As a health and nutrition professional I believe it is my duty to support people towards understanding their needs, which are different and unique for everyone. Each body is different, and everyone shall feel at home in their own, listening to their emotions, both positive and negative.
A few months ago, following a training course, I heard a sentence that resonated in my head ever since: “Even if we all ate the same things, in the same quantities, at the same time, we would all have a different body”.
This is indeed true, though unfortunately society pushes us to conform to a physical ideal that is far from real.
The culture of dieting remains a core facet of our way of living and perceiving things since childhood. We grow up with the thought that there is a right body and a wrong one, the food to choose and the one to forget about it, the one that makes you feel guilty when you eat it.
The underlying fear in most cases is always the same: becoming fat
And the answer, the cure, is almost always the same: take away carbohydrates from your diet.
There is so many to say on this topic but today I want to focus with you on why taking them off the table will not allow you to give your body what it really asks for, unless you turn off the loud and clear signal that it will try to send you.
When it comes to carbohydrates, we talk about needs. Our body needs energy for everything we do every day, from the moment we get up to when we go to bed in the evening.
Where do we get a large amount of this energy? From carbohydrates In addition to that some organs, including the brain and red blood cells, take their energy exclusively from glucose, which is obtained from the digestion of the starches contained in carbohydrates. And thus the circle is closed.
Somebody may tell you that we can make glucose ourselves even from proteins and fats. True, but these substances would undergo processes that go beyond what they were born for, ending up carrying out a task that would not be theirs. It is a bit like asking to a physician NOT specialized in nutrition to help you develop a nutrition path. Are we sure it’s for the best? I believe the answer comes by itself.
What if we removed carbohydrates from our diet? They are the substances that, more than others, provide energy, satiety and satisfaction. If we take them off, we will feel hungry. And when our brain feels hungry, it thinks about food and requests it. That would generate an uneasiness and fear of carbohydrates, deprivation and rigid schemes take us away from true well-being.
For this reason, the solution is not to remove them, but to take them in the right way. What do I mean by “the right way”? I mean the best way depending on your personal and different needs, with the freedom to choose according to your idea of wellbeing.
Today, for example, I want to give you a simple recipe, one that warms my heart because it reminds me of grandma’s fantastic sauce, the one with a lot of basil, as she did it.
It is pasta alla puttanesca my own way (or rather, granma’s way), But to prepare it I chose a special cereal: Einkorn triticum monococcum of Sgambaro’s Bio label has been a staple in my kitchen for years. I am grateful to choose an Italian product, good to eat and full of values. Einkorn triticum monococcum is also the classic example of an ancient cereal, the first to be cultivated and used by man. It is a typically Mediterranean species that Sgambaro harvests in Tuscany and Marche from its selected farmers in over 20 years of organic production.
Most of the wheats known today originate from einkorn triticum monococcum and for this reason it is often called “the father of all wheat“. It does not just taste good, it is particularly rich in antioxidants, carotenoids (including beta-carotene, precursor of vitamin A) and tocopherols (vitamin E), and last but not least it has an excellent protein and microelements (iron, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, etc) content.
Ingredients (serves 2):
Yellow and red tomatoes
300g of tomato sauce
Basil (a lot)
1 handful of green olives
Half an onion
Salt
Red peppers, either in flakes or dried
Extra-virgin olive oil
Preparation
In a pan, brown the onion with a drizzle of oil, add the chopped tomatoes and mix. Let it cook for a few minutes and add tomato sauce, chopped olives, basil, salt and peppers. Cover and cook over medium/low heat until the sauce is well blended and thick enough for your taste.
Meanwhile, bring the water to a boil, add salt and drop the Penne in it. In six minutes it will be ready to be drained, poured into a pan and mixed before serving with a sprinkling of Parmesan (or vegetable parmesan) if you wish.
Elena Mazzetto
Graduated in Dietetics at the University of Padua
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