Functional Diet and Cooking: EVO Oil as an Ally for Health, with Sara Farnetti

The functional diet looks at how food interacts with the metabolism; functional cooking brings it to the table every day. Together with Dr Sara Farnetti, an expert in functional nutrition and longevity, we have produced three videos that show how to turn simple dishes into instruments of health, with polyphenol-rich extra virgin olive oil at the centre.

Eating pasta at dinner helps you sleep better. It sounds like the opposite of everything we have been taught, and yet it is one of the principles of the functional diet. It is not about counting calories or going without, but about understanding how each food speaks to our body.

This is the philosophy we share with Dr Sara Farnetti, with whom we have produced a series of videos dedicated to functional cooking. Two simple recipes, a conversation about oil, and one clear idea: food, chosen and cooked well, is the first act of daily care. And quality extra virgin olive oil plays the leading role.

What Is the Functional Diet?

The functional diet is a nutritional approach that focuses not on calories, but on how foods interact with the metabolism and the organs. The goal is balance: choosing and combining foods according to their function, so that every meal becomes an instrument of wellbeing and prevention.

In the functional diet, food is information. Every food, once eaten, sends signals to the liver, the gut, the brain. Quality matters, not just quantity. As Dr Sara Farnetti often says, “too much amounts to too little“: the body seeks balance, and it is in balance that true health is achieved. It is a method different from diet understood as deprivation, and different too from the Mediterranean diet, the dietary model of our own region, because it starts from the workings of the individual organism.

And Functional Cooking?

Functional cooking is the daily practice of the functional diet. It means that how you cook matters, not just what you bring to the table. The same raw ingredient, treated with different techniques, can change its effect on blood sugar, on digestion, and even on sleep.

This is where theory becomes concrete action. Cooking pasta al dente, cooling rice, finishing a dish raw with a good oil: small choices that change the function of a plate. With Dr Sara Farnetti, we wanted to show this through two videos, where each recipe is also a small lesson in health.

Who Is Sara Farnetti, and Why Does She Work with Frantoio Muraglia

Dr Sara Farnetti is an expert in functional nutrition and has worked for years in the fields of prevention and longevity. She studies the metabolism and the impact of foods on the body, building personalised programmes. “For years I have worked in prevention and healthy longevity, and that is why I talk about oil,” she explains. “But not all oil is the same: only a high-quality extra virgin olive oil truly allows us to gain health.”

This is precisely where our paths meet. Her idea of the daily care of the body resembles our daily care of the land and the olive trees. For five generations we have harvested our olives early to capture the maximum of polyphenols, because we believe that a great oil is born from respect for the plant. Two different crafts, the same attention to quality and balance.

Wholewheat Spaghetti at Dinner: The Carbohydrates That Help You Sleep

A plate of wholewheat spaghetti at dinner can promote rest. Complex carbohydrates help tryptophan reach the brain, where it becomes serotonin and then melatonin, the sleep hormone. Chosen wholewheat and slow-dried, they are more filling and keep blood sugar under control.

This is no heresy, but a mechanism explained even in medical literature: according to Humanitas, carbohydrates at dinner help tryptophan reach the brain, where it is transformed into serotonin and melatonin. Dr Sara Farnetti’s recipe is simple: wholewheat spaghetti al dente, cherry tomatoes, basil, and extra virgin olive oil warmed in the pan. Thanks to its high polyphenol content, our intense fruity oil also has a high smoke point, so it holds up well to cooking the tomatoes. The final emulsion binds everything together and brings the dish into harmony with the liver’s nocturnal work.

📹 Video 1, “Whole-Wheat Spaghetti for Dinner to Help You Sleep Better: Dr. Sara Farnetti’s Recipe.”

The Trick to Lowering the Glycaemic Index of Rice

Boiling rice al dente and cooling it under water lowers its glycaemic index. The cooling transforms part of the starch into resistant starch, which behaves like a fibre and slows the absorption of sugars. The result is more stable energy and more balanced blood sugar.

It is a documented effect. Through cooking and subsequent cooling, part of the starch undergoes retrogradation and becomes resistant starch, reducing the glycaemic response of the rice. In the video, Dr Sara Farnetti combines the rice with courgettes and courgette flowers, then finishes it raw with a drizzle of our high-polyphenol oil. A simple dish that becomes functional thanks to two gestures: the cooking technique and the quality of the seasoning.

📹 Video 2, “The Trick to Lowering the Glycemic Index of Rice: A Functional Recipe by Dr. Sara Farnetti.”

Why a Bitter, Peppery Oil Is Healthier

The bitterness and the peppery kick of an extra virgin olive oil are not flaws, but the signal of polyphenols. The more bitter an oil is and the more it stings the throat, the richer it is in these antioxidant substances. It is they that make oil a truly functional food.

In the third video, Dr Farnetti and Savino Muraglia discuss precisely this. “The peppery and bitter notes are the sensory experience of health,” Sara Farnetti explains. Those compounds, such as oleocanthal, have a recognised anti-inflammatory action, and the polyphenols in olive oil help protect blood lipids from oxidative stress — a benefit validated at European level. To explore the subject further, it is worth reading our guide to the polyphenols in olive oil. The secret, Savino explains, is the early harvest: “It is in the unripe fruit that the treasure hides — the explosion of polyphenols.”

📹 Video 3, “Why Is a Bitter and Pungent Extra Virgin Olive Oil Healthier? Sara Farnetti and Savino Muraglia Explain.”

Oil, the Functional Food par Excellence

This is the thread that unites the three videos. Quality extra virgin olive oil is not a mere condiment, but a living nutrient that interacts with the whole body. “Oil is the functional food par excellence, because it is in constant dialogue with all of our organs,” says Dr Sara Farnetti. Liver, gut, brain, metabolism: every drizzle of raw oil is a small act of prevention.

To bring functional cooking to your table, you need an oil that is truly rich in polyphenols. Our intense fruity single-cultivar Coratina is made for exactly this: olives harvested early, cold-milled, with that gentle sting that is the signature of health. Try it raw, over a legume soup or a plate of rice, and you will taste the difference. Because, as Dr Sara Farnetti teaches us, wellbeing is not a duty — it is an art.