WHY THE NORTHERN ITALIAN DIET?

THE NORTHERN ITALIAN DIET IS NOT A "MEDITERRANEAN DIET". Butter tends to be used more than olive oil. Much meat is eaten and it is a "caloric" diet...yet people stay slimmer than those following a more mediterranean diet in the rest of the country.

Northern Italian regions have longer life expectancy  lower rates of overweight and obesity (amongst the lowest in Europe), lower incidence of cardiovascular disease and some of the lowest rates of disability due to chronic medical conditions in the world. The Italian Government keeps meticulous records about births and deaths, so we have good data about the longevity of Italians. This has not gone unnoticed:

 

Why do Italians live longer than us?

 

 

Here are the data on longevity of the various Italian regions:

 

http://www.fondazioneveronesi.it/articoli/altre-news/italia-ecco-la-mappa-della-lunga-vita

 

and here are the data on Obesity of the different Italian regions:

 

http://www.ausl.vda.it/elementi/www/evidenze/obesita_scheda.pdf

 

And this are the data comparing Italy to the rest of the European Union:

http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Overweight_and_obesity_-_BMI_statistics

 

Italy at 6.6% has one of the lowest disability rates in the European Union (compare with Finland at 32.12%, United Kingdom at 27.2% and The Netherlands at 25.4%)

http://www.rollingrains.com/readings/2010/03/the-number-of-people-with-disabilities-worldwide.html

 

As it can be seen, the “Mediterranean” regions of Italy do not do as well as the Northern Regions, with regards to longevity and obesity.And also with regards to health:

 

http://www.panorama.it/scienza/salute/aspettativa-di-vita-meglio-vivere-al-nord/

 

https://www.wired.it/scienza/medicina/2017/04/11/italia-mortalita-nord-sud/

 

http://gds.it/2015/12/11/la-salute-dei-siciliani-e-fra-le-peggiori-ditalia_447824/

 

http://salute24.ilsole24ore.com/articles/17803?refresh_ce=1

 

I am not arbitrarily making these statements. This has been reported by ISTAT, the Italian statistics bureau

https://www.istat.it/it/files/2015/12/01-Salute-Bes2015.pdf

 

Diabetes has a low prevalence in Italy and the prevalence is lower in Northern italy (3.2%) than Southern Italy (6.3%)

 

http://ebph.it/article/viewFile/9980/10125

 

 

Compare the rates of diabetes in Italy with those of other Countries:

 

France 6% (in 2014)  ( The burden and treatment of diabetes in France Global Health. 2014; 10: 6.)

Spain  10.58% 

Portugal 13.09%  ( https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blog/2015/08/which-country-highest-diabetes-europe/ )

 

Prevalence of diabetes in Greece is 11.97% (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27086683)

 

China has a diabetes prevalence of  10.9%  (see http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2633917)

United States has 9% prevalence of Diabetes (see above reference in JAMA)

while in Japan it is   7.6% https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2016/05/07/commentary/diabetes-emerges-japans-hidden-scourge/#.We6dbXaQxdg

 

Thailand was at 9.6% https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14514576

Vietnam was at 5.4% in 2012 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27108154

 

Unfortunately many oriental cuisines use sugar as a key  ingredient for the preparation of food.

 

Mexico has daibetes rates of 8.9% and possibly as high as 14.4% https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27108154

 

The prevalence of diabetes in Iran is as high as 11.4% https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.novonordisk.com%2Fcontent%2Fdam%2FDenmark%2FHQ%2Faboutus%2Fdocuments%2Fidlf-briefing-book.pdf&pdf=true

The World health organization reports 10.3% prevalence of Diabetes In Iran https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.who.int%2Fdiabetes%2Fcountry-profiles%2Firn_en.pdf%3Fua%3D1&pdf=true

 

Turkey had a prevalence of 14.71% in 2014  (you can look this one up on your own)

 

Nobody is going to do an experiment where 10,000 people are put on a North Italian diet for life and 10,000 people are put on a control diet for life. So we are forced to rely on whatever little data is available.

 

Northern Italy, and especially Lombardy is the wealthiest, most productive and innovative part of the country. Well fed people are healthy, able bodied, long lived and productive. The statistics suggest that the diet of Northern Italy correlates with high productivity and innovation in a modern industrial society. I argue that the diet of Northern Italy is one of the best diets in the world.

 

AND WHAT IS THE "MEDITERRANEAN DIET" ANYWAY?

If you pick up a "Mediterranean" cookbook at a bookstore it will list recipes from any country on the shores of the Mediterranean. But in reality the concept of a Mediterranean Diet was proposed by American Biochemist Ancel Keys, the inventor of the Army's K-rations. Dr Keys was involved in the famous "Seven Countries" study, and in the course of his travels noticed that a small area in Southern Italy had a very high proportion of Centenarians. This area is Cilento, in the region of Campania, just South of Naples and the Amalfi Coast. Dr Keys moved to the area when he retired and lived there for 28 years, to the ripe old age of 100!

Dr Keys penned a famous book entitled "Eat well and stay well", but the recipes in the book are not from Cilento, some are actually from Midwest America and from the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. According to Italian Statistics the health parameters of the people of Campania are below the national average.

 

 

BUT NOW IT IS TIME TO PRESENT NORTHERN ITALIAN CUISINE:

Here we will consider as "Northern Italian" the cooking of Valle D'Aosta, Piemonte, Liguria, Lombardia, Veneto, Trentino Alto Adige, Friuli, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany and Marche. We will also include regions that were historically or culturally Northern Italian such as Savoy, Nice, Corsica, Istria and Dalmatia. The Food of Provence (France) is also very similar to Northern Italian Food, in fact it is almost the same. 

Where can you find free original recipes to cook Northern Italian food? The Lombardy Regional Government has created a book entitled "Journey amongst the flavors of Lombardy" and it is available for free on Google Books:

 

https://books.google.com/books?id=ccKCBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=journey+amongst+the+flavors+of+lombardy&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwic0e-FnbTWAhXCQJoKHQhaC20Q6AEILDAB#v=onepage&q=journey%20amongst%20the%20flavors%20of%20lombardy&f=false



More free Lombard recipes here

 

Here are some English Language Piedmont Recipes, free of course

 

More English Language Piedmontese Recipes (links at middle of page)

 

more free Piedmontese recipes  and more again you gotta print this 

 

some 100% Free Emilian recipes

 

Free Friuli Recipes

 

the food of Liguria for free

 

Trentino recipes

 

Small Region, great food: Valle D'Aosta

 

The food of the Most Serene Republic

 

last but not least: Tuscany

 

and Le Marche?

 

You cannot be in a hurry because thre are at least 2,000 recipes (yes, two thousand recipes! Also 150 cheese varieties and more than 300 wine grapes to learn-and that is just the grape varieties- not the wines!). If you think I am kidding take a look at this: 5,000 Italian regional recipes

 

ever seen a cookbook with 5,000 recipes? Welcome to Italy.

 

some more pdf downloadable recipes for Northern Italian Classics

http://www.browneyedbaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/LasagneVerdi_alForno.pdf

 

http://www.terralannoo.nl/sites/default/files/books/issuu/9789089896742.pdf

 

 

 

Spritz

 

Spritz 2

 

 

 

Other Links:

https://www.thespruce.com/northern-italian-cuisine-by-region-2019844

 

 

 

NORTHERN ITALIAN WINES

 

Barolo and Barbaresco