Sad Times for Italians
By Hayley Birch
Strange things are afoot in Italy. The nation that lives for lasagne, tucks into tiramisu and prizes pizza is on a diet.Two rather surprising stories caught the Null’s eye this week. First up, the news that a nutritionist in southern Italy has designed a healthy eating pizza which he claims works against the ageing process.
According to Eugenio Luigi Iorio, who is responsible for the creation of the “primula”, his combination of eight different vegetables markedly increases the anti-oxidant properties of the pizza. Anti-oxidants, it has long been claimed, scavenge harmful free radicals which are thought to contribute to the risk of age-related diseases such as heart disease and arthritis. Traditionalists, however, are said to be unimpressed by the new dish.
The more bizarre tale though, comes from northwestern Italy. Not to be outdone by his compatriots in the south, the mayor of Varallo released a statement yesterday saying that residents of the town will be paid to lose weight.
As of now, guys will get 50 euros for every 4kg (9 pounds) shed, while women will need to lose just 3kg to earn the same amount. There’s even a bonus 200 euros for anyone who manages to keep off the weight for five months.
So what’s got into the Italians? Despite the fact that Mediterranean countries have some of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world, they seemed to have jumped on the obesity bashing band wagon with the rest of us.
This concerns me – I’m holidaying in Italy later this year and the food is a significant factor in my choice of destination. If I turn up in Rome to be confronted with reduced fat ice cream and anti-wrinkle mozzarella, there’s going to be all hell to pay.
And just to add fuel to the fire, on the same day that Iorio unveiled his primula, researchers in the US claimed that anti-oxidants show no effect on the incidence of heart disease. Women who took known anti-oxidants vitamins E and C for nine years failed to decrease their risk of coronary heart disease and stroke.
So that's it, I'm done with the healthy stuff. Bring me my margherita with extra cheese.
Check out Hayley's page.
More foody bits:
- Reviews - British food: the bane of European cuisine
- Nuts - Big squid gets cooked
- Urgh - Injecting bile to fight flab
- Silly - Inorganic is inacceptable!
Image: Kieran Foster
Share this
