Is Italian wheat different to Australian and American wheat?

And if it is, what does it mean to me?

Well, if you, like myself and my partner Cassie, are gluten intolerant, perhaps it means a great deal.

Allow me to take you back a step. We are in Italia on a long awaited holiday. One of the reasons we are here is Gina, Cassie's sister, who travelled with her partner to Italy some three years ago. Of course, they loved it, but what really interested us was that Gina suffered none of her usual gluten intolerance symptoms while she indulged in the glorious legacy of Italian culture, its WHEAT BASED cuisine. She ate pasta, she ate pane, the wonderful crusty Italian bread, she ate cornetti with her morning Caffe.. and no symptoms.

On return to Australia, guess what? Her symptoms returned. So what was going on? I have to confess that when confronted with the possibility of a holiday in a gourmand's paradise but not being able to partake, arose for us, we were both very worried. We read all we could about Italian gluten intolerance awareness (they are the only country that tests all babies for intolerance at birth) and were not at all encouraged. Without pasta in its myriad forms, local regional and historical, it was like..er.. going surfing in a lake! You get wet.. but...

Anyway.. when you need a holiday, you need a holiday, so we decided to 'just do it'.

We were helped by an old friend, a retired medico who assisted us in finding an 'appartamento' in Roma, one floor down from his own. We spent wonderful nights comparing notes on our Roman adventures and of course, we talked in very excited fashion about the fact that we had been partaking of pasta and all the wonderful foods of Rome.. with NO gluten intolerance symptoms. If I had eaten what I ate in the first three days in Roma, in Australia, I would have been crippled with back pain.

One morning, Dawn, Gerry's wife, directed us to the local produce market where we saw the amazing range of vegetables, including Dawn's latest discovery, saltwort, a grass that survives in extremely salty soil, and has wonderful alkaline properties. The next time we met, we brought up the fact that we had experienced no gluten intolerance symptoms. (I should add that Cassie would probably be classified as Celiac if tested)

Gerry asked us whether we had noticed the meat at the market. "Yes", we answered, "and we were amazed about how red it is. Why is that? Is it a different breed of cow?"

Gerry laughed. "Ian, what have I been telling you for years now? Italy is an alkaline water nation! Look at the fountains in the streets. What do you think they are giving? Alkaline water! Look at the rocks coming up in the paddocks. They are smooth, washed by the sea millions of years ago. They are alkaline. Look at the mountains. Limestone! I've bene telling you for years that you can't get a hangover from good Italian wines, especially from the North us they are from San Giovese grapes bred to thrive in the alkaline soil. What is Aussie soil? Acid! (BTW: he's right. Italian wine is stupendo!) So the cows are grazing on alkaline tolerant grasses, the wheat is grown in alkaline soil. And I have been telling you for years.. it changes everything!

Well, as they say, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. Gerry had told me this five years ago. I'd agreed with it conceptually, but there's nothing like a real life experience involving pain - or lack of it -to prove something to you. I understand that there are no double blind scientific tests to prove Gerry's theory; I wish there were; but I believe him because I have had the experience!

Alkaline rock, alkaline water, alkaline meat, alkaline wines from alkaline grapes.. can anyone loan me a cool million to move to Italia?