Like many Americans, I’d been told that pasta and pizza in Italy would make me feel less bloated and fatigued than the US.
According to the company, a normal blood glucose level for a non-diabetic is 70 to 140 mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter of blood).
Even after my fair share of pizza and gelato in Rome (left) and Florence (right), I didn’t have any blood sugar spikes.
She said: ‘Meals are also combined with other nutrient-dense foods, such as vegetables, which can further blunt blood sugar responses.’
‘This added sugar in US pizza could, in theory, partly explain why blood sugar spikes may be more severe compared to those experienced in Italy,’ Dr Atkinson added.
Getting takeout pizza on Friday nights as a family or my mom making a huge pot of spaghetti and homemade garlic bread when I got home from school are two of my favorite memories as an Italian-American.
They don’t really love me, though, even though I adore pasta and a slice. As I’ve aged, they’ve been leaving me feeling bloated and exhausted for hours after eating.
I had heard stories, like many Americans, about people going to Europe and eating anything they wanted without experiencing the same bloating they would back home.
You can only imagine how excited I was last month as I got ready for my honeymoon in Italy, which is a haven for carbohydrate lovers like me.
I decided that the trip would be the ideal opportunity to see if eating my favorite foods there and at home actually caused any physiological changes.
I was wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM), which is a device that is placed beneath the skin to track blood sugar levels.
The fatigue, dehydration, and other adverse effects that people experience after overindulging are frequently caused by large spikes and dips.
The results were, to put it mildly, shocking. I recorded my results for a week prior to my trip and then during the first week of my honeymoon.
In Italy, I had been told, like many Americans, that eating pizza and pasta would leave me feeling less bloated and exhausted than in the US. This theory was tested during my honeymoon in Italy.
A typical bowl of pasta I make at home in New York is shown on the left. The pasta dish on the right is among the best I had while visiting Italy. It was decadent, but my blood sugar never rose.
I used a device called Stelo, which is injected with a tiny needle and remains in the arm for weeks.
The interstitial fluid, a bodily fluid that envelops cells and tissues, is measured for its glucose content.
The company states that a non-diabetic’s normal blood glucose level is between 70 and 140 mg/dl (milligrams per deciliter of blood).
My phone would notify me whenever my levels rose above this threshold, and a prompt would appear asking me to describe what I was doing and eating at the moment.
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I continuously observed spikes after dinner during the first half of the experiment, particularly if the meal included rice or pasta, which was frequently the case.
Because white, brown, and yellow rice are so adaptable and require so little time or effort, they frequently appeared in my dinnertime recipes.
However, Stelo would notify me that my blood sugar would rise steadily above the normal range within 30 minutes of eating, going from 80 mg/dl to roughly 130 in a matter of minutes.
In order to make pasta healthier, I also tried to pair it with vegetables and mild sauces.
My blood sugar didn’t rise after lunch or dinner during my first week in Rome, which may have been due to the food or the relief of not having to organize a wedding.
My levels remained consistent whether I was eating gelato from a street vendor, a trapizzino (a pocket-sized Italian pizza), or a bowl of carbonara at a sit-down restaurant.
Additionally, I never experienced the bloating and exhaustion I usually experience at home.
In Rome (left) and Florence (right), I ate a lot of pizza and gelato, but I didn’t experience any spikes in my blood sugar. Walking up to 15,000 steps a day, though, might have helped me reduce my levels.
In the US, my blood sugar always rose after eating (shown left), but in Italy, it never rose after lunch or dinner (shown right).
No high glucose alerts were triggered by the five-course meal we prepared in a cooking class, which included three distinct pasta courses.
Experts speculate that the ultra-processed nature of American food in comparison to European goods may be a contributing factor.
In the US, a lot of pasta brands use coloring, thickening, and emulsifier additives to extend their shelf life, which have been connected to diabetes, bloating, and sluggishness.
In contrast, Italian pasta typically consists of only water and semolina wheat flour, without any preservatives.
The absence of processed foods may also have genuine advantages, according to science.
For example, a 2022 study published in The Journal of Nutrition discovered that less processed pasta typically digests more slowly, which slows down the rate at which glucose enters the blood.
Another custom that Italians adhere to is cooking pasta “al dente,” or “to the tooth.”. This indicates that it is harder to chew and has a firmer texture, which slows digestion.
Italians also typically eat smaller portions, consuming multiple small courses at once, according to Amie Alexander, a registered dietitian at Nutri Peak in Australia, who spoke to DailyMail . com. Primo, or pasta, is usually served first, followed by secondi, or meat or fish, and dessert.
Additional nutrient-dense foods, like vegetables, are added to meals, which can further reduce blood sugar reactions, she explained. “.”.
“Pizza has significant differences as well,” Dr. Daniel Atkinson, Clinical Lead at Treated . com, told DailyMail . com.
“Usually made Neapolitan-style, with a thin crust and minimal toppings beyond fresh tomato sauce and mozzarella,” he said.
Since the dough used is typically free of sugar and fat, eating pizza in Italy may actually be consuming fewer calories per day than you may realize.
Because Italian pizza has a thinner crust than American pizza, it is likely to have a lower glycemic index overall. However, most pizza will raise blood sugar levels in some way. “…
However, in order to improve the flavor, a lot of restaurants in the US add sugar to their dough and sauces.
“This additional sugar in American pizza may theoretically help to explain why blood sugar spikes in the US might be more severe than in Italy,” Dr. Atkinson continued.
I was walking constantly and taking an average of 15,000 steps per day, which is more than the 5,000–7,000 steps someone in the United States would take on a typical day, according to experts.
Walking after eating has been repeatedly demonstrated to speed up food digestion and facilitate the passage of gas through the digestive tract, thereby reducing bloating.
A 2022 study even discovered that walking for two minutes after eating lowers blood sugar levels because muscles absorb more glucose from the blood.
According to Ms. Alexander, walking after meals improves muscles’ ability to absorb glucose, which lowers blood sugar, DailyMail.com reported.
In many European cities, walking is an integral part of daily life and can significantly improve metabolic health and digestion. “.”.
I received the alert about the glucose spike shown above one morning in Italy after breakfast. This is when I would regularly experience spikes, which might be because I ate more food than usual.
Alcohol can also cause blood sugar levels to rise because it contains carbohydrates, which are found in sweet mixed drinks. I felt rejuvenated after these spritzes in Venice, though.
I experienced blood-sugar spikes after breakfast, so I wasn’t completely immune while I was in Italy.
Normally, I’m not a big breakfast person. Since I’m usually running late, I only have time for a toasted waffle or a couple hard-boiled eggs.
I did, however, make sure to enjoy the continental breakfasts in Rome, Florence, and Venice, which typically consisted of cappuccino, yogurt, eggs, greens, and some combination pastries.
It’s possible that I was choosing high-sugar options because my body wasn’t used to eating breakfast at this time and I was experiencing spikes.
By the time my trip to Italy was over, my average blood sugar level was 101 mg/dl, and I was within the target range 96% of the time.
In the US, I also spent 95% of my time within the target range, but that doesn’t fully capture the situation because I experienced far more frequent blood sugar spikes.
Postprandial hyperglycemia is the term used by doctors to describe an after-meal spike. Regularly having these over time can lead to issues with your kidneys, nerves, eyes, and heart.
I’ll be looking at ingredient lists in the US more frequently because I was astonished at how healthy and energized I felt even while enjoying my favorite foods in Italy.
Whenever we’re eating Italian food at home, I think I’ll also include an after-dinner stroll (before we open the wine and decide to spend the night on the couch!).
