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With summer just around the corner, it’s impossible not to think about the upcoming swimsuit test. This is the best time for make some changes to our diet, so as to lose those extra pounds that drive us crazy in front of the mirror. But it is good to know what are the really useful tips for losing weight, paying attention to the many false myths that surround us.
An example is the gluten-free diet, commonly adopted in the presence of particular medical conditions such as celiac disease, but which is increasingly used for weight loss. The misconception is based, in most cases, on the fact that gluten-free foods are referred to as diet foods: this has nothing to do with their calorie content, but this label aims to identify those products intended for a specific diet – such as the one that doctors prescribe for celiacs.
The absence of gluten does not in itself make a less caloric food. Several studies have compared gluten-free products with their counterparts containing gluten, verifying how their nutritional content was very similar – also from the point of view of calories. However, this protein presents obvious difficulties in its digestion, as revealed by the dr. Alessio Fasano, professor of pediatrics, gastroenterology, and nutrition at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children. For this reason, a gluten-free diet is important in case of celiac disease, but also of other diseases related to this protein.
Also beware of the use of sweeteners, one of the most common alternatives to the classic white sugar. Are they really useful for weight loss, and above all are they healthy? The experts of the Create, in drafting the Guidelines for a healthy diet, highlighted how the consumption of sugar substitutes is not essential for losing weight, if not combined with a low-calorie diet and adequate physical activity. However, sweeteners are not particularly dangerous for our health – in particular, the carcinogenic effect of aspartame has been denied.
There are other reasons to be careful in consuming i sweeteners. A review published in Current Atherosclerosis Reports has in fact highlighted the so-called compensation effect: those who use it may in fact feel psychologically encouraged to indulge in the consumption of sugar-rich products rather than reduce it. In addition, the sweeteners act on intestinal microbiota, increasing the risk of developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes.
The intestinal bacterial flora plays an important role in the well-being of our body. “The bacteria that make up the microbiota affect not only the intestine, but also other organs such as the brain, act on the adipose organ, the urinary tract and the immune system” – explained the prof. Pier Luigi Rossi, specialist in nutrition sciences and preventive medicine in Arezzo and author of the book The intestine: the sixth sense of our body.
For this reason it is essential to properly nourish our microbiota, so as to gain health. Nutrition plays a very important role: i raw plant foods they provide probiotics and prebiotics, while fermented foods are an excellent source of “good” bacteria. To improve intestinal function, it may also be useful to reduce the daily amount of solid food and increase that of liquid foods, abounding with soups, herbal teas and centrifuged.
