Tag: here39s

here's how to keep them healthy – Italian Cuisine

Most of the body's immune defenses reside in the intestine. Find out what to bring to the table to keep it in balance and stay away from disease

The immune system plays a key role in defending the body. It helps protect it from diseases and attacks from pathogens such as viruses and bacteria. Its health depends on that of the intestine, where most of the immune defenses reside. In several studies it has been observed that the proper functioning of the immune system is linked to that of the microbiota, the set of intestinal microorganisms, good and bad. "The intestine can be compared to a large" gym "in which our immune system" trains "daily, recognizing the" friendly "microorganisms of health from those that are not", explains Michele Sculati, specialist doctor in Science of 'Alimentation, which together with a group of colleagues, with the coordination of Professor Antonio Gasbarrini, dedicated the book to the topic Microbiota. The invisible friend for your well-being at all ages (Gribaudo).

The "good" bacteria that populate the intestine feed mainly on fiber. For example, leeks, asparagus, onion, apples, cherries are excellent sources.

The intestine is daily exposed to various substances from the outside, which can be useful or harmful ", continues the expert. "Daily training is essential to teach the immune system to react appropriately. However, in recent decades our habits have changed a lot and exposure to "training" stimuli has decreased due to wrong lifestyles, including stress, abuse of drugs, in particular antibiotics and exposure to some environmental pollutants such as pesticides and heavy metals ". These are factors that are able to negatively modify the characteristics of our microbiota and, consequently, weaken the immune system and make us less resistant to attack by viruses and bacteria. Another factor to consider is diet. Nutrition plays a key role in the health of the microbiota. Let's see in detail what to prefer at the table and what to avoid to keep it healthy and strengthen the immune system.

microbiota cover

At the table, focus on variety

"To keep the microbiota healthy, it is necessary to vary the daily diet, bringing all types of vegetables and fruit to the table," says Michele Sculati. «Each variety is rich in different nutrients. The greater the diversity in nutrition, the better the variety of beneficial bacteria in the intestine and consequently the quality of the microbiota. The alterations of the intestinal bacterial flora are often due to a repetitive and monotonous diet ".

Cut back on protein, saturated fat and sugar

"To keep the microbiota healthy and strengthen the body's defenses, it is necessary to avoid exaggerating with proteins of animal origin, especially with meat. The microbiota degrades them into unwanted compounds, "says the expert. Then you need to moderate the consumption of saturated fats and sugars. «The former are found in cheeses, fatty meats, fatty cuts of meat and hamburgers, as well as in tropical coconut and palm oils. Refined sugars, on the other hand, are mainly present in processed and overly refined foods. Excessive consumption of these products does not help as it is associated with the proliferation of less useful species .

Don't miss fiber, antioxidants and probiotics

The "good" bacteria that populate the intestine feed mainly on fibers, such as GOS, FOS and inulin, which have shown good prebiotic action. This mechanism strengthens our immune defenses, protecting us from various diseases. For example, leeks, asparagus, onion, apples, cherries are excellent sources. Vegetables also ensure a large variety of antioxidants. "In recent studies it has been seen that the polyphenols with which they are rich are mainly used by the microbiota," says the expert. "Foods rich in lactic ferments such as yogurt also ensure good quality of intestinal bacteria."

Discover in the gallery the other foods allied to the health of the microbiota

Milan Wine Week, here's what we can expect from the 2020 edition – Italian Cuisine

Digitization and internationalization will be the keywords of the event, scheduled for October 3 to 11

"If reality changes, we must change too." There Milan Wine Week does not give up on coronavirus, and through the words of President Federico Gordini it presents itself in its new guise 2020. More international and at the same time much, much more digital. The global health emergency, on the other hand, has forced us to review the plans of the now well-known Milanese event dedicated to the world of wine, now in its third edition: and so from 3 to 11 October the glasses will rise from Lombardy to the United States, passing through China and Russia, shortening distances in complete safety thanks to the help of technology. "Milan Wine Week first decided to take up this challenge by transforming a gap into an opportunity to carry out a system project increasingly at the service of the wine world and its supply chain", underlines Gordini. «During the lockdown we therefore decided to question ourselves to build something revolutionary and appropriate to current times; and to be able, if possible, to organize an even bigger, important and international event in compliance with the strict regulations imposed by the emergency ".

