L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 16 L'Italo-Americano T his year, the just concluded Setti- m a n a d e l l a Cucina Italia- n a r e a c h e d i t s 5th annual edition, with Ita- lian consulates from across the US planning exceptional events about Italian gastro- nomy and the heritage of Italian food. One of the biggest pecu- liarity of this year's edition the celebration of the 200th b i r t h d a y o f I t a l y ' s m o s t renowned cookbook author, P e l l e g r i n o A r t u s i . Considered the inventor of Italian cuisine, his 19th-cen- tury work, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, remains a go- to recipe book in Italian hou- seholds. The reprinting of his manual in countless edi- tions and its translation into English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, R u s s i a n , P o l i s h a n d Japanese, is still nowadays used to help promoting our culinary tradition across the globe. The second topic of this y e a r ' s e d i t i o n w a s t h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n d i e t , a n u t r i t i o n a l m o d e l a n d a l i f e s t y l e i n s p i r e d b y t h e habits of the European coun- tries of the Mediterranean basin. The discovery of the Mediterranean diet is due to Ancel Keys, an American biologist and physiologist who lived for over forty years in Pioppi, Cilento, testing theories on the link between t h e e a t i n g h a b i t s o f l o c a l p o p u l a t i o n s a n d t h e l o w incidence of cardiovascular diseases. The principal aspects of this diet include proportio- nally high consumption of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits and vegeta- bles; moderate to high con- sumption of fish, moderate consumption of dairy pro- ducts (mostly as cheese and yogurt) moderate wine con- s u m p t i o n , a n d l o w c o n - sumption of non-fish meat products. Olive oil has been studied as a potential factor for reducing all-cause morta- lity and the risk of chronic disease. "The Mediterranean diet constitutes a set of skills, knowledge, practices and traditions ranging from the landscape to the table, inclu- d i n g c r o p s , h a r v e s t i n g , fishing, conservation, pro- cessing, preparation and, in particular, consumption of f o o d . " S a y s I t a l i a n G e n e r a l C o n s u l S i l v i a Chiave while moderating o n e o f t h e v i r t u a l e v e n t s a b o u t t h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n diet. "This diet is characteri- zed by a nutritional model that remained constant over time and space, consisting mainly of olive oil, cereals, fresh or dried fruit and vege- t a b l e s . H o w e v e r , t h e Mediterranean diet (from the Greek diaita, or way of life) encompasses more than just food. It promotes social interaction, since communal meals are the cornerstone of social customs and festive events. It gave rise to a con- siderable body of knowledge, songs, maxims, tales and legends. The system is roo- ted in respect for the terri- tory and biodiversity, and ensures the safeguarding and development of traditio- n a l a c t i v i t i e s a n d c r a f t s linked to fishing and farming in the Mediterranean com- munities — of which Soria in S p a i n , K o r o n i i n G r e e c e , C i l e n t o i n I t a l y a n d Chefchaouen in Morocco are e x a m p l e s . W o m e n p l a y a particularly vital role in the transmission of expertise, as well as of the knowledge of rituals, traditional gestures and celebrations, and are crucial also of the safeguar- ding of techniques." But the Mediterranean diet doesn't only bring plea- s u r e t o o u r m o u t h s a n d s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n a t o u r tables, it has also been stu- died for its healthy benefits. M a u r a F a n t i , P h D Postdoctoral Researcher at t h e U S C L e o n a r d D a v i s School of Gerontology, is an expert in the mechanisms of aging and age-related disea- se. "My focus is on under- s t a n d i n g h o w n u t r i e n t s influence the life span of our bodies. In our lab, we study the fast-mimicking diet that Doctor Valter Longo, the study's senior author and the d i r e c t o r o f t h e U S C Longevity Institute, deve- loped in the past years. It is a periodic diet of 5 days, able to mimic the beneficial effect of calorie restriction in the long term." The fast-mimicking diet has been tested in several clinical and pre-clinical stu- dies which showed it can help the reduction of patho- logies like cancer and diabe- tes. "We are still exploring its potential in other condi- tions." As a Sardinian with a cen- tenarian great-grandmother, another field of interest for Doctor Fanti is longevity. "Many of our studies came from observing lives of peo- ple that live longer than the average. I am talking about centenari," she underlines. "In Italy we have one of the five areas of the world (it's in Sardinia) where people live the longest. We found out t h a t , i n S a r d i n i a , p e o p l e have a special DNA, but that is not enough, because lon- gevity is a combination of many factors: behavior, life- SILVIA GIUDICI style, nutrition. I believe t h a t , i n t h e c a s e o f t h e Sardinian people, the combi- nation of Mediterranean diet and DNA is a winner. I really like the fact we can learn a lot from them: something very interesting is that these people have four meals a day — b u t o f j u s t o n e p l a n t - based dish — and a small amount of meat-based food. I t ' s a s m a r t w a y t o k e e p under control both weight and calorie intake." Urologist Laura Perin from the Children Hospital of Los Angeles joined the conversation by sharing her knowledge on kidney and pancreas diseases. "Diabetes is affecting our population in a very extreme way: 40 millions Americans have chronic kidney disease, and 100 millions have diabe- tes. I also like to study these two diseases together: in fact 7 0 % o f p e o p l e w h o h a v e diabetes have chronic kidney d i s e a s e , t o o . I f y o u a r e obese, you can develop type 2 diabetes, which is a poten- tial trigger for kidney disea- se." A n d h o w d o e s t h e Mediterranean diet come i n t o t h e p i c t u r e ? S h e explains it. "Food intake is extremely important for our health. We try to use diffe- rent approaches like stem cell regeneration; we also have a collaboration with Doctor Valter Longo and his diet, a diet that eliminates food excesses: with that, we are able to reverse chronic kidney disease and also dia- b e t e s . W e r e a l l y h o p e , a s scientists, that one day our patients won't have to rely on insulin and transplants." Vegetables, olive oil, healthy grains, fish and only a hint of animal products: these are the tenets of the Mediterranean diet (Photo: Liv Friis Larsen/Dreamstime) Mediterranean diet: pleasure and health at the table LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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