healthy eating in switzerland and italy
 

I have looked for a similar topic in the search, but have not found one. Is it easy to get your food very plain without oils or butter in restaurants in italy and switzerland? My 18 year old DD follows a rather restrictive diet, very plain fish, salad, eggs, vegetables, greek yogurts, etc... She is a pretty serious athlete and her diet is important to her.
The rest of us will eat almost anything, but I know this is important to her and would like to be able to have her be happy too. We will be staying in Lake Lugano, Zurich, Florence and Rome.
Any opinions on travelers who maybe had food allergies that they had to work around? Thanks!

This restaurant in Zurich has a big self-serve table, but it is vegetarian: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...57622927438333

Thanks Michael! I think she might like this one! I am book marking. I think Switzerland will be easier with her diet than Italy.

Also, do they sell the greek style yogurts in italy and switzerland?

If you are looking for Greek-style yoghurts I think you will be able to find them relatively easily, but if you are having trouble, in Switzerland look for food shops run by the Turkish community. (Especially in German-speaking Switzerland.) They do a thick Greek-style yoghurt.

Lavandula

I've had no problem finding greek yogurt in Switzerland at the Coop stores. It's popular pretty much everywhere these days and in fact the breakfasts provided by some hotels served this generic yogurt that was not labeled but sure tasted like greek yogurt. For the other foods, shopping the fresh food street markets for lunches then special ordering at most places was not a problem. Eating healthy in Switzerland was not as hard as I expected.

I believe Italy is basically the same situation however, I was not training while there so I can't say from experience.

I applaud your daughter for her committment to nutrition in training. It can be difficult and expensive with lots of planning required. But it makes all the difference on race day!

There is Greek yoghurt in the larger supermarkets in Florence and Rome, but your hotel is most likely to have sugared, flavored yoghurt. Your daughter will find restaurant menus something of a challenge if she is trying to avoid oil, and she should learn to read them so she knows how to spot grilled fish and meats ( "alla griglia") or simple roasts ("arrosto").

All salads in Italy come without dressing, but most of them consist of nothing but lettuce. In Rome, she might keep an eye out for "carpaccio" -- which is thin sliced cold beef or thin slices of smoked fish served with oil on the side which she can ignore. In Florence, she will find many restaurants offer plain white beans as a side vegetable ("contorno") as well as boiled potatoes ("patate lesse"). Vegetables that are listed as "vapore" are steamed.

Grilled vegetables often take up a lot of oil (eggplant, mushrooms). Vegetable buffets, which are very popular in Rome, are usually swimming in oil. Most egg dishes will be oily (and cheesy) except for the hard boiled eggs she might find for breakfast at your hotel. Also, most bread and breadsticks will be oily.

One of the most popular of Florentine dishes is bistecca, which is huge piece of beef seared on a grill without oil. Your daughter will probably not want to eat a whole serving herself, but if one of you is willing to split it with her, that would suit her diet. In Rome, you are likely to find most meat dishes are oily -- lamb and pork. If you want decent fish in Rome, you need to do some research about which restaurants do it well (and serve it fresh).

You might find asking for specific recommendations on the Chowhound website's Italy forum helpful.

My post above was unclear about side vegetables -- all of which are termed "contorni" on an Italian menu. In Florence, a plate of white beans will be listed on the menu either as "fagioli" or "cannelini".

How hard is it going to be for here to continue EXERCISING?

girlonthego

This is a typical Roman menu, including the bad and incomplete translations, and it is the menu of a truly excellent Roman eatery. You can see how limited it is when it comes to offerings for your daughter. The "safest" choices are all listed under the "contorni" section of side vegetables. The meat dishes are puzzling as to whether they will have oil or not.

http://www.armandoalpantheon.it/menu.php

If your daughter wants to eat with you in restaurants and really wants to stick with her diet, she will find that much easier to do if she learns some essential Italian words to identify what she wants. Most Roman and Fiorentini wait staff know some English, but she can't count on that. If she wants salad or vegetables without oil, grilled beef or chicken, or steamed or grilled fish, she should learn how to say those simple words in Italian. Google translate is a fine place to start. She can just type in "grilled beef without oil" and memorize.

