry, and i was also surprised that they were able to indulge in sweets like this for their first meal of the day and then continue to work without any lethargy or sugar induced food coma.

i just thought it was interesting how genetics play a part in digestion. for example, these italians seemed to function perfectly fine after eating a wad of nutella and a lowsy piece of bread for breakfast and not get hungry until noon/lunch time. for me and my genetics, if i consumed this type of food first thing in the morning, i would become severely sick.

i was wondering if all of italy is typically this way with breakfast or is it only calabria.

click to expand

Yum! Sounds like my ideal diet lol

Nutella for breakfast, what a dream

Posted by LadyNeptune

Posted by Earthling

Posted by LadyNeptune

What kinda foods?

Lunchtime is coming up... make me hungry lol

ok so breakfast was a big culture shock for me.

where im from we like to eat a protein, a carb, a fiber and some dairy for breakfast. People in my society never skip breakfast, we believe it is the most important meal of the day; we like sustainable energy.

in calabria they typically don't ever eat breakfast, and if they do its just a couple shots of espresso. When they do eat a food for breakfast, the only options are some kind of pastry like a nutella filled croissant or donut.

i was surprised that they wake up and theyre not hungry, and i was also surprised that they were able to indulge in sweets like this for their first meal of the day and then continue to work without any lethargy or sugar induced food coma.

i just thought it was interesting how genetics play a part in digestion. for example, these italians seemed to function perfectly fine after eating a wad of nutella and a lowsy piece of bread for breakfast and not get hungry until noon/lunch time. for me and my genetics, if i consumed this type of food first thing in the morning, i would become severely sick.

i was wondering if all of italy is typically this way with breakfast or is it only calabria.

Yum! Sounds like my ideal diet lol

Nutella for breakfast, what a dream

click to expand

its not recommended. most people in italy aren't thin for a reason. be careful.

Posted by Earthling

Posted by LadyNeptune

What kinda foods?

Lunchtime is coming up... make me hungry lol

ok so breakfast was a big culture shock for me.

where im from we like to eat a protein, a carb, a fiber and some dairy for breakfast. People in my society never skip breakfast, we believe it is the most important meal of the day; we like sustainable energy.

in calabria they typically don't ever eat breakfast, and if they do its just a couple shots of espresso. When they do eat a food for breakfast, the only options are some kind of pastry like a nutella filled croissant or donut.

i was surprised that they wake up and theyre not hungry, and i was also surprised that they were able to indulge in sweets like this for their first meal of the day and then continue to work without any lethargy or sugar induced food coma.

i just thought it was interesting how genetics play a part in digestion. for example, these italians seemed to function perfectly fine after eating a wad of nutella and a lowsy piece of bread for breakfast and not get hungry until noon/lunch time. for me and my genetics, if i consumed this type of food first thing in the morning, i would become severely sick.

i was wondering if all of italy is typically this way with breakfast or is it only calabria.

click to expand

Trieste Italians are the same. Whenever I go to my inlaws, there's a lovely homemade bread with Nutella. They put butter first then Nutella on top. Imagine how fattening that is. But the butter is olive based. Lol. Never had that until I married an Italian. But they did tell me its better to eat sweets in the morning because you have all day to burn the calories vs having it at night. So I think that's why they do it? And the pasta.. They use real tomatoes. With chunks.

Posted by BaeMaxx

Posted by Earthling

I was recently in Calabria for 3 weeks, and I'm quite fascinated about the foods they chose to eat and I'm wondering if anyone here lives in Italy, I would love to have a conversation about their diet and learn more about it.

I'm not sure if they have a specific diet per se. My husband is Italian from Trieste. What I understand is that they love making food from scratch: pasta, sauces, bread, etc. Mostly fresh ingredients so I'd say healthier than usual food. They don't shy away from sweets for brekky matched with milk-heavy cappuccino before 11am. And when he was younger, he had abs galore and still looks great at 40. Hence why I mentioned before on one of the threads here, that he looks like an avenger.

Aussies are more diet conscious than anywhere I've been in the world. Talk about beetroot smoothies, low carb food from uber etc 5-6x a week with a Saturday/Sunday of binge drinking with your mates. Lol

click to expand

omg wow! right by the border of slovenia, how interesting...i really want to explore the north of italy so bad!

i never been to australia, i definitely need to go. yea now that i think about it everytime i see an aussie person theyre typically thin, fit, athletic.

Posted by BaeMaxx

Posted by Earthling

Posted by LadyNeptune

What kinda foods?

Lunchtime is coming up... make me hungry lol

ok so breakfast was a big culture shock for me.

where im from we like to eat a protein, a carb, a fiber and some dairy for breakfast. People in my society never skip breakfast, we believe it is the most important meal of the day; we like sustainable energy.

in calabria they typically don't ever eat breakfast, and if they do its just a couple shots of espresso. When they do eat a food for breakfast, the only options are some kind of pastry like a nutella filled croissant or donut.

i was surprised that they wake up and theyre not hungry, and i was also surprised that they were able to indulge in sweets like this for their first meal of the day and then continue to work without any lethargy or sugar induced food coma.

i just thought it was interesting how genetics play a part in digestion. for example, these italians seemed to function perfectly fine after eating a wad of nutella and a lowsy piece of bread for breakfast and not get hungry until noon/lunch time. for me and my genetics, if i consumed this type of food first thing in the morning, i would become severely sick.

i was wondering if all of italy is typically this way with breakfast or is it only calabria.

Trieste Italians are the same. Whenever I go to my inlaws, there's a lovely homemade bread with Nutella. They put butter first then Nutella on top. Imagine how fattening that is. But the butter is olive based. Lol. Never had that until I married an Italian. But they did tell me its better to eat sweets in the morning because you have all day to burn the calories vs having it at night. So I think that's why they do it? And the pasta.. They use real tomatoes. With chunks.

click to expand

omg ew that sounds like a heart attack haha...yea i understand what they mean, its definitely not good to eat sweets too late in the day, but eating them first thing in the morning is a little scary. i prefer the afternoon or evening. i digest food very quickly anyways.

pasta sauce with chunky tomatoes is amazing omg!