A set table can appear a nightmare; getting closer and thinking you have to eat can trigger a feeling of repulsion; it can represent a test of strength to be overcome, when however the strength is not there. That eating disorders (ACD) arise from the brain, that “non-hunger” or “continuous hunger” are indicators of a dysfunction of brain areas that play a leading role in appetite regulation, is one of the themes the main issues addressed in the new issue of Salute, on newsstands on Thursday 27 October with your newspaper
I’m sick at the table
In his report on “Food & neurons. Fear of eating“, Paola Emilia Cicerone delves into the theme. Starting from the concept, in fact, that hunger arises in the brain, as well as eating disorders. The confirmation comes from recent studies that analyze the different mechanisms that manage our relationship with food. As recent research does on Nature Metabolism which has made it possible to identify, for now in animals, a mechanism that contributes to regulating the balance between hunger and satiety. It is an enzyme, autotaxin, which acts on lysophosphatidylcholine, substances that help regulate our sense of hunger. It has been shown that by blocking the activity of this enzyme, mice, even if hungry, tend to eat less and not gain weight. A possible way to find effective drugs? He talks about it Livio Luzifull professor of Endocrinology at the University of Milan and director of the Department of Endocrinology, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases of Multimedia: “It is an important study, which allows us to identify a new peripheral mechanism of appetite,” he says.
Eating disorders, such as intercepting the first signs in children
by Fabio Di Todaro
Smaller and smaller
Meanwhile, the problem grows, the drama of many teenagers is riding towards worrying numbers. Like this one: About 30% of people with eating disorders are under the age of 14. And the pandemic has also aggravated the situation. Metabolic mechanisms also contribute to feeling overwhelmed, primarily by continued loss of weight control, as well as a dysfunction of the gut microbiota linked to the connection between the brain and gut. Luzi warns: “Let’s remember that, if we talk about eating disorders because this is the most visible symptom, in reality it is a psychopathology that has cognitive alterations, dysfunctions of the pleasure mechanisms, as well as social anxiety and other problems at the base.” .
How important is the environment?
It remains to be understood what is the relationship between brain alterations and the disease, “in which they certainly come into play – he explains Santino Gaudio, psychiatrist and researcher at Uppsala University – the cultural environment in which one lives, the perception of what is or isn’t thinness. In addition to other factors such as the gender of or of the patient. “Not to mention that a recent Japanese study has shown that men and women have different ways of relating to the body: in women negative terms related to body image cause an emotional reaction, while the male reaction is cognitive.
What therapies to adopt against the “sickness of eating”? A new frontier in the treatment of these disorders could be non-invasive treatments such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, or low-frequency current applications, on brain areas where imaging reveals hyperactivity or hypoactivity, to activate or inhibit them. A sector still under study.
Cow’s milk allergy, when too many children suffer from it
by Fabio Di Todaro
The right milk
But the new issue of Salute goes further, touching on other topics of interest. Like milk and the allergy that can make children ascend. In the service “Ok, the milk is right“, Fabio Di Todaro goes to the bottom of the problem, proposing some guidelines for parents. A premise: to determine the immediate reaction after ingestion of a food are almost always the IgE, antibodies that are activated against the non-tolerated component. In the case of cow’s milk, the proteins in question are three: casein (the most reactive), alpha-lactalbumin and beta lactoglobulin.
So, if a baby shows he doesn’t accept cow’s milk, what should be done? Avoid insisting and not giving it to him? The point is – the experts agree – that “it is necessary to administer small doses of food from the first months of life, in order to accustom the immune system of the children at risk”. The reason? Giving up would have too negative an impact on their quality of life. In doing so, scientists overturn old habits, which have caused discomfort, but also severe reactions.
Superfood o marketing?
Finally, Salute proposes a topic that divides science from marketing. In the reportage “That Superfood has no superpowers“, Giulia Masoero Regis explains what lies behind the super food gimmick. The question, whether it is really above-the-norm foods or a hype, was posed by an article from the Harvard School of Public Health, which traced back the history of superfoods.
In fact, the term was born from marketing, for which there is no precise percentage of vitamins or omega 3 for which a food can be defined as such. And there is no body, which in this case should be Efsa (the European Food Safety Authority), appointed to catalog a food that satisfies these characteristics as a superfood.
No rewards if the child does not eat: it could promