Functional Nutrition: a medical – metabolic answer to the unsolved diets question

1. How could you explain the meaning of the expression ” functional food”?

Functional food is different from functional nutrition because the focus is on organs and cells functions and not only on food itself.
I can explain this concept with an example. We can imagine a rich wardrobe but is the model who wears them to make the difference: it exists the right size of the suit, the best color for that subject and the best mix of food to looks like her fashion.
Food is the same. We must chose food thinking which will be the answer of our organ.
Food becomes hormones. This is the most important thing.
When we eat something, on the basis of the cooking method, preparation and combination with other food, our body answers releasing hormones. These substances make we happy, fatty or thin, can favorite cancer, aging process, or sustain vitality and a good appearance.

2. What is the main tendencies of product’s matching that you recommend in your book? Which food must you avoid to mix with other?

The best approach is personalized one, so food has to mix by nutritionist as a tailored suit.
However we can consider the worst combinations.
We must avoid mix more than one sugar in the same meal, no pasta with rice, no fruit with bread, no cakes with potatoes. It’s better one carbohydrates for each meal. In this way we can protect the pancreas.
You mast avoid also to match different types of protein like fish with meat or eggs, to take care the kidney and liver that are not able to use too much proteins and need to receive them with raw vegetables or fruits.
Spinach or soup are not useful to fight water retention in the lower body and hip. In addition spinach , when cooked, never would match with cheese if you want improving calcium absorption and reducing risk of kidney stones.
A good choice are bitter cooked or uncooked vegetables like rucola, endives, artichokes, radish, mixed up with pasta or rice.

3. Dietology – is it an individual approach or it could become an industrial fact and tendency?

Nowadays to be attention on diet and food we eat is more than a trend, is a question of life style, of healthy, is a medical strategy to prevent and to cure a lot of illnesses.
I think people need to know how to take care of their body and mind and how to make their life longer and healthier.
Industries take into account this fact and try to offer products that can answer their clients ask and, even if, this can seem just only an industrial fact, in this case, It is an healthy marketing operation.

4. What are the most popular ideas about food which you downgraded during your carrier?

We think a lot of false things about food, such as:

• fried food is able to grow up cholesterol levels in the blood and is toxic;

• chocolate in general is a dirty food in a reduce weight diet;

• consume boiled rice is the best choice to control weight gain;

• eat fruits is always a good thing, instead of vegetables, and you can consume fruits without any problem; check and reduce fats and olive oil content in food if you are overweight;

• it’s better have pasta or rice for lunch instead for dinner because of they become fat mass in the body

5. There is a lack of fruits and vegetables in the Northern countries – what kind of products would you recommend to recompense this?

Raw vegetables and fruit are really important. However we can consume every day unsalted and unroasted seeds like almonds , pines, nuts rich in minerals and healthy nutrients.
Raw vegetables are rich in water and others peculiar vitamins so we must try to consume them. Two carrots with EVO (extravirgin olive oil), cucumber, celery are easier to found, like aromatics herbs as basil, sage, cumin, parsley to add a lot of phenols to our meal.

6. In your book you say that products which are not useful in hypo-caloric diet , could become our allies. How is it possible?

For example EVO is all around considered high caloric but this fact is different to say that EVO make we fatty. Styr fried pasta with EVO is not toxic and is able to reduce carbohydrates pasta absorption. Light or deep fried food are able to favorite excretion of bile in the bowel, have a laxative action and act in cholesterol reduction.
If you think deep fried food, first of all, you think it is caloric and unhealthy. Instead, for example, we can also eat fried potatoes stick if we respect a series of simple rules to make them healthy.