Let me be blunt. Can't speak for Switzerland, but I think you're going to have a problem in Italy that's going to make this trip an annoyance rather than enjoyable, unless you rent an apartment and shop for and cook your own food.

Personally, I think you'll find the food in Italy far healthier than you'd find in most American restaurants. You can always go to a local farmers market and put together picnic or bag lunch. Salad with dressing on the side, sides of veggies, grilled fish...you can ask for that anywhere. Obviously you're traveling in different countries and will need to be a bit flexible but I don't see a problem.

In Switzerland you could consider eating at self-service restaurants in Coop and Migros centers. They are cheaper than restaurants and most foods are cooked in front of you; you can ask to have them without sauces.

Speaking for both Italy and Switzerland, while you can try to get food as simple as possible in restaurants, the way to go is renting an apartment and cooking on your own, or going to restaurants only once a day. I think that having breakfast in your hotel and then having to meals each day in restaurant is fairly imcompatible with a diet.

Greek yogurt is available in Italy (the most common brand is Total). Plain yogurt without added sugar is easily available as well - also in no-fat version - and would be a possible alternative. (If in doubt, read the composition on the label - if it has 12% carbohidrates it has added sugar, if carbohidrates are in 5% range it is plain yogurt). In Italy Vipiteno is the best brands; in Switzerland Coop seels very good Graubunden plain yogurt, Migros in Lugano should have a local yogurt marked "Natür" (the umlaut on the ü means that it is a Ticinese dialect of Italian origin, not German!) made near St. Gotthard pass that should be eaten to be believed.

Thank you all for responding!!!! I am noting many of your recommendations!

I understand why she is trying to avoid butte - but olive oil - and the hwole mediterraneoan diet - is much healthier than the average diet in the US.

Certainly she can get plain grilled meat or fish - she just needs to learn how to ask for them. And steamed vegetables are also usually available, but I wouldn't get upset over a little olive oil

<< I think Switzerland will be easier with her diet than Italy.>>

I think just the opposite.

In Switzerland, if you eat in Restaurants, ask for

"steamed vegetables without butter"
"Gedämpftes Gemüse ohne Butter"

"grilled fish, or steak without oil or butter"
"Fish gegrillt, or Steak gegrillt ohne Öl oder Butter"

"salad without dressing"
"Salat ohne Salatsauce"

Self-serve restaurants buffet style would probably be best, and they can be found more and more, and not only in Migros, Coops, Manor, larger Jelmoli department stores, Moevenpick etc.

As for training, larger hotels often have fitness facilities. Ask for Vita Parcours - public training trails - and of course, running, Nordic walking and biking are possible anywhere.

Natur yogurt (Greek style)can be bought in every store.

I think its hard to grill fish without at least a brush of oil on the grill, wouldn't baked fish be a better choice?
And as stated, as for fats, olive oil is the best choice and one can't truly avoid all fats in life so lesser of two evils.
My experience in Italy is that yogurts were available in every food store, so may I suggest you pay attention when taking hotels and always get hotels with mini fridges ,, that way you can store a few of the types of yogurts your dd likes. This is something I always do,, no matter when I am in Europe I look for rooms with mini fridges. Some people say they don't like you to stock the fridges with food but I have never stayed in a hotel that complained to me about it .

Baked fish is really not common in Rome and Florence, unless you are in a fancy high end restaurant. Most fish is cooked whole to order -- although it is possible to get tranches of fish or filets of swordfish or tuna in some restaurants and you can ask for it steamed (vapore). Taking the skin off a whole grilled fish will get rid of the oil.

The real problem is that in both Rome and Florence, fresh fish is usually one of the most expensive things you can order from a menu. If smoked or cured fish is not out of the diet, very thin slices ("carpaccio") of smoked swordfish, or smoked tuna, or smoked salmon is often found on the menu as an antipasta or salad dish. The word for smoked in Italian is "affumicato."

If one specifically needs non-fat Greek yoghurt, my experience is that in Italy you will only find that in the supermarket chains. You can probably find some plain non-fat Italian-brand yoghurt in smaller stores (including bakeries), but not always. When you do find it, then it is good to buy more than one and put it in the mini-bar or ask the hotel or b&b, host to store it for you so you can have it with breakfast).

