by Ximena Amarales | Jan 2, 2017 | Food in Italy |
We learn that pasta won’t make you gain weight!
If you’d banished pasta from your cupboard due to concerns over weight gain, then think again: an Italian study found that the more pasta you eat, the less likely you are to gain weight.
If you’ve banished pasta from your kitchen cupboard in the hope of squeezing into last year’s Speedos or bikini before your summer holidays, you’re making a terrible mistake.
An Italian study published in the journal ‘Nutrition and Diabetes‘ this month, reveals for the first time a link between how much pasta you eat and how slim you are likely to be.
The study questioned some 23,500 men and women of varying ages and social backgrounds across Italy about their dietary habits and recorded their body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio.
The results of the study were surprising and good news for pasta-lovers everywhere.
“Our findings show a negative association of pasta consumption with general and central obesity” the authors wrote. In short: the more you eat pasta, the less you are likely to be overweight.
Body mass was found to decrease with pasta consumption in men and women. Source: ‘Association of pasta consumption with body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio’. Nature and Diabetes, July 2016
The results run contrary to the popular belief that servings of pasta will have you piling on the pounds, a misconception which has caused pasta consumption to fall worldwide.
Even Italians are turning away from pasta, a food which has played a central role in the country’s famed Mediterranean diet since medieval times.
The traditional Italian diet, based around cereals, legumes, seasonal fruit and veg and lashings of olive oil is considered to be one of the healthiest ways to eat.
But if the traditional Italian diet is so healthy, how did pasta get such a bad reputation?
The researchers lay the blame squarely at the feet of fad diets.
“Pasta consumption has decreased as the concept of adopting low-carb, high-protein diets against obesity has increased,” the authors wrote. But in spite of their popularity, there is still significant scientific debate surrounding the possible negative effects of such diets on kidney and bone health.
It turns out, that even among people who don’t follow a healthy Mediterranean diet, pasta is still associated with a more streamlined physique. But why does pasta make you slimmer?
The precise mechanisms are still a mystery, but scientists think it has to do with the foods we tend to eat pasta with.
“Pasta intake was observed as being associated with the intake of other important food groups, such as tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and onions,” – foods, which can all be helpful when losing weight.
The true extent of pasta’s weight loss powers will perhaps be revealed by a future study. Until then, feel free to tuck into as much pasta as you like, safe in the knowledge that a plate of spaghetti in and of itself is not going to cause you to balloon. Buon appetito!
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by Ximena Amarales | Dec 28, 2016 | Vatican |
Pope Francis delivers his speech from the balcony of St Peter’s basilica. Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP
Tens of thousands of worshippers gathered at the Vatican on Sunday to hear
Pope Francis address the world’s Christians, as Europe marked Christmas under ramped-up security after the Berlin attack.
The leader of 1.2 billion Catholics deplored violence around the globe as he gave his fourth “Urbi et Orbi” (To the City and The World) Christmas message from the balcony of
Saint Peter’s Basilica.The 80-year-old Argentine called for guns to fall silent in Syria, saying “far too much blood has been spilled” in the nearly six-year conflict.
And he urged Israelis and Palestinians to “have the courage and the determination to write a new page of history” in his message from the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica to a crowd of 40,000 gathered in the square below which, despite the sunny weather, was far from full.
Religious leaders from the Vatican to Bethlehem struck a sombre note on Christmas Eve, warning that war, fear and divisions lie ahead in 2017 after a tumultuous year.
As Europe ramped up security for the holiday just days after the
truck attack that left 12 dead at a Berlin Christmas market, the pontiff said he hoped for “peace to those who have lost a person dear to them as a result of brutal acts of terrorism”.
The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group.
In Milan, where suspected Berlin attacker Anis Amri was
killed in a police shootout on Friday, there was a heavy police presence around the cathedral.
The entrance has been protected by concrete barriers since the Berlin attack.
Locals and tourists alike however are still visiting the German capital’s Breitscheidplatz market, with many stopping to light a candle or lay flowers for the victims.
by Ximena Amarales | Dec 27, 2016 | Vatican |
(ANSA) – Vatican City, December 21 – Pope Francis in his general audience on Wednesday said that Bethlehem was chosen as Jesus’s birthplace because it’s “not a capital, and therefore preferred by divine providence, which likes to act through the small and the humble”.
