The Mamma Mia! Diet Book – The Secret Italian Way to Good Health

Too often, the word “diet” conjures up negative feelings associated with restrictive rules and deprivation. Not so with The Mamma Mia! Diet: The Secret Italian Way to Good Health, a new book by Paola Lovisetti Scamihorn and Paola Palestini. The Mamma Mia! Diet (MMD) turns that negativity completely upside-down with its focus on delicious food and a healthy lifestyle.

* Complimentary Book Received for Review.

This book is not merely a collection of recipes, nor is it a nutrition and health textbook. Rather, it’s the best of both, written in a friendly, understandable way that brings common sense to the science of losing weight. The reader learns not just what to do to gain the benefits of the MMD, but why, and that makes all the difference.

It’s long been established that the Mediterranean diet has health benefits such promoting heart health and lower weight. It emphasizes consumption of fruits and vegetables, healthy fats such as olive oil, legumes, whole grains, and moderate amounts of proteins such as chicken and fish. Although based on the Mediterranean diet, the MMD concentrates on the foods and traditions of Italy, home of the authors. Mamma Mia!

The first half of the book goes into great detail about the basics of nutrition and food, as well as lifestyle elements that affect health, such as exercise and sleep. Separate chapters about carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, fat, protein, salt, and beverages (including wine) and the role they play in the MMD provide a wealth of information, both scientific and practical. Each chapter also contains a very helpful list of “dos and don’ts” that make it easy to understand and follow the principles of the MMD.

Recipes, seasonal menus, and informative appendices make up the second half of the book. The recipes are a celebration of the best of Italian food. This is not the Americanized versions of Italian food, with its large servings of pasta drowned in heavy sauces; no, these dishes are light and flavorful, featuring fresh, seasonal ingredients. Pasta is an important part of many of the recipes, but it’s generally whole-grain pasta in reasonable serving sizes. The recipes are thoughtfully created for maximum flavor as well as nutritional value, and each recipe is accompanied by a “Mamma Mia!” sidebar highlighting the benefits of the recipe’s ingredients.

Let me tempt you with some of the recipes from the MMD:

• Breakfast: Homemade Muesli; Peach Shake
• Starters: Italian-Style Crudites; Caprese Salad
• Lunch: Lentil Salad; Pasta with Broccoli
• Dinner: Baked Eggplant Rolls; Grilled Salmon Steak with Spinach
• Desserts: Apple and Ricotta Cake; Lemon and Rosemary Sorbet

Whether you fully embrace the Mamma Mia! Diet and follow it to the letter or simply employ the parts of it that suit you and make some of the recipes, you’re sure to learn from and enjoy this interesting book.

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Giveaway: One lucky winner is going to win a paperback copy to try The Mamma Mia! Diet for themselves from Hatherleigh Press.

Giveaway Details: This giveaway is open to residents of the US ONLY age 18 and over. Please read our Terms of Service & Disclaimer Policy before entering. This giveaway will close on March 30th, 2018 at 11:59 pm EST time. No purchase necessary to enter or win.

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