Eternity for a plate of lentils. Neither the myth of Faust nor the stupidity of Esau have anything to do with it. The devil in this case is ultra-processed foods, what the common people call junk food: from sugary drinks to energy drinks to fatty sauces and packaged “snacks”. But the list also includes high-protein foods and fake light foods. Don’t you believe it? The word to Professor Antonio Gasbarrini who is the scientific director of the Foundation
Gemelli Polyclinic and dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the Catholic of the Sacred Heart: «We were designed to live in optimal conditions for approximately 110-120 years. This means that, at age 90, a person should still be in good health. The fact is that to reach this goal we must work hard from childhood. The longevity clinics that exist in the Emirates, for example, are facilities designed for children aged 5 to 15, where parents, often very rich, bring their children with the aim of making them live healthy until they are 110-120 years old. Only we do the exact opposite.”
And what do lentils have to do with it? To stay healthy and defy the century it is a question of what and how we have eaten from an early age. We need to take care of the microbiota, that abdominal brain that dominates our functions; if it works well it keeps us safe from major pathologies, but feeding ultra-processed foods generates meta-inflammation which makes us lose our bearings and then we are in trouble.
Examples? Snacks, veggie burgers (even though now, and it’s about time, the EU has decided that they can no longer be called that), but also sweeteners that deceive the body. Modern society has begun to feed itself badly. Professor Gasbarrini explains further: «A common misconception must be dispelled, namely that obesity is a non-communicable disease. It’s not true: an obese mother transmits to her child a microbiota that predisposes him to obesity.”
This is why we need to fight childhood obesity, which is also exploding in developing countries and in those believed to be “dying of hunger”. Because the main issue is not how much you eat, but what and how. There was much discussion about it at the very recent Coldiretti Forum which insists on promoting an initiative at European level that bans ultra-processed foods. It’s a shame that the EU has always gone in a stubbornly opposite direction.
Italy’s action has dismantled this trend, but “we are still far from obtaining a full result” says the president of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini. «The labeling of origin, the reciprocity of quality guarantees on imported products compared to European standards, the abandonment of the so-called “Frankenstein foods” those produced in the laboratory by cell replication». However, Italy has taken a step forward and it is a very significant one – as underlined by the Minister for Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Francesco Lollobrigida – «we are the first country that by law recognizes obesity as a chronic, relapsing disease thanks also to the contribution of the Minister of Health Orazio Schillaci; however, the theme is to relaunch the Mediterranean diet, stop junk food: when we fought against synthetic meat we did it to reaffirm the value of the Mediterranean diet and of Made in Italy agri-food”.
Professor Esmeralda Capristo of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart is clear: «It should be a European battle, we should get rid of carbonated and energy drinks, snacks from schools, we should educate about healthy eating: the data are discouraging both in terms of the impact on health and the economic impact».
Let’s read them. Ultra-processed foods, if consumed in high quantities, can increase the risk of colon cancer by up to 30 percent, but obesity contributes to 9 percent of health spending, reduces GDP by 2.8 percent and every Italian pays 289 euros in extra taxes per year to cover these costs. Again according to Professor Capristo’s studies, Italians live on average 2.7 years less due to being overweight; Obesity has grown by about a third in the last twenty years and affects 11.8 percent of the population (over 6 million people) with a worrying incidence among children under 18: 22 percent of males and 14 percent of females are overweight.
The reason is that we eat badly. Yet something is moving. For example, Nestlé, which had changed its mission from a food company to a health company trying to monopolize the market for supplements and foods for diabetics, is in difficulty. It holds over 2 thousand food brands and despite its declared intentions four years ago it was rocked by a “scandal”. An internal document revealed that 60 percent of the foods that the Swiss multinational (70 billion francs in turnover) declared to be healthy were perhaps not.
Thus the new CEO Philipp Navratil announced 16 thousand redundancies, stating that “times have changed”. What does it mean? That many industrial products – the brands that make the most money for Nestlé, in addition to Purina’s dog and cat foods, are energy bars, protein products and snacks such as KitKat chocolates – are starting to go out of fashion just like Beyond Meat’s non-vegan burgers.
In the latest Censis-Coldiretti report we discover that there is an aspiration among Italians to eat better. The group photo of us in front of the food says this: 63.7 percent think that synthetic food, produced in laboratories, is a threat to health; 86.8 percent like to buy food from their own territory and want to know what they eat, how it is made and where it comes from, so much so that 83.2 percent are convinced that IGP, DOP, DOC guarantee Italian quality.
The survey finds that there is a demand for a new food awareness: 90.7 percent want food education to be introduced starting from primary school. Going into detail, 88.8 percent say they are against junk food and there is a surprising share of under 30s who say no to ultra-processed foods: 74.2 percent. Nine out of 10 Italians want more fruit and vegetables and the same percentage demands food democracy: healthy food for all.
It is interesting to note that greater attention is being asked for collective catering: over 90 percent of those interviewed want fresh, local food to be served in canteens, from school canteens to hospital ones. Almost all parents no longer want food vending machines at school, while when asked for an opinion on school canteens, 28 percent say they are good and 38.4 percent find them only sufficient. «We called this study “eating well despite everything”» underlines Ettore Prandini «and I must say that the responses received indicate that the idea that health is defended at the table with a close relationship between quality food and agriculture has finally made its way among Italians».
Professor Gasbarrini, however, observes with Panorama: «We must return to the Mediterranean diet which has unfortunately been abandoned by most Italians». According to a study by the Higher Institute of Health, it appears that only 5 percent follow this diet regularly. The majority (83.8 percent) adopt it in a moderate way, while 11.3 percent have low adherence.
Yet it is the only way to extend our lives. «By 2050, it is expected that 35 percent of children in the world, especially in developing countries, will be obese, not overweight, but obese» underlines Gasbarrini again. «An epochal disaster is already underway in the United States. This scenario will have devastating economic impacts: by 2050, global costs related to weight gain will exceed 18 trillion dollars. The problem is enormous, and I believe that only in a nation like Italy, where the culture of food is so rooted, can such issues be addressed with a serious discussion.”
Maybe this time Esau is right: a plate of lentils is better.
