“The concept of keeping away the chronic pathologies of aging as much as possible has become a real emergency. Life expectancy, which we thought had altered somewhat with the pandemic, has actually started to rise slightly again and today in Italy, as in much of Europe, it is around 81 years, taking an average between men and women. However, healthy life expectancy does not reach 61 years. This means that we live 20% of our lives disease If we were to define what healthily lifespan is, we could say that it means ‘growing old while remaining young’, not so much avoiding diseases but maintaining the functions of youth, such as mental and physical performance”. This was stated by Giovanni Scapagnini, professor of Clinical Nutrition at the University of Molise and vice-president of the Italian Nutraceutical Society (Sinut), on the occasion of the first of the two days of the 5th International Congress “Healthy lifespan – positive nutrition, antiinflammation diet, physical activity and sport” organized by the Paolo Sorbini Foundation, and promoted by Enervit and Technogym, at Palazzo Mezzanotte in Milan. The two-day event (today and tomorrow), which sees internationally renowned experts discuss the main aspects linked to improving the quality of life and promoting healthy longevity, is aimed mainly at biologists, dieticians, pharmacists, physiotherapists, surgeons, students and graduates in motor sciences and specializing in medicine.
“Nutrition is one of the variables on which we can certainly work better – explains Scapagnini – Most civilizations have developed around the table, even nomadic communities see nutrition as a moment of social aggregation. Social relations and empathy that develop in a context of meditation have proven to be important on the ability to manage one’s biology. I have worked a lot in what are called blue zones, places where the possibility of aging physiologically and avoiding the development of diseases is limited. ‘ more accomplished than other areas. They have some points in common, despite being very different and geographically distant areas, they are in fact found in Japan, Costa Rica and Italy. The local communities of these three blue zones do not eat too much but above all they have a great nutritional variety and a wealth of certain types of compounds, they have a diet low in calories but rich in nutrients and, above all, micronutrients, which are the elements that help our biology maintain its functions”.
From the point of view of nutrients “polyunsaturated fatty acids have assumed a very important role in recent years – underlines the expert – which we are not able to produce. These are essential and in their absence the biochemistry. The presence of an adequate quantity of polyunsaturated fatty acids is valuable in the management of inflammation”. In recent years “I have also worked a lot on phytochemistry, that is, substances derived from the plant world which are non-nutrients with the ability to train our body and maintain its ability to adapt, a bit like physical activity also does” he concludes.
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