I think it is a good idea to rent an apartment, but I also think that if your daughter eats her dinner at 7pm in the apartment, then she can join the family at the restaurant and simply order a few vegetable side dishes for her and it won't cause a fuss so long as the rest of you are eating full meals.

One more tip for Italy:

If you are in a supermarket shopping for yoghurt, you might also pick up packets of air-dried beef slices -- bresaola -- to slip into the mini-bar fridge. They are thin and lightweight.

http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/st...0052&langId=-1

You can also find packets of thin-sliced smoked fish at the store, and also cans of water-packed tuna (pop-tops).

Even without a kitchen, a small stock of yoghurts and other proteins might be quite helpful. There is good fresh fruit and veg everywhere you go in Italy that needs no refrigeration.

Thank you all so very much! Wild wanderings, I am printing your German for her! She speaks some German, but it is good to know the proper wording. Her sister is taking Italian in college, so hopefully she can learn how to say some of this stuff in italian.

We are staying in all hotels. Only one hotel doesn't show a mini bar as listed. We will be there three nights. (Florence)I might be able to email that hotel and request one.

I realize that an apartment would have been better for her diet, but wasn't considering that such an issue when I booked our hotels, and of course our longest hotel stay is in rome and is on points. But that is a hilton so I can probably request a fridge over the mini bar for the kids' room.

When planning a family trip that you want everyone to enjoy themselves it is not always that easy. I think if she can have some staples in her diet that she is familiar with, than she can learn to add new items from both switzerland and italy. I realize many things are cooked with some olive oil, and I think that is fine, but coated in oil is what she doesn't want. So, grilled fish/chicken and steamed veggies will be a good choice if she can get it.

From our travels to Italy, I think she will do fine.She can be selective. We never eat beef and basically eat fish and vegetables, some pastas. Switzeraland , however, was always a challenge for us. We rented an apartment on our last visit and only ate out a few times due to the local restaurant menus. And once we found incredible Thai food.

Hotels we are staying in are :
Lugano: Hotel Parco Paradiso on Via Carona 27 6900 Lugano
Florence: L'Orolgio Hotel Piazza Santa Maria Novella6
Rome: Rome Cavaleri Via Alberto Cadlolo 101
Zurich, Courtyard marriott Max-Bill-Platz 19


If anyone knows of grocery stores within walking distance of these hotels, please post the name and address of the grocery. Thanks!

You will find that Italians are very accommodating to special diets. Good Italian restaurant food is not oily. Tourist style or cheap restaurant/cafeteria food is oily. Even then you will find it much less oily than in other countries.

Try to plan meals away from big tourists attractions where, by the way it will be dfficult to get special attention. Your daighter can always order vegetables without dressing. Grilled vegetables are actually served witout dressing in a proper restaurant. Italians expect to be able to dress the vegetables themeselves if it's a salad or grilled.

Start your daughter's order with this sentence: mia figlia è a dieta non mangia grassi. (my daghter is on a special diet she eats no fats). Cosa potete preparare per lei? (what can you prepare for her?)

In fact I don't think that in Rome or Florence you will have problem explaining this in English. Can she have mozzarella or ricotta? Almost every restaurant will be able to give her that. Pasta con pomodoro senza olio (pasta with tomato with no oil). Poached fish (pesce al vapore). Greek yogurt is available in every supermarket. Low fat foods are available in every supermarket. However note that supermarkets are not frequent near historic areas and often are underground. Ask your hotel.

thank you madonna! I am printing out your italian for my daughter. All good info here! love fodors!

On the oil issue - the body need a certain amount of oil/fat for good health. A totally fat-free diet is a really bad idea unless there is some medical reason for it.

And agree that I have not found food in italian restaurants to be oily - but we avoid tourist traps and pizzerias - and generally only eat in better places. We never had any problem asking for something specific (ordered a couple of shared veggies w/o garlic since it gives my SIL indigestion - and they always were exactly as ordered).

It is true that fish is often very expensive - since you are often ordering the whole fish. Those that might not be true - salmon, etc - are more oily fishes anyway - and I'm not sure how local. Don;t recall seeing it on a lot of menus.

She does not do fat free. A little olive oil to cook with is fine, but she won't eat fried food either. I cook with just a small amount of olive oil. She won't be eating pizzas or gelato.
If I could learn to live 10 percent the way she does, I would be so much better off!