Milan raises the glass, the world responds

All this will happen thanks to an innovative platform that will allow Italy to connect with the ten international offices in London, Monaco, Moscow, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, New York, San Francisco, Miami and Toronto, where international buyers and press they will be able to discover virtual stands of the Italian companies hosted in the Wine Networking Hub and participate in specials Digital Tasting, to simultaneously taste the wines even thousands and thousands of kilometers away. In Milan, meanwhile, a varied agenda of meetings and seminars is scheduled, dotted with master classes, tastings, walk-around tasting, forums and many other initiatives, always dedicated to the world of wine. To combine digital and physical in a great event that will have its roots in the headquarters of Palazzo Bovara, but which has the intention of becoming a widespread event also extending to the rest of the Milanese capital.

A party for the neighborhoods

Trusting in a progressive improvement of the health situation, in fact, the Milan Wine Week aims to involve the city through the institution of Wine Districts, real partnerships between the different districts, with their circuit of bars, restaurants and wine bars, and the various Protection consortia of Italian wines. For the entire week in which the district will be fully branded with the Consortium livery, it will be possible to participate in special events such as aperitifs, dinners, tastings: the goal of the 2020 edition will be to further involve the activities related to Restaurants and the administration of wines, to give new life to a sector particularly affected by the last months of the pandemic. Hundreds of Milanese clubs and restaurants, in this sense, will personally participate in the event, offering thematic menus and tasting itineraries with a combination of food and wine.

The meetings of Pride Week

In short, Milan Wine Week intends to inaugurate a new season of events for the Milanese metropolis, ready to start again in complete safety also thanks to the new digital vocation discovered in the darkest weeks of the quarantine. Waiting for October, however, a first virtual toast can already be made from 19 to 28 June, on the occasion of the Milan Pride Week: the week of LGBT + pride will see a special series of WineTelling, real in-depth aperitifs that will be held in several friendly places in the Lombard capital, and which will be broadcast live on the Milan Wine Week Instagram profile. The goal, in this case, will be to combine the discovery of wines and their territorial variations in a journey of love and respect for diversity.

Plastic gloves are useless against Covid-19. Here's what the WHO says – Italian Cuisine

According to experts, they do not effectively protect against contagion and, in addition, they give a sense of false protection

No, plastic gloves – used in the way we are used to doing it – do not effectively protect against coronavirus and, in addition, give a dangerous sense of false protection. To reiterate this, together with many infectious disease and virologist experts, is the World Health Organization. Plastic gloves, writes WHO, can "increase the risk of infection, since they can lead toself-contamination or transmission to others when touching contaminated surfaces and therefore the face ”.

How many times, in the aisles of the supermarket, do you see buyers wearing gloves, taking a pack of pasta from the shelf, putting it back in place, touching their faces and taking out the phone to answer a call? From what we know, coronavirus is mainly transmitted through the droplets expelled into the air, but it cannot be excluded that the infection also occurs through the contact with infected surfaces (studies show that the virus can live on surfaces for up to 72 hours): if an infected person had previously touched that pack of pasta, the buyer could have transferred the virus to his gloves, then to his face and, again, on his phone. "What's the use of gloves?" Asks Sally Bloomfield, professor at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “While walking through the supermarket, you can touch your nose, mouth and eyes with gloved hands. The only reason gloves might be useful to you is to remind you that you shouldn't touch your face. "

So why do healthcare workers use them in hospitals? The truth is that doctors and nurses are trained to use gloves properly. This also means remove them safely: grasp the outside of the first glove by the wrist and detach it from the hand, pulling it outwards, then remove the second by putting your fingers inside the glove, at the top of the wrist, and pull without touching the outside, before dispose of them.

The World Health Organization recalls that the regular hand washing – or disinfection with sanitizing gels – offers greater protection against Covid-19 than using rubber gloves. Not to mention the ecological issue: gloves are often dispersed in the environment rather than properly disposed of in the bins. This is not only a (huge) problem for the environment and wildlife, but also, if abandoned by an infected person, for those who have to collect them, such as a child.