Healthier products with less sugar on the Italian market

Posted on 23 July, 2018

The 2017 Bloomberg Global Health Index ranked Italy as the healthiest country in the world in 2017. The study was conducted on 163 countries. Italians pay much more attention to food than in the past. They are more aware of the need to take care of their health and they do take care of what they eat. But what are the healthiest products with less sugar on the Italian market?

Consumption of healthier products

According to a 2017 report issued by Coldiretti (the Federation of Italian Farmers), the consumption of whole foods is growing in the country. In fact, it has reached 11% of the total. The same thing has happened with the consumption of gluten-free foods, which has reached 26%. Organic foods and vegetable drinks have seen an increase in their consumption of 20% and 7% respectively.

In addition, Coldiretti has identified a trend linked to the so-called “superfoods”: foods that bring together tasty flavours and health benefits. The most popular superfoods in Italy include goji berries, adzuki beans, ginger (which has seen an increase of 141% in just one year) and turmeric (with a 93% increase). In addition to the exotic options (turmeric, adzuki beans and ginger are produced mainly in India and China), Italy also boasts a large number of products that contribute naturally to wellbeing and the environment. Coldiretti has dubbed these products “grandma’s superfoods”.

Grandma’s superfoods

These extraordinary foods include the Polignano purple carrots, considered nothing less than an elixir of life thanks to the high amounts of polyphenols, flavonoids and anthocyanins they contain. Then there’s the barattiere, an old cucumber variety from the Puglia region. It is the perfect food for people who need to follow a weight watchers diet because it provides high doses of potassium, while its sugar and sodium levels are really low. And in the Calabria region, for example in Diamante, chili peppers are cultivated, known for their aphrodisiac properties. Meanwhile the red onions from Cavasso Nuovo in the Veneto region provide strong benefits against stress and, in addition, they are useful in the struggle against high blood pressure and cholesterol. Last but not least, there is the Piemonte white carrot, a tuber that is beneficial for the liver because it regulates the production of bile.

Traditional consumption of healthier products with less sugar on the Italian market

There is a myth that Italian cuisine has high calorie content, which in fact is not true. Based on the Mediterranean diet, traditional Italian dishes have always incorporated healthy foods and little added sugar. The adaptation of such popular dishes as pizza and pasta is what has distorted their composition. Especially on the international scene.

In fact, the healthiest products with less sugar on the Italian market are to a large extent of vegetable origin. And there is a clear mixture of traditional Italian products and products from faraway countries, whose import is a result of the global trend we have mentioned on other occasions.


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