Natural Is Always Best

A couple of days ago I woke up, went to the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and realized that something was completely different about my face. I hadn't lost weight or injured myself, nor was there some grotesque growth on my face - it was actually quite the opposite, my skin was completely clear. In the past I've admittedly struggled with this. Face soaps and other products had helped, but there always seemed to be the odd cluster of pimples or blackheads that made their way to the surface. I hadn't really changed anything though, my hygiene habits and routines were exactly as they've always been, so why the sudden change? Then it came to me; the only thing that had really changed was my diet. But even that hadn't changed too much, as I was still - for the most part - on my token college diet (pizza and pasta.) The only thing I could think of was that the quality of food was vastly different to what I was accustomed to in the States.

Of course, I had realized this long before that morning. Food tastes better in Italy, more natural. From cheese, to milk, to bread, to vegetables, nothing I've had so far has tasted processed in the slightest. When asked, a waiter at a restaurant I frequent had told me that everything they got was grown locally. This makes me wonder how true that is for all the other restaurants. Though, if I were to go off taste alone, I would say it's very likely the case for most others as well. When you order pizza it isn't drowning in oil and processed cheese, when you want a good sandwich on the fly there's no Subway around, and if you're really on a budget there's no need to scrape your change together in order to get something off the one dollar menu at McDonald's, since pastries, sandwiches, and beverages are all incredibly cheap (here in Prato.) Italy is a country where carbs are the norm, yet there hardly seems to be any overweight people around. I find this very interesting, and very telling.

Living in Italy has reminded me of the importance of paying attention to the quality of food we ingest. Unfortunately, where I'm from, it seems like the healthier it is, the more expensive it's bound to be. But perhaps that's a small price to pay in the long-run.