In 2020, following the Lockdown, there was a healthy increase in the consumption of fruit and vegetables (+21,2%) but at the same time, stress, fear and anxiety led many people to turn to foods considered 'comfort', such as chocolate, ice cream and sweets (+42,5%) e salty snacks (+23,5%). Inevitably, such an unbalanced diet led to a weight gain ranging from 19,5% as emerges from a study published by Foods, up to 48,6% as emerges from a study published by the Journal of Translational Medicine.
The higher intake of food and calories is combined with the fact that in this scenario the increase in the index of absolute poverty, which has caused a lowering of food quality for less well-off families, has caused an important disease risk factor, whose rate, which was already 2019% in 7,7, rose to 2020% in 9,4”.
Longevitystudio, a project that sets itself up as a point of reference for nutrition in Italy by combining the best experiences of the medical and scientific world, has reworked the data from the ISTAT report on fair and sustainable well-being (BES) by comparing them with two scientific studies that were carried out during the first Italian lockdown, by Federico Scarmozzino and Francesco Visioli of the University of Padua, published by Foods, and by Laura Di Renzo of the University of Milan published by the Journal of Translational Medicine.
The result is a picture that sounds like an alarm bell for our health: the life expectancy at birth, which was 2019 years in 83,2 compared to 81,7 in 2010, in 2020 has shrunk by almost 1 year, standing at 82,3 years. "The increase in mortality due to COVID-19 has led to this negative result, but some pejorative changes in our food lifestyle should not be underestimated - underlines Roberto Volpe, medical researcher of the National Research Council of Rome (CNR) - we could discount in the next few years”.
For Volpe, reversing the trend is possible by focusing on the Mediterranean Diet but, he warns, the current conditions of our state of health and the food and physical consequences we are experiencing, require an intelligent reading of the Mediterranean Diet, so to speak
So what to do? “Waiting for work and the economy to grow again – explains Volpe – we can all do something to improve our style of life and resume earning years. In this regard, once again, the preventive and therapeutic role of nutrition appears to be important and fundamental. The historic Mediterranean food model, characterized by foods mainly of vegetable origin, but also of animal origin, such as fish or the moderate consumption of milk, dairy products, eggs and lean parts of meat foods, continues to represent a point of reference in the world of nutrition". But Longevitystudio proposes a reading of the Mediterranean diet based on two approaches: one is characterized by the consumption of whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruit in season, but with one reduction of calories between 50 and 70%, which must be followed in cycles (two-three or more times a year, depending on the person's state of health and the advice of the attending physician); the second focuses on the concept of the so-called "meal replacement", composed of a single portion (or combination) of low-calorie foods such as soups, stews, savory snacks or sweet snacks. In both cases, the low-calorie approach not only reduces abdominal fat (source of pro-inflammatory molecules) but, at the same time, is also able to stimulate a process of cellular reprogramming and regeneration which leads to a further reduction of inflammation (in addition to a well-known improvement in the main cardio-metabolic risk factors).
“If we then consider – observes prof. Fox – that this diet, like the Mediterranean diet, provides vitamins and polyphenols with antioxidant action, able to counteract the damage caused by free radicals pathological aging and development of cardiovascular diseases and cancer, and has a good content of monounsaturated fatty acids and omega-3 fats, essential for maintaining the structure of nerve cell membranes, it is easy to understand how it is able to guarantee quality longevity.”
The Longevitystudio method – explains Gianpaolo Nappi, founder of the company – is based on the use of Mediterranean products with a calorie control that focuses on functional foods, within a protocol aimed at a low-calorie diet. This path starts from the basics of the Mediterranean Diet with the use of the scientific protocol of DMD™- Diet Mima Fasting by Professor Valter Volpe and his studies on cell longevity.
The food program has a duration of 5 days, and aims at a precise balance between macro-nutrients (protein, fat, carbohydrate, fiber) e micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals). This mix of ingredients allows you to "deceive" the body by simulating a water-only fast while eating.
The body, simulating a significant caloric restriction, triggers alternative processes of use of energy substrates, thus initiating a process of cell renewal, thanks to which it eliminates what is no longer necessary, and replaces it with new and healthy cells.
Due to its detailed composition low in simple sugars, low in protein and low in calories, DMD provides macro and micro nutrients to minimize the adverse effects of total fasting.
