I don’t often write about my health or diet, but both are a huge part of my life because I have a serious migraine problem that used to be very disabling. Happily, a few years ago I discovered that eating a low carb diet radically improved it. I’d tried various other diets that hadn’t helped. Then I went low-GI, which worked partially, and led me to low carb, which really does work well. (It’s the same for diabetes and epilepsy, if you’re interested.)
However… it’s not easy. I love carbs, for a start. I love bread, pasta, rice, most sweet things, fruit… all carbs! My migraines are painful and debilitating enough for me to be motivated to give up these treats – I soon regret it if I fall off the wagon.
Unfortunately, I don’t like meat, and I have other health concerns, which makes keto more difficult. I used to eat cheese and cream by the bucket load, but I now want to avoid dairy due to the cancer risk, and I try to eat as natural and unprocessed a diet as I can. If you’re interested, drop a comment, and I’ll write more about it in future.
Anyhoo… I love Italy and am learning Italian, and this summer had a fantastic opportunity to visit Rome. The first thing friends asked was, ‘but what about your diet?’ Italian food is of course known for its fantastic pasta and pizza… and gelato. So I was a bit worried.
I read a few blog posts and they advised cheese and ham platters or mozzarella salads. Not inspiring, and not very healthy. But I’ve good news… it was a lot easier than that. Even if you’re trying to stay ‘clean’ or even ‘vegan’, there are better options.
Firstly, any decent trattoria (which are everywhere) usually has second courses that are meat and veg, with at least one fish dish, and around £18 a dish. That was my ‘go to’ option. I had an amazing salmon, turnip greens and tomato dish that was absolutely delicious and filled me up for hours. There are usually veg sides too.
Secondly, you can add olive oil and vinegar to everything, increasing the taste and the healthy fat content.
Thirdly, supermarkets had a few dirty keto protein bars etc and a wide range of 90% chocolate.
One tip is to avoid ‘fried’ because it often means covered in batter, to my disappointment when a fried cod dish turned out to be c. 10% fish.
Here are a few less typical restaurant recommendations:
My favourite place, very near the Vatican. It had the most to choose from, due to a large selection of vegetable dishes that can be eaten on their own or with fish/meat. A plate of three veg and fish was around £13. There is a farm shop attached.
This is a healthy vegetarian/vegan restaurant near the Piazza del Popolo. I had a gazpacho, which probably wasn’t the lowest carb option, but it was delicious. The menu had a few other options I could have eaten.
There were a few poke outlets. This one offered a choice of salad (rather than rice) together with fish or tofu, avocado and other salad items, including a topping of nuts. It was about £10 a go so one of the cheaper options.
Just down the road from Ami Poke, this is mostly wraps etc but there are a few keto and/or vegan options, including a courgetti dish.
Heather Tomlinson's Blog 