Tag: reasons

5 good reasons to choose it (and feel good) – Italian Cuisine

Pizza with vegetables? Great idea because vegetables help you eat less pizza and stay fit and healthy. Here are all the benefits and the best strains to choose from

Good the four seasons or the ham and mushrooms, and the pizza with vegetables? There Pizza it is one of the most popular dishes of Italian cuisine in the world. Prepared with the right ingredients, it can be consumed once a week even if you need to lose weight. "Prepared with quality ingredients, pizza can be considered to all intents and purposes a complete single dish because it provides complex carbohydrates, fats and proteins", explains the nutritionist Nicoletta Bocchino.

The ideal is to improve the nutritional profile add the vegetables instead of ingredients rich in saturated fat such as salami and ham. "Thanks to the richness of fibers, vegetables allow to reduce the impact of this dish on health and on the figure". The benefits are multiplied if the vegetables are in season, raw or steamed. "Compared to grilled ones, they better preserve vitamins and antioxidants, precious for the body". Alternatively, frozen ones are fine too. "Compared to fresh ones that often remain in the refrigerator for many days, they ensure a higher content of vitamin C, which is involved in various functions of the body, because they are frozen as soon as they are picked". Let's see in detail with the help of the expert why to choose the pizza with vegetables and which varieties to choose to make it healthier and lighter.

Pizza with vegetables

Why choose pizza with vegetables?

They increase satiety

If you are on a diet or need to get rid of a few extra pounds, pizza with vegetables is an excellent strategy for feel full earlier and eat less. "Vegetables provide soluble fiber which, once ingested, absorb a lot of water in the stomach and form a sort of gel that slows down the absorption of carbohydrates from the dough and lipids from the filling," says the expert. Fiber also gives you satiety. "They modulate the rise in blood sugar after a meal and counteract the exaggerated production of insulin, a hormone that stimulates the desire for other food".

They reduce the effects of sodium

The ingredients used to fill pizza such as mozzarella (but also ham, anchovies, salami, cheeses) are rich in sodium, which in excess stimulates thirst and increases the risk of high blood pressure, retention and swelling. «Adding vegetables to pizza allows you to make sure potassium and magnesium, two minerals that favor the elimination of excess sodium, thus reducing the negative effects on the figure and on health. The vegetables also provide a lot of water, which is useful for the proper functioning of the metabolism and the elimination of waste substances produced during metabolic processes, "says the nutritionist.

They help keep away from cholesterol

Vegetables are one of the main sources of fiber and antioxidants, substances that have a cholesterol-lowering action. "They are able to reduce the absorption of cholesterol, including that present in mozzarella and cheeses. Thanks also to the richness of niacin, a B vitamin, they favor the metabolism of fats, protecting cardiovascular health .

They facilitate digestion

The pizza dough, especially if it has not risen well, can be difficult to digest. "The addition of vegetables enriches the dish with antioxidant molecules, which have a double advantage: they stimulate the production and flow of bile, improving liver work and facilitating digestive processes, counteracting swelling and a sense of heaviness", explains the nutritionist.

They help you sleep better

Do you suffer from insomnia after eating pizza? Vegetables added to the filling can be excellent allies to counter the problem. “Vegetables provide a whole range of substances that facilitate relaxation. Among these, the B vitamins stand out, which favor the production of serotonin and melatonin, the hormones that regulate the sleep-wake rhythm and relaxing minerals such as potassium, magnesium and calcium ”, explains nutritionist Nicoletta Bocchino.

In the gallery 5 varieties of vegetables to add to the pizza to make it lighter and more digestible

Our pizzas with vegetables

5 reasons to eat pasta and broccoli in January – Italian Cuisine

Provides lots of fiber and super antioxidants for line and health. This is why it should be prepared more often

Eat pasta and broccoli to January it is an excellent way to ensure the body a series of health-promoting substances in this period. This dish based on two typical ingredients of the Mediterranean diet is perfect after a period in which you have overdone it with fats, fried foods and sweets. "It contributes to the elimination of excess toxins. Broccoli is indeed very rich in antioxidants, substances that counteract free radicals and promote the elimination of toxins ", he says Valentina Galiazzo, nutrition biologist specializing in clinical biochemistry. This purely winter first course is then a valid ally to regain the hunger-satiety rhythm after a period of irregularity. "Bringing it to the table even a couple of times a week, provided of course not to overdo the quantities, allows you to feel less hungry between meals. Broccoli gives the dish many soluble fibers that first of all slow down the absorption of starch from the pasta and improve the effect on insulin production, which affects satiety ". But the benefits of this dish are also many others. Here are 5 good reasons to eat pasta and broccoli in January.

Fights the winter blues

Bringing pasta with broccoli to the table is also a great way to counteract sadness and mood swings, which tend to be more frequent on winter days. "This dish provides a high concentration of B-complex vitamins, including vitamin B5 and a combination of minerals that support emotional well-being, says the expert," says nutritionist Valentina Galiazzo. "It then provides vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, which helps you always feel at the top even on the coldest days because in addition to facilitating the assimilation of iron, a mineral that fights the feeling of fatigue, it strengthens the body's defenses" .

It's good for the heart

Pasta with broccoli is also an ally dish for cardiovascular health. Consumption of broccoli reduces the blood concentration of homocysteine, an amino acid that increases the risk to the heart. "The credit is due to the richness of soluble fibers which have a real protective effect," says the expert. “First of all, they reduce the chances of becoming overweight and obese, which increase the chances of cardiovascular disease. In fact, they slow down the assimilation of fats, including cholesterol and triglycerides, and sugars. Combined with the complex carbohydrates of pasta, they allow you to avoid blood sugar peaks and prevent type 2 diabetes and hypercholesterolemia, two other risk factors ".

