The Power of Food: Amy Riolo and the Mediterranean Diet
Amy Riolo spent the first part of her life in Jamestown, NY, where Sunday nights were devoted to baking and cooking with her “nonna,” Angela Foti. Those times forged a strong bond between grandmother and granddaughter while giving Riolo the opportunity to learn authentic Calabrian recipes from the region of her Italian roots.
“Everything I needed to learn, my nonna managed to teach me while we were baking or cooking,” Riolo says. Her grandmother not only passed down a skill set, but unknowingly ignited a passion, starting her granddaughter on a career path that ultimately distinguished her as a bestselling author, chef, television personality, cuisine and culture expert, columnist and Mediterranean diet advocate.
The author of seven books, Riolo dedicates The Mediterranean Diabetes Cookbook to her grandmother, stating that “her invaluable lessons served me well both inside and outside the kitchen.” There she experienced her first tastes of the regional food Riolo describes as “edible time capsules which formed a culinary bloodline between us and our relatives in Southern Italy.” She adds, “[my nonna] showed me how cooking was not a mundane chore, but a form of magic that could unite people across distances and time.”
Her culinary interests awakened, Riolo’s kitchen skills and ingenuity were tested early when her mother returned to work, making her responsible for the family’s dinner each night. She resolved to make the meal “taste as good as I could, with the ingredients on hand.”
An additional challenge was presented when her mother was diagnosed with diabetes. Riolo learned all she could about the disease and the types of foods her mother could eat, then compiled her first informal “cookbook,” with diabetes-friendly recipes. When it was presented to her mother’s doctor, he asked, “Is your daughter a dietician?” Riolo’s mother, Faith, said, “No! She is 15 years old.” It was a harbinger of things to come, as Riolo would eventually write two diabetes cookbooks using the guidelines of the Mediterranean diet.
It’s little wonder that the Mediterranean diet has been rated the healthiest, with its emphasis on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, legumes, seeds and olive oil, as well as its incorporation of an active lifestyle. For the last two years, U.S. News &World Report has ranked it number one as judged by panel of nationally recognized experts. The rating is based on how easy a diet is to follow, plus its nutritional completeness, safety and potential for preventing and managing diabetes and heart disease.
Traveling to Italy after graduating from college, Riolo noticed a striking physical resemblance between her American family and Italian relatives—except that her overseas relatives appeared healthier. “In the 1990s, the medical community was blaming disease (predominately) on your genes. Well, we’ve got the same genes and they look just like us.” The difference, she surmised, was diet. She then resolved to adopt and teach others about the diet and lifestyle of the region.
While building her career, Riolo volunteered for a variety of international organizations and embassies in the DC area in diplomatic capacities. She worked with Sister Cities International and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to bring clean drinking water to a “rural” village in southern Egypt with 40,000 residents. After 9/11, she was asked by the Islamic Center to speak at a meeting with the Bush administration on behalf of the local Muslim community because, she says, “people were scared to talk for themselves thinking they might get deported or for a variety of other reasons.” Following a round table discussion at The Islamic Center of DC, she was introduced to an employee of the Saudi government and was then invited as a guest of the Royal Protocol of Saudi Arabia. That led to her first book contract for Arabian Delights after many rejections received for Italian cookbooks.
She was also busy writing columns, doing “how-to” cooking videos, and appearing on television. “It was great as it gave me the media experience and increased visibility to use the recipes from my cookbooks.” As she traveled to many countries in the region, including Morocco, Lebanon, Egypt, Greece, Italy and the South of France, she saw commonalities among the cultures, and noticed that “the raw ingredients that grow throughout the region are very similar.”
In addition to the predominance of fresh produce and homemade food, she says “there is a culture of hospitality and warmth among the people who share the idea that creating food is really a luxury—that cooking and creating food together is so important.” Finally, mealtime is considered “sacred.” The benefits are supported by a 1993 report by the Harvard School of Public Health and the European Office of the World Health Organization, which introduced the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, highlighting the beneficial social aspects of eating meals together, as well as daily exercise.
In addition, bread-making is an art throughout the Mediterranean region: Artisan bread made with natural yeast (created by flour and water that is left to ferment) is very common. “Bread is not the enemy,” Riolo states. “If you’re eating bread that’s made with a mother yeast and good-quality grain, it’s going to have a whole different effect on your body.”
Of course, unlike the sunny Mediterranean, Western New York has a relatively short growing season and long winters, so what do we eat then? “I tell people to really focus on greens and citrus. Incorporate large quantities of broccoli, cabbage, kale and dandelion greens and eat sardines for vitamin D, or take a vitamin D supplement.” Riolo’s other tips include making your own tomato/pasta sauces and salad dressings from olive oil, lemon juice or vinegar and herbs.
Riolo has further advice for Western New Yorkers hoping to take advantage of the health factors provided by the Mediterranean region’s diet and customs. “Think about food as a source of healing and pleasure,” she says. “Food is not the enemy, and you do want it to be a focus if you wish to be healthy and take advantage of its benefits. Eat fresh and local, making the most of what is in season, as this is best for our bodies. A local strawberry picked in June is very different nutritionally than a strawberry eaten in December from California.”
Riolo also encourages making the contents of plant-focused community-supported agriculture (CSA) harvest subscription program shares the “holy grail” of what is eaten for the week, adding “that means produce-forward menus, and less emphasis on red meat.”
But ultimately, she states, “The number one step is to commit to a lifestyle; if you don’t, a diet by itself is not going to work.”
