Eat and Live Well – The Italian Way

Buon giorno, una bella giornata.

Anyone who has travelled in Italy knows that the Italian lifestyle is defined by a love of good food, a passion for flavour, and a vibrant lifestyle. But you don't have to vacation in Rome to live "la dolce vita" - eating and living Italian style is a way of life that can be enjoyed anywhere, all year around.

Though Italian culture emphasizes eating for enjoyment (notice you don't meet many Italians on fad diets?), the Italian diet also happens to be one of the healthiest in the world; incorporating fresh, wholesome foods that are rich in nutrients and low in unhealthy fats.

To help guide people on how to eat and live like an Italian, Barilla - the Italian food brand - partnered with a team of nutritionists to create a new model that demonstrates the Italian way of eating as well as the various components that go into creating a perfectly balanced pasta meal. It's also worth noting that this model of eating fits well within the parameters of the new dietary guidelines that have been emphasised over the last few years, and the My Pyramid Food Guidance system, so anyone who considers Italian to be their favourite cuisine, can feel good about eating the Italian way while benefiting from a healthy diet and lifestyle.

Sure, there are still people who think of pasta as fettuccine smothered in fat-laden cream sauce. But traditional pasta meals are fresh, light, and easy to put together with nutritious, seasonal ingredients. Pasta is a perfect delivery system to get many healthy foods in your diet - such as a variety of colourful vegetables, tomato sauce, olive oil, fish and lean cuts of poultry. And pasta is low in sodium and cholesterol-free, as well as a good source of thiamine, folic acid, iron, riboflavin and niacin.

Pasta also ranks among children's favourite foods - especially when they can help prepare the meal. "Cooking pasta together is an easy way to get your family eating and communicating better," says Lynn Fredericks, author of Cooking Time is Family Time. "Let kids choose the pasta shape, help chop vegetables, set the table - cooking is a lot more fun when everyone pitches in."

Start experimenting with different variations on pasta meals to keep dinnertime interesting and healthy. For starters, try the two pasta recipes for typical Italian dishes that offer exceptional taste and nutrition, that will be my next two posts.

For many more authentic pasta meal recipes as well as tips on eating, cooking and living the Italian way, visit the new Barilla America website at www.barillaus.com. This is a site I can highly recommend, as well as the pasta which you can find in some shops and delicatessens in Cape Town – in which case, they must also be available in other centres as well.

Cheers… and salute

Love Italy, love life.