He said that, in its simplicity, the Christmas crib sends a message of hope.
“That’s why it’s important to look at the Christmas crib, to stop a bit and see how much hope there is in these people,” Pope Francis said.
(ANSA) – Bari, December 27 – The local chapter of the Catholic Action (AC) group on Tuesday voiced support for a Puglia priest at the centre of a row over his unsuccessful bid to hold a memorial Mass for a Canadian ‘Ndrangheta mafia boss killed in Quebec in May.
AC said it was “close” to Father Michele Delle Foglie, slammed for trying to pay homage to boss Rocco Sollecito, and urged its members to remember him and the small community of Grumo Appula in their prayers.
by Ximena Amarales | Dec 25, 2016 | shore excursions. |
A DAY TOUR TO ROME
Travel in Rome is not an easy experience, this might be the reason why thousands of tourists visiting Rome, expect to have a good Roman guide , not only to understand the complexity of one of the most important cities in the world, but to live Rome as romans do. It is known that Rome was “caput mundi”: head of the world two thousand years ago, as everyone knows that “All roads lead to Rome” . Many people, instead, don’t know the reason of these expressions. This is our goal, to give you all the necessary answers in the exact location where these terms were born. Being an architect , with an urban planner master degree and coming from a Latin country, were the basis from where I started to study Rome.
Rome became alive and everything was a sort of a movie. This is the movie I love to narrate. My clients are delighted by my illustrations and their comment is always: Ximena, you are an excellent story teller. My background gave me the possibility to link Rome´s heritage to the rest of the world and this is my asset. I know what my clients want to know of Rome, because once I was a tourist in Rome and the doubts I had in those days, no one was able to respond. This is the challenge I had when I decided to become a Guide in Rome. Look after my doubts: why, who, where, how, when. Books and books, miles of walking to find the answers, the monuments, the buildings and study each one to comprehend their meaning. Now my clients have the privilege that receive a qualified explanation of the many curiosities they have treasure in their memories for years.
Hence, my architectural and urban background has allow me to offer extremely exquisite lectures for all kind of visitors. My private clients who are willing to have a stupendous Rome Travel during their Italy Cruises and expect to see the best of Rome in one day, normally contact me. For the shore excursions I send a private and professional driver to the Roman Port . What a joy to arrive at the port and a smiling and respectful personal driver is waiting you and your family, in front of the ship, for a day tour of Rome. You will feel delighted to skip the crowd and the chaos and to reach Rome in a comfortable private Van where I will be waiting you in front of the historical Rome.
My private tours of Rome are a stupendous movie. No movie will give you the passion, the fun and the joy than a Rome tour with a roman dweller. But not only, the fact of having a safe sensation of sharing your experience with a local that knows every tip and is familiar with customs, people and of course, the enormous Roman culture. The beautiful fountains like the Trevi Fountain, and its three coins´s tradition.
The Pantheon, with its glorious dome, and the Christian Rome with their hundreds of churches!!!
After a day tour with me, you will return to your ship rich and happy.
Come to Rome and visit Rome with an Architect.
by Ximena Amarales | Aug 5, 2016 | Ancient Rome |
FAMILY TOURS
My Family tours of Rome are focused on the child’s and minor’s goal of a trip: joy, fun, enchanting and captivating stories. My years of experience have given me the capacity to understand family’s need and dreams: to visit Rome as a holiday and not as a job. So every one of my visits are spiced with images, drawing, photographs of the actors of Roman history. The Ancient Emperors as Augustus, Tiberius or leaders like Julius Caesar were portrayed by their contemporaries and I will illustrate them to the families and children. Beside this, every building of Ancient Rome will be built up, through my exceptional books.
The kids that visit the Colosseum with me, become delighted with my theatrical explanations, full of details and stories regarding the gladiatorial games, the hunting of wild animals and the death of criminals. No movie expresses the real facts and the exciting background of the gladiators of Rome as my narration.
