Category nutrition and health

Hydrogenated fats are lipids that - to reach chemical-physical characteristics useful to the needs of the food industry - undergo a manipulation called hydrogenation . Hydrogenation: what is it for? Hydrogenation is a chemical process useful for the saturation (usually partial) of naturally polyunsaturated fatty acids; polyunsaturated fatty acids also have double bonds between the carbon atoms in the chain, consequently they constrain less hydrogen ions than a saturated fatty acid

Introduction What are fats? Fats, or rather lipids, are extremely important nutritional components for the organic balance of the "human machine"; although they are united in water insolubility, solubility in organic solvents and greasy consistency, between them the fats are extremely heterogeneous and differ in their molecular structure and biological function

What is immunosuppression? " Immunonutrition or pharmaconutrition is a term that indicates the supplementary administration of specific nutrients able to modulate the inflammatory response and increase the immune response of a subject " (Dott.ssa Eliana Siciliano, freelancer). In summary, immunonutrition means using the nutritive principles to favor the decrease of the state of hyper-inflammation and / or to favor the action of the immune system; immunonutrition can be applied in different clinical conditions, in acute or chronic forms, orally (os), enteral (nasogastric tube) or paren

Sorbitol intolerance is a disorder associated with poor digestion and the relative malabsorption of this organic compound. What is sorbitol? Sorbitol or glucitol is a glucose alditol, or a sugar reduced to polyol (a glucose molecule with added electrons). In nature, sorbitol is present in fruit and in particular in rowan , from which it takes its name; in the food sector, it is frequently used as a polyvalent additive and is characterized by: Sweetening power 40% lower than sucrose Caloric power 36% lower than sucrose Excellent thickening power and good preservative In addition to having a cons

Irritable bowel syndrome (SII) is a widespread disorder characterized by: abdominal pain / discomfort, swelling, flatulence and alterations of the alvus and fecal consistency; it is more widespread in women and in the West it has a prevalence of 5-10%. In people who already suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, the symptomatic manifestation of lactose intolerance (IL) is significantly greater; furthermore, since these are two very common pathologies and some clinical signs and / or "overlapping" symptoms, carrying out the differential diagnosis is not a simple path

What are Junk food or junk food means a category of foods that share one or more of the following characteristics: Poor nutritional value High energy intake High intake of table salt High intake of refined carbohydrates High intake of cholesterol, saturated lipids and / or hydrogenated fatty acids (trans) The peculiarity of junk food is that it possesses a caloric density absolutely inappropriate to the lifestyle of the sedentary man, but at the same time not to comply with the physiological needs of vitamins, trace elements, antioxidants, dietary fiber, essential fatty acids etc

Milk, therefore dairy products, are foods that contain very high amounts of calcium (Ca); the first trick to follow to reduce the possibility of incurring bone loss or osteoporosis is to guarantee the minimum calcium intake with food . Obviously, if to increase osteoporosis it was enough to increase the intake of calcium deriving from milk and dairy products, there would be no great difficulty; unfortunately, this is not the case

The sleep Sleep is an ACTIVE CYCLICAL brain process (REM phase and NREM phase) which is absolutely essential for maintaining the general state of health. During sleep numerous processes useful for "central nervous recharge" and "physical recovery" are activated and facilitated; although characterized by immobility, reduced interaction with the environment and sensory-motor isolation, sleep is nevertheless responsible for carrying out numerous brain processes

Among the various metabolic nutrient alterations, there is also a wide range of diseases related to sugar metabolism. These disorders are all very heterogeneous, both for the etiological causes and for the symptoms and the relative clinical signs that characterize them; below we will describe the most common pathological forms, symptoms and related food therapies

Malnutrition means a state of functional, structural and developmental modification of the organism, consequent to the alteration of the balance between the needs and the revenues (or use) of dietary nutrients, which favors morbidity and increases the risk of mortality. In the elderly, malnutrition occurs more easily than in other age groups and with aging the body reduces many of its physiological capacities, causing a change in body composition