European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 23, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Fitness seeking guests at Marc me segue s health Center in a 13th-Century Castle set out on a horseback ride scheduled Between their Small meals and therapeutic Baths italian cooking skies Rise to new Breed of health spats Maurice me segue seated runs a family Herb business in France that supplies the italian health resort run by son Marc standing behind him. 8 stripes Magazine april 23, 1992 by Dennis Redmont the associated press Italy s love affair with food is fading fast in favor of the frenetic Pursuit of fitness with Holiday Breaks at Quot fat farms Quot Riding ranches spas and Herb health Homes. Quot the problem is not that people just eat too much but that they eat badly says Marc me segue a fifth generation herbalist who runs a luxurious health Center in a restored 13th-Century Castle with a Moat and drawbridge in Todi Italy. Me segue s family products derived from plants Flowers and fruits gathered and dried around the world Are now sold in 600 stores in Italy Spain and Germany. More than 100 health centers like me segue s have sprouted in Italy in the past five years to capitalize on the new italian mania for dieting and clean living. Government statistics show 7 million italians now diet regularly and 1.5 million regularly Purchase special slimming products. Gianna schelotto a psychologist who formerly specialized in treating sexual problems now deals with what she Calls Quot our morbid relationship with food Quot and the psychological problems it has created. Her bestselling Book a mortal hunger draws a parallel Between sexual repression at the Start of the Century and the modern form of dietary repression a anorexia. Italy now offers a spa or health Center for every taste. A in Merano on the austrian Border French patriarch Henri Chenot uses a seven Day Quot Dis intoxication diet based on fruit visits to castles and neighbouring ruins in Between spartan meals and one Day a week of total fasting. Soccer superstar Diego Maradona from Argentina and italian Premier Giulio Andreotti have slimmed Down Here. A at Saturnia bubbling hot 111 degrees fahrenheit Sulphur Baths once used by ancient romans now attract modern italians and foreigners. They get a full week of pungent yellow mud applications and massages for rheumatism and skin problems in a freshly renovated hotel on the Edge of a vapor gushing Pool. A in the spa town of Montecatino most hostelries have been refurbished and a new line of cosmetic products has been launched internationally to capitalize on the Mineral water traditions of Italy s leading Thermal Center. A at scans no in the heart of etruscan country Halfway Between Rome and Florence Massimo Pellegrini has opened a Paradise the restored Antico Casale for die conscious horse trekkers and Archery buffs. Amid the silence and soft rolling Hills of Tuscany visitors Dine on cuisine of fresh ingredients including first press Virgin Olive Oil homemade breads pastas and desserts. Jumping on the dietary bandwagon the italian government itself has begun internationally promoting Quot the Mediterranean diet Quot in its bid for foreign tourists. Quot although the italian tends to overeat an average of an extra 800-1,000 calories a Day Italy still remains the Model now most Correct and suitable for protecting our health Quot boasts a ministry of agriculture brochure. This Model diet resembles italian eating habits in the postwar years of the Early 1950s, it adds. With distinctions Between carbohydrates and simple sugars and Between saturated and unsaturated fats the diet is Rich in bread vegetables and fresh fruit with a prevalence of fish and Dairy food As animal products and Olive Oil As a fat condiment. Me segue s health Center in Todi goes one step further and bans eating any combination of carbohydrates together like bread pasta and potatoes. It vetoes any of the following mixes from guests diets eggs and meat Rice and meat and pasta Ana meat. It also discards Salt and Black Pepper in favor of sprinkles of red hot Pepper. Fruit is allowed Only at the Start of meals to avoid fermentation in the stomach if it were taken As a dessert. Cheese a usually fresh a is Only permitted in minimal doses while Only one Glass of wine per meal is tolerated. Hard liquor is taboo. A Day at me segue s Manor is sliced into 30-minute segments to give visitors an impression of constant activity. It starts with a morning Tea of herbs tailored to the guests