It reduces stress

The B vitamins associated with essential amino acids including tryptophan of which pasta is a source increase the synthesis of serotonin, a neurotransmitter antagonist of stress hormones such as cortisol, noradrenaline and adrenaline ", adds the expert. "Thanks to the presence of minerals and trace elements such as copper, phosphorus, but also manganese and potassium, it is an excellent ally to feel dynamic even in the hardest and most tiring moments".

It prevents cancer

Finally, eating pasta and broccoli often is an excellent strategy for preventing cancer, especially lung, breast and colorectal cancers. "Broccoli is rich in glucosinolates responsible for their bitter taste, including sulforaphane, which have a real anti-cancer action", explains nutritionist Valentina Galiazzo. To make the most of their protective effect and ensure that it does not reduce, it is necessary to avoid keeping the broccoli in the refrigerator for a long time and pay attention to prolonged cooking. «The heat tends to make it diminish. For this reason, the advice to follow in the kitchen is to avoid overcooking them. The ideal is to quickly blanch them in boiling water ".

It can easily turn into a single dish

With the addition of a few ingredients, the pasta and broccoli easily becomes a single dish capable of combining first and second courses. "Among the ingredients that can be added to make it complete and at the same time balanced from a nutritional point of view, there are anchovies or mussels, a source of essential fatty acids and quality proteins", suggests nutritionist Valentina Galiazzo. "Alternatively, to ensure a dish rich in all the nutrients needed by the body, it can also be combined with pine nuts or, if you do not suffer from irritable bowel, with legumes, in particular beans and lentils. The latter cooked together with broccoli in addition to ensuring essential amino acids, allow to double the content of glucosinolates, thus increasing the health benefits ".

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The ancient Piedmontese apples: all the reasons to find them – Italian Cuisine

They are rich in vitamins and polyphenols three times more than the most famous varieties found in large retailers and have a wealth of aromas, aromas and taste that makes them unique

They have weird names, sometimes female, like Carla, or of colors, Grigia di Torriana, or, again, Gamba Fina, Buras, Runsé, Magnana, Dominici and Cavilla Bianca. They are all apples of native varieties, present in Piedmont since the end of the thirteenth century. Cultivated since the time of the Cistercian monks in abbeys, they have developed a particular resistance to diseases and are decidedly rustic varieties. Looking small, with a taste tending towards acid, in the 1950s and 1960s, when beautiful, red, huge varieties of apples, such as Fuji or Granny Smiths, appeared on the market, these tiny, imperfect specimens went out of fashion, effectively disappeared. "We have continued to cultivate them", says Federica Quattrocolo, contact person for the Slow Food Presidium products, "because they are on average three times richer in vitamins and polyphenols compared to more commercial varieties. But, above all, they have a completely different range of aromas, tastes and fragrances than those we are used to consuming from large distribution .

An inexhaustible wealth

There are about 700 varieties of apples registered in the territory that goes from Saluzzo to Turin, up to Pinerolo. There were more than a thousand when at the end of the eighteenth century the French nurserymen of Chambery brought them to sell to the botanical garden of Turin. In 2000, when the Slow Food project began together with the Malva Arnaldi School of Bibiana, a training institute for specific technical figures in the agricultural sector, eight qualities were chosen and with those the Presidium was established, which relates to realities or techniques that are considered to have historical value, which are linked in some way to products that define a territory, but which are considered at risk of extinction. Slow Food helps small producers to enter a communication network that gives visibility to the chosen product or reality. That of the ancient Piedmontese apples was one of the first Slow Food presidia in Italy.

A historical reality of the territory

The cultivation of apples for the Canavese area has always been very important. It is a foothill area, with great biodiversity, where there have always been many different varieties of fruit such as apple trees, kiwis, blueberries … In the town of Cavour for the garrison of apples a ten-day event has been held for many years, in mid-November All apples: here there is a fair part where fruit is sold, an educational part, with schools, and a gastronomic part, in which the chefs of the restaurants in the area offer menus based on apples, with the use of this fruit from dessert appetizer.

Ancient apples in the kitchen

All these ancient apples are perfect for raw consumption, with their crunchiness and their marked acidity. But they also lend themselves to cooking: the Gray, for example, is the most suitable to bake in the oven. Already at the time it was soaked in large jars filled with hot water and a syrup was made that could also be consumed in the following months. “In reality, all these apple varieties can be kept for many months. They are harvested in mid-October, apart from the Carla which is harvested at the beginning of September, and then they are left to mature in the lofts for months. In this time the taste softens, rounds, and buy all the nuances that make these apples an extraordinary product". In the kitchen they are extremely versatile, they are suitable both for making desserts and for savory dishes, such as roasts or risottos. They have a reddish, streaked or red-green hue, some are dotted, others are golden, such as Gray. They are apples that were once also used as a medicine in decoctions. Of all, the Carla variety is the one with the oldest taste, the one that refers to childhood memories.

Low yield, but great disease resistance

The ancient apples of Piedmont have been rediscovered thanks to events such as Salon of taste or the Basket of typical products of Turin. They are difficult varieties to grow mainly because the yield is not as abundant as that of the best known apples. They often have a tendency to alternate between: one year they are abundant, the next year the harvest is almost nil. This is the main reason why growers have decided to abandon them over the years, despite the fact that they are very resistant to pests and diseases. Fortunately the trend has changed, and now on the territory there are 25 farmers who have decided to replant these ancient fruits. The plants grow from 300 meters up to 600 meters above sea level and the higher they grow, the more good their fruits are. This depends on the type of soil, which drains and does not stagnate water and allows the plant to absorb all the nutrients present in the soil. Each plant grown in different valleys has its own particularity, and this means that biodiversity is, in these places, an unmissable resource.