Of Francesca Visentin
Nutrition, health, physical activity: «How to age well and prevent disease. My fast? Four times a week”
“I’m 53 and I’m getting old. Not only does the calendar tell me, but also and above all my body changing. Inside and outside. I’ve had a new pair of glasses for a few days and I realize I can’t do without them anymore to work on the computer». Thus begins the new book by Antonella Viola The Way of Balance. Science of aging and longevity (Feltrinelli, 170 pages). The gaze on the passage of time starts by itself, then delves into biomedical research, epigenetics, lifestyles, to explain that «when it comes to understanding why we age and how we can protect our health, theonly reliable voice we have available it is that of science.
Sometimes a memoir
An essay that alternates scientific information with the first-person account of Antonella Viola, immunologist, biologist, professor of General Pathology in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Padua, who honestly talks about herself, her body and her lifestyle. Sometimes a memoir. What if to stay young is the universal desire, to “age well” you need to listen to your body. Theories, diets and manuals that catechize on how to keep fit proliferate, but stopping the biological clock is still a dream. Why do we age? How is biological age determined? Stcan i live long? Aging exposes you to a greater risk of developing diseases, makes you more vulnerable. And yet, Antonella Viola points out, not all signs of aging are deleterious. White hair does not represent a health problem, nor does it make us less strong. The same goes for wrinkles. “Often we spend more time and resources trying to hide these innocuous signs than keeping our muscles strong or our hearts healthy.” Viola invites us to reflect: finding balance means focus on prevention and on dysfunctional signs, learning not to reject time, but to welcome it.
«Science confirms that wine is bad for you»
“We can’t fight against time. It’s a war lost from the start – reads the book -. But we can learn to live better our body… the point is not to do everything to lengthen the years of life, but to age in a healthy way». From the story of the longest-lived person who ever lived, the Frenchwoman Jeanne Calment, who lived to be 122 years and 164 days (record age) and died in 1997, to the role of the microbiota and silent inflammation in determining aging and health: the essay analyzes the search for longevity and theories of aging from the point of view of science. With focus on food, health and physical activity. Viola, on the subject of health, also returns on the theme of the harmfulness of winewhich had aroused so much controversy. «To say that a couple of glasses of wine a day doesn’t hurt is false and dangerous – he reiterates -. Ethanol, the alcohol that is used in all types of alcoholic beverages, it is carcinogenic.” And he clarifies the reasons according to science. Emphasizing that in women the risk associated with alcohol consumption is higher than in men. «An English study calculated that out of 1,000 women and 1,000 men who consume an average of one bottle of wine a week, 14 women and 10 men will develop cancer due to alcohol… Not surprisingly, already in 1988 the Agency for Research on Cancer and the World Health Organization have included ethanol in the list of tier one carcinogens».
«I learned how to fast to get back in shape»
Sex and gender also affect life expectancy. Viola devotes a chapter to gender gap (gender gap) linked to longevity. “90% of super-centenaries, i.e. people who reach 110 years of age, belong to the female gender”. The hypothesis is that the differences are predominantly biological in nature and that the gender gap is actually a sex gap, that is, a difference due to biological sex. Speaking of health, fundamental roles they have inflammation and microbiota, the microbial population of the intestine. «Inflammation is not only a matter of adipose tissue but also and above all of interactions between us and microbes that live in our body. The dietary fibre, contained in foods of vegetable origin, enhances the barrier effect, improving the well-being of the intestine and of the whole body. Conversely, sugar (also fructose) and ethanol they act negatively. “There is a very close link between inflammation and aging, a neologism has been coined to describe it: inflammaging, which derives from the fusion of inflammation (inflammation) and aging (aging)”. Damage accumulates over life, perceived by the immune system, which generates inflammation. Among the many topics covered, Viola also analyzes intermittent fasting. And he recounts his experience: «A couple of years ago I began to include fasting hours in my food routine – he reveals in the book – at first 16 – and this has become a habit that I follow at least 4 days a week – and then occasionally stretch to 20 or 24. After the removal of the thyroid gland and the subsequent menopause, as happens to many women, I have seen my body change. My waist circumference began to grow like never before… I had tried diets, I bought myself the treadmill but I couldn’t feel like I used to before… my metabolism had changed. And a new approach was needed. I was familiar with intermittent fasting… And so I started to fast 16 hours a day, every day, but I also stopped drinking all types of alcoholic beverages and changed my diet. Within 4 months I had lost 11kg and I was back in my usual size. Since then, I only drink one glass on special occasions and try to fit in 16 hours of fasting at least 4 times a week. And I feel so fit that I’ve started training again.”
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