Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food. So said Hippocrates, the father of medicine. Food has always had a great impact on our lives, not only because it is essential for survival, but above all for our physical and mental health.
A correct and healthy diet brings many benefits to our body, so as to prevent chronic and degenerative diseases while improving the quality of our life. Today more than ever, nutrition education is essential to be able to live a long happy life.
As a result, the figure of the Nutraceutical Chef which will be increasingly in demand in the catering chain, especially after the lesson of the Coronavirus which made us understand how important a diet based on healthy principles is for both humans and the environment.
Nutraceuticals it is the new discipline that studies the beneficial effects of the active ingredients contained in foods and plants on our health. The term was coined by the American doctor Steven De Felice, and derives from the fusion of the word nutrition and pharmaceuticals, precisely to underline the therapeutic value of food. The focus is on those foods which, thanks to the natural active ingredients contained, have extraordinary effects on our body and can be taken both as natural food and food supplements.
Therefore, a professional is looming on the horizon who, in the preparation of dishes, pays great attention not only to the new food trends, which will continue to develop, but above all to the nutritional principles and the effects they have on health.
An innovative chef who knows not only how to cook but how to create dishes oriented towards general well-being, able to step outside the usual schemes thanks to healthy nutrition skills and competences.
The "ristoceutics", in fact, the science dedicated to the study of functional foods and mealstherefore aims to bring gastronomic preparations to the table trying to keep as much as possible the healthy molecules contained in the individual ingredients, without giving up the pleasure of eating well.
The new innovative figure must therefore have professional skills verified by a Third party certification body.
In this regard, the Nutrisal Scientific Institute has launched, together with the "Eccelsa" High School of Taste Training and the Puglia Regional Chefs Union, preliminary evaluation interviews for Chefs who want to certify their skills in the field of "Nutraceutical Cuisine" by answering to a series of requirements drawn up and coordinated with the help of Prof. Emilio Jirillo, former Full Professor of Immunology at the University of Bari and Scientific Director of Nutrisal.
As stated by Michele Lampugnani, President of the Scientific Institute of Nutrition and Health Nutrisal, what we have learned from the current epidemiological emergency, is that "our immune system is closely linked to the intestinal microbiota, the set of microorganisms that regulate many functions and generate an anti-inflammatory response against pathogens". For this reason, strengthening the health system is essential to prevent any diseases.
Furthermore, about 80% of our body's immune cells are found in the intestine, so the efficiency of their activity is strongly influenced by the variety and quality of the foods we introduce into our bodies.
However, it is not enough just to talk about organic or functional foods, but they must be placed in the right hands, who know how to treat them, cook them and combine them in the correct way. It's about finding the right balance between the different functional foods and create positive effects for the people.
The interviews are preparatory for accessing a training course with qualified certification from the certification body, which all professionals in the field of nutrition can participate in: from dieticians to biologists and nutritionists.
A true evolution of the figure of the traditional cook, in which a certain dexterity in the kitchen is no longer enough, but a profound knowledge of health concepts that increasingly cares about human nutrition and a healthier lifestyle.
