Italian cuisine is one of the most popular ones around. With more and more people looking to improve their diets and turning towards the healthier cuisine types such as Italian and other Mediterranean diets, this type of food has become more and more influential.
There are a number of key ingredients in Italian dishes including pasta, tomatoes, olives, citrus fruits, figs and grapes. Olives are probably one of the most included ingredients in dishes across Italy and an Italian Restaurant Dublin way like https://www.forno500.ie/ will get through thousands of olives each year.
Here are some of the reasons why some of these ingredients are used.
Olives are full of health benefitting antioxidants are thought to have many health benefits. These include oleic acid which we know to be a monounsaturated fatty acid which has a few health benefits including being an anti-inflammatory, as well as reducing the risk of heart disease and may even help in the fight against cancer. Most of the antioxidants naturally present in olives help to reduce blood pressure and improve heart health which mean that they can help to prevent heart disease. Olives are used in a variety of ways in Italian dishes, including raw as an appetiser, cooked in many pasta and pizza dishes and also as oil.
Tomatoes are incredibly high in a particular antioxidant known as lycopene which has direct benefits for heart health and also in helping to prevent certain cancers. They are also rich in vitamin C which we all know is vital to overall health and potassium, folate and vitamin K. Potassium also helps with heart health, folate is important in the growth of tissue and proper cell function and is especially important for pregnant women, Vitamin K plays a role in blood clotting and your overall bone health.
Citrus fruits as we are all aware are high in Vitamin C and they seem to be our go to fruit when we start to feel like we are coming down with a cold. But they contain so many other impressive qualities including B vitamins, potassium and magnesium. They have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant qualities and the vitamin C content of one medium sized orange is enough to meet your daily requirements. Vitamin C is not only important for your overall immune function but also the health and condition of your skin keeping it feel soft and maintaining its elastic quality.
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