After American columnist Tamar Haspel spent the entire month of May eating her way across Italy, she returned with finding out why there are tales of people who lose weight while vacationing in Italy and the country’s relatively low obesity rate compared to the United States, as per a report.

Hint: It’s Not What They Eat, It’s How They Eat
From cookies for breakfast to multicourse lunches and dinners, with pasta, risotto, cheese, cured meats, and, of course, gelato, Italians don’t exactly eat “light,” according to the coloum written by Haspel in The Washington Post. In fact, they consume more pasta per person than anyone on Earth, averaging over 51 pounds a year, while Americans eat just 19.