Introducing foods rich in polyphenols in the diet can help prevent obesity, experts say in the XVIII International Course on Immunonutrition in Health and Welfare, organized by the International Society for Immunonutrition (ISIN) in collaboration with the Institute of Science and Food and Nutrition Technology (ICTAN) of the CSIC, among other institutions.
“Obesity depends on a complex interaction between numerous factors subject to both genetic and environmental influences. In this sense, it has been shown that there are different pathologies such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus or cancer that are associated with overweight and lead to greater incidence of mortality in our population “, said the expert in Endocrinology and Nutrition and Scientific Director of the Department of Internal Medicine of the Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga (IBIMA), Francisco Tinahones.
Also, the doctor has commented that to achieve a good weight loss there are several lines of action, therapeutic measures and / or an increase in physical activity. “With a healthy lifestyle, even a slight loss of weight and 30 minutes of daily physical activity, you can significantly improve metabolic risk factors,” he added.
That said, the expert has influenced the demonstrated benefits of incorporating the Mediterranean dietary pattern into our lifestyle, not only in terms of food, but also in adequate mental and social well-being and adequate physical activity.
“There are many findings that demonstrate beneficial health effects when changes are made based on lifestyle, to resolve metabolic risk factors in individuals with excess weight, particularly those with significant metabolic disorders,” he said, after highlight the relevant role that foods rich in polyphenols play in the diet.
There are, as you have added, more than 4,000 natural polyphenols (substances of plant origin with antioxidant power), and incorporating them into the diet can help alleviate the effects of a stressful, sedentary and supercharged lifestyle, something “very own” of societies formerly called western.
Products such as fruit, vegetables, olive oil, wine, tea, beer or cocoa contain these beneficial antioxidants, although Tinahones has warned that “it is of little use to consume them in isolation.” And, as he has argued, a polyphenol is not a molecule that works alone and must be incorporated into the diet with all its organic environment, since there is still much to know about effective doses and concentrations of polyphenols.
