How to Eat Healthily on Holiday in Italy

Italy is famous for its history, beautiful countryside and stunning architecture, but one of the biggest reasons why millions of people holiday there each year is because of the amazing foods and wine. If you’ve ever experienced real Italian food, then you’ll know then there’s a big difference to the way it is served outside of Italy, with emphasis on grains, vegetables, olive oil and beans.

Furthermore, the amount of red meat used in Italian cooking is limited, with the majority of the ingredients coming from plants. It just goes to show how healthy traditional Italian food really is, showing how easy it is to stay in shape whilst travelling. Let’s take a look at how to eat healthy in Italy on holiday.

Fast Food Joints

This isn’t just a rule for holidaying in Italy, it’s a rule forever! There’s nothing good or nutritional that comes from eating in fast food establishments, and if you’ve been eating healthy for a number of weeks prior to your holiday, then a Big Mac meal or some processed meat and carbohydrates will certainly cause distress to your bowl movements.

Over the last ten years, there have been a number of fast food chains that have begun to spring up all over Italy, excluding the big dogs like McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut. The continued commercialisation of Italy will cause even more of these high calorie, high fat fast food chains to open, meaning people might just turn to a quick burger in a time of hunger need. However there’s nothing nutritional in these meals, and you’ll be much better off spending the extra time finding a traditional place to eat.

Restaurant Eating

Italy is the home of traditional cooking, but don’t be fooled into thinking that every restaurant offers the same style, ingredients and favourite traditional dishes. When it comes to tourism, the more successful businesses are the ones who find and adapt to niches in the market, and there’s always money to be made with western food!

If you’re eating at a real traditional Italian restaurant, you should see that the menu only offers the best local ingredients combined with grains, vegetables, fruits and healthy fats – basically all the best parts of the Mediterranean diet. As soon as you see that dreaded burger on the menu, keep on walking! Instead of settling for an easy meal, why not rent a car from Auto Europe and undertake your own traditional food road trip.

Processed Ingredients

If you want to keep healthy on your holiday to Italy, then watching out for processed ingredients is a must – even in supposedly ‘traditional’ places to eat. Cream based products really give the game away, as well lots of menu dishes containing red or processed meat. Not only will these dishes contain high amounts of calories, but they’ll also have their fair share of saturated fats, meaning you’ll find it hard to keep the weight off.

Limit Your Portions

There’s nothing wrong with pasta, especially the way the Italians cook it. However the Italians also love to feed, and their portions are traditionally huge! That much pasta on a regular basis, no matter how good it tastes, will be wasted carbohydrates, meaning it will just go straight to your wasteline.