Why Gen Z is Embracing Their Inner Italian Grandma
In an increasingly fast-paced, screen-filled world, timeless and slower routines can feel surprisingly refreshing. Gardening, cooking from scratch, or taking a long walk have become symbols of a more intentional way of living.
Not only is this slower way of living associated with longevity and better mental health, it’s also the focus of a new social media wellness trend, HuffPost reports. “Nonnamaxxing” is an emerging movement where young people attempt to match the nonna or Italian grandmother lifestyle.
@shaynas.kitchen Just out here nonnamaxxing. 🇮🇹 And I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is what it looks like in real life. Slow mornings that belong entirely to me. A kitchen that smells like something good is always happening. Meals that take time and taste like it. A nervous system that finally knows what rest feels like. 💚 No rushing. No optimising. No performing wellness. Just living it. This is why I built Shayna’s Kitchen the way I did. Not around products, around a philosophy. The belief that the way you nourish yourself every single day is the most important thing you can do. The food you choose. The rituals you protect. The pace you move at. The moments you actually stop and taste. Nonna figured this out centuries ago. I am just finally catching up. 🇮🇹 And if you are not travelling to Italy this year, you can still cook with me from my kitchen right here in Florence. The smells, the recipes, the essence of Italy, all of it, brought straight to your home. 💚 Comment SPRING and I’ll send you everything you need to join me. 🌿🇮🇹 #nonnamaxxing #italianlifestyle #slowliving #shaynasskitchen #nonnasummer ♬ original sound – sonsalyrics
What is Nonnamaxxing?
“‘Nonnamaxxing’ is a recent trend where people adopt the daily rhythms of an Italian grandmother, or nonna,” Martina Carucci, who works for language learning app Preply, tells HuffPost. “It’s essentially borrowing a lifestyle that Italian culture has practiced for generations and giving it a fun name.” This lifestyle includes things like home-cooked meals, staying active, and living in the moment.
@shaynas.kitchen Life is meant to be lived. Not understood. Not optimized. Not figured out before you allow yourself to enjoy it! Sometimes it looks like spending three hours in the kitchen making something from scratch just because it feels good. Just because the process itself is the point. There is something so grounding about working with your hands. Rolling dough, feeling the texture change, the smell of something real coming together in your kitchen, it is one of my favorite ways to come back to myself. Gnocchi recipe coming soon to the cookbook 🤍 In the meantime, what is one thing you have been putting off that your soul is actually craving? Drop it below 💛 #italianfood #nonna #gnocchi #italiansummer #italy ♬ suono originale – SpiritModerna
Although nonnamaxxing is a new movement for young people online, it’s simply a way of life for Italian grandmothers. “In Italy, sitting down for a proper meal with your family isn’t a wellness trend, it’s just regular life,” Carucci explains.
Everyday life in Italy reflects the nonna way of life. The country is known for longevity, and Sardinia is home to one of the world’s Blue Zones, where people live statistically longer than their global age cohorts.
Linguist Noël Wolf explains that this is likely due to the same lifestyle factors that nonnamaxxers seek to emulate. “Researchers have spent decades trying to understand why, and the answer keeps coming back to the same things ― consistent movement built into daily life, home-cooked food, strong social ties and an unhurried relationship with time,” she explains.
Staying Social and Active
Strong social ties and staying active are an important nonna lifestyle feature, according to SELF. “The most important thing for living a long and happy life? Don’t isolate yourself. Always stay in touch with people, travel, plan outings, and get out of the house,” 96-year-old Italian grandmother and great-grandmother Licia Fertz tells SELF.
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Parts of Italy are inaccessible to cars and are also very walkable. This, along with expensive gas prices, encourages even older Italians to stay active.
“Walking is the most fundamental form of human physical activity and many, many hundreds of studies confirm that walking helps people age slower and better,” Daniel Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University, explains. “Walking helps you age well.”
You Are What You Eat
The Mediterranean diet, a way of eating that emphasizes olive oil, whole grains, vegetables, and legumes, is known to be good for you. But diet alone is only part of the nonna’s health success story.
“Freshness, variety, ripeness, and preparation methods can all exert a significant influence on a food’s nutritional profile,” says Antonino De Lorenzo, professor emeritus of human nutrition at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. “A high-quality diet, maintained over time, promotes healthier aging, characterized by better preservation of physical, mental, and cognitive functions, as well as reduced exposure to major chronic diseases.”
In other words, eating fresh, in-season, home-cooked foods without preservatives or other potentially harmful additives is also an important nonna feature.
Live in the Moment
Watch Italian nonnas at cafes and, rather than scrolling, they are likely experiencing what Italians call dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing.
Psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert theorizes that the dolce far niente is driving the nonnamaxxing trend among young people. “The appeal here is the fantasy of a life that feels grounded, warm, and unhurried,” Alpert explains. “A lot of younger people are burned out by the pressure to constantly optimize themselves, be productive, and turn their lives into content.”
The nonnas may have been onto something all along. Whether it’s taking a leisurely walk, cooking from scratch, sharing meals with loved ones, or simply enjoying a quiet moment without reaching for a screen, these timeless habits are anything but old-fashioned. Rather, they may be the secret to living a better life.
