The ideal diet to protect against diseases

We all have a treasure: life. And as a bonus, health. Initially, not everyone receives the same nest egg or the same inheritance, but if you manage your vitality budget well, you can keep your account well stocked and reap profits without mortgaging your future. At least you can keep your momentum portfolio in balance. It’s never too late not to waste your resources and make the right investments. The key is long-term interests.

We are talking more and more about anti-inflammatory diets or “superfoods”. Waiting for his book Your unlimited health, which comes out in February (Ed. Marabout), Emilie Steinbach, doctor in integrative biology, neuroscientist, specialized in neuro-nutrition (@TheBrainGutScientist), sets the record straight a little, even if it means putting one’s foot in the dish.

“In many pathologies such as overweight, depression, type 2 diabetes, but also simply aging, we find a common point, chronic low-grade inflammation which, over months and years, can disrupt the functioning of the body without obvious clinical signs. Where does she come from? Junk food, stress, tobacco, a sedentary lifestyle or even the accumulation of fat mass, because excess adipose tissue releases pro-inflammatory molecules into the blood. This inflammation can be measured very simply with a blood test by measuring certain markers, including ultrasensitive CRP (or C-reactive protein). It must be as close as possible to zero (i.e. less than 0.5 mg per liter) or in any case, ideally, below 3 mg/L.

Plant food

To reduce it, no table revolution or bizarre diet. For our expert, a mainly plant-based diet is enough, which does not exclude animal proteins (fish, omega-3 eggs, dairy products, lean pastured meat). The ideal: more than 30 different plant-based foods per week, vegetables of all colors, legumes, whole grains, nuts, fruits (especially red fruits), herbs, spices. 150 to 250 grams of small fatty fish per week, sardines, herring, mackerel, trout, anchovies (not too salty). Basically, the traditional Mediterranean diet.

Final advice: never stress eat. As soon as you sit down, activate your five senses, even if just for a minute, to activate the gut-brain axis, and chew well. Finally, take care of your oral health. Bacteria from the mouth can attack the gums, the skin of which can become permeable, like that of the intestine. This hyperpermeability contributes to low-grade inflammation which, ultimately, can have deleterious effects on the entire body, including the brain.

…and with Ayurveda

Alternative medicine keeps telling us that “we are what we eat”. In Ayurveda, we are mainly what we digest. Traditional Indian medicine therefore invites us to treat our agni, the little fire that “burns” in the stomach and intestines. This digestive force allows the body to process food. To also sort between nutrients useful to the body and waste.

And agni disturbed may result from chronic weakness resulting from several months or years of diet unsuitable for our nature (the famous dosha Ayurvedic), or due to a poor quality diet. “The problem: unassimilated substances are a source of toxins,” describes Fabien Correch, Ayurvedic therapist and author, with Nathalie Ferron, of My Ayurveda Bible (Editions Leduc). The enemies of digestive fire are numerous: sedentary lifestyle, irregularity of meals, excess or insufficient food – or water during meals –, lack of sleep, eating the same thing all year round, without taking into account the seasons .”

To pamper our agni, Fabien Correch advises a regular detox which will relieve the intestines of waste. Alkaline foods, such as lemon, banana, boiled potato, avocado, are also recommended, as is baking soda (to be diluted in the cooking water for lentils, for example). “We chew well and leave 1⁄4 of the stomach empty so as not to overload it,” explains Dr. Sebastian Lazar, a specialist in traditional Indian medicine in Kerala. “As for drinks, no cold water, but small sips of lukewarm or hot water throughout and outside meals.”