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The antioxidants provided by a serving of berries fight free radicals, molecules involved in cell degeneration and, therefore, in aging. In addition, fruits such as sloes are indicated for heart care, as is the consumption of oily fish: two servings per week provide omega 3 fatty acids to those who practice an omnivorous diet and also regulates blood sugar levels and reduces hypertension. Avocado is a source of healthy fat, fiber and vitamin E…
The reader will surely be able to add to these examples many others that explain the health benefits of certain foods. It is also more than possible that you can list some of the guilty pleasures of your diet.
Man is what he eats. Ever since, in the 19th century, the German humanist and atheist Ludwig Feuerbach titled his argument against a religion that preached a diet of “bread and water” because the food of the soul was the most essential food, we have all been aware of the repercussions of food intake on our health. A teaching that during the decades of abundance of the 20th century, mutated from a necessity for survival to a source of pleasure and display of worldliness.
But in recent decades, the perception of food has changed again. In the information age, food is above all health and disease prevention and, for some, even a supplement with quasi-pharmacological properties: “A little juice of lemon and honey on an empty stomach every morning, a holy hand for the flu,” says the neighbor in the room.
And in this context, the concept of culinary medicine has landed all over the world from the cholesteric American culture.
FUSION BETWEEN MEDICINE AND GASTRONOMY
“It is an emerging field in the area of health. Evidence-based, it combines the art of food and gastronomy with the science of medicine,” explains Dr. Violeta Moizé. For this dietitian and nutritionist at the Hospital Clínic Barcelona and president of the Spanish Scientific Society of Dietetics and Nutrition (SEDYN), “it is based on the potential benefits of food for health, with an integral and holistic vision at the individual level”. She also considers that culinary medicine should value the sociocultural and pleasurable aspects associated with meals, “covering all the steps in the process, from planning the purchase of ingredients to their cooking and consumption”.
A reassuring message, of course, for those who cannot avoid a more gourmet than healthy look at the daily menu, since culinary medicine claims to offer the squaring of the circle of eating rich from demanding healthy budgets: “That’s what we want to teach with projects like the one at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona and the Alícia Foundation.” This educational and informative program, baptized Aliclinic, promotes the culture of culinary medicine among health professionals so that they can pass it on to their patients.
Usune Etxeberria is also working with this objective in the Health area of BCC Innovation, the research body of the Basque Culinary Center, where recipes are already being prepared that combine ingredients suitable for certain ailments with tasty and creative preparations: “There is solid scientific evidence that non-communicable multifactorial diseases, which are those that predominate today, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes or hypertension, are the result of a series of interactions. It is true that there may be a genetic predisposition, but above all, lifestyle and how much stress we are subjected to, whether we move and eat properly, whether we rest… weighs heavily. There are several factors, but diet plays a very important role”.
For this doctor in Food, Physiology and Health, “culinary medicine empowers people in healthy lifestyles, helping them to adhere to beneficial eating patterns for health care and disease prevention.”
FLEEING FROM ‘INFOXICATION
But having things clear is not so easy for a citizen dealing with fake news and infoxication. Something that happens when we pull the trolley at the supermarket, a moment that requires not only willpower to avoid falling into the temptation of the bag of chips, but also a clear vision of all those informative inputs we receive about food, sometimes not as clear as we would like: is fruit fattening at night, why does the Nutri-Score nutritional traffic light, promoted by the EU, give a bad mark to olive oil?
Dr. Moizé explains that one of the objectives of culinary medicine is “to train the person for self-care using food and cooking”. In her opinion, “it is about acquiring knowledge and skills through training with experts in the field.”
Although he warns of the impossibility of summarizing in a paragraph the foods to prevent common diseases, he summarizes the keys to a good diet, which is to ensure daily “fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes, all; whole foods, all; and olive oil. And if the person eats foods of animal origin: white and blue fish, dairy products, eggs, water? that’s it!”, she concludes energetically.
Etxeberria also insists on training, which can begin with habits as simple as going to the market: “It is very practical for those who want to eat healthily. In the market we have that quality raw material that nature gives us”. Also from the Basque Culinary warns of the importance of knowing how to treat these foods when you get home: “You have to use mostly healthy cooking techniques such as boiling, papillote or cooking, because this not only ensures that we are acquiring healthy eating habits, but we are also laying the foundations to maintain them over time”. Etxeberria invites people to acquire culinary skills that allow them to experiment on the basis of healthy cooking.
DISPEL MYTHS
In this learning process proposed by culinary medicine, there is also much to relearn. For example, Dr. Moizé warns of the danger of identifying traditional foods with healthy foods, and of the lists of superfoods that appear so frequently in all kinds of publications: “As nutritionists, these barbarities make our hair stand on end.
The doctor also refuses to fall into the simplicity of thinking that playfulness is at odds with health: “I particularly enjoy eating healthy much more, but that depends on the value that each person gives to food, because we have to assess the impact of food with the current social and environmental conditions.
FOOD IS NOT A DRUG
Another of the hoaxes to banish is the identification of the properties of food with those of a drug. “We talk about culinary medicine in terms of disease prevention,” says Etxeberria: “But if we develop an ailment and it is necessary to take a medication, there will be no food that is so miraculous as to replace that medication. At that moment, healthy food will be a complement that will help, even contribute to reverse the situation or reduce medication doses, but it will not be a substitute. There are no miracles in the world of nutrition.
For this researcher, the success of culinary medicine should be measured more in terms of “the active participation of the person in acquiring knowledge that empowers them, developing skills to make the best choice in their daily lives, because medicine is their lifestyle, and in no case is it incompatible with the enjoyment of good food”.