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Nutrition plays a fundamental role for our well-being, and it is very important to keep an eye on what we eat if we want to lose weight. However, it is not always necessary to adopt a particularly restrictive diet and give up all the pleasures of the table: this is the case, for example, of pasta.
One of the myths concerning thebalanced nutrition it is precisely the idea that consuming carbohydrates has a negative impact on health and, above all, on weight loss. This is a common mistake, because pasta – and foods with a low glycemic index in general – helps reduce blood glucose levels, slowing digestion and the consequent absorption of sugars. This is especially true in overweight people, as studies show.
Research from the University of Parma, published in the scientific journal Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases, has in fact highlighted the role of pasta on a diet that aims to lose weight. Its remarkable supply of nutrients such as starch, B vitamins and potassium should not be underestimated. There Dr. Elisabetta Bernardi, science popularizer and nutritionist at the University of Bari, also talked to us about how a good plate of pasta contributes to improve our mood thanks to its tryptophan content.
The fasting mimicking diet is based on very different principles, a low-calorie regime conceived by professor Valter Longo, researcher and director of the department of gerontology at the University of California. This type of diet, entirely vegetable, provides for a drastic reduction in the daily caloric intake and a limited intake of carbohydrates and proteins. Its goal is to induce a state of ketosis in the body due to the lack of glucose, so that it attacks our fat reserves.
We got to talk about it with the Dr. Laura Giori, biologist nutritionist, to identify the benefits and contraindications of this diet. If, as some recent studies show, fasting mimics helps rejuvenate cells and could therefore prevent certain diseases, its impact on the body should not be underestimated. For this reason it should only be adopted under strict medical supervision and by healthy adults – it is also not recommended for those who practice intense sporting activity.
When we talk about diet, it is not meant solely as a regimen aimed at losing weight. Proper nutrition is in fact essential for our well-being, regardless of the need to lose weight. And at every stage of our life there are specific nutritional needs that we will need to pay attention to. What is the best diet for those over 65? The Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics has developed a suitable diet that helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular and prolongs life.
The scheme is mainly based on the Mediterranean diet, so it includes many foods of plant origin, cereals and olive oil. However, meat, fish, eggs, milk and its derivatives also play an important role. According to many studies, this regimen contributes to preserve the DNA from errors related to aging, so it is a real cure-all at an advanced stage of our life.
Finally, our expert Federico Mereta he told us about the importance of diet and proper chewing to relieve a very common ailment, abdominal bloating. Digestion is said to start already in the mouth, and actually learning to chew slowly is one of the best tricks to improve stomach function and deflate the belly. To be sure of take the right time to chew, we should concentrate at least 30 minutes on our meals.
Of course, what we bring to the table also plays a fundamental role in fighting swelling. Better to reduce the consumption of legumes, starches and fermentable sugars: these foods are more prone to producing intestinal gas and giving a feeling of heaviness in the belly. For some people, it may be helpful to limit their intake of milk sugars, because it is very common to have difficulty in breaking them down in the stomach, increasing fermentation in the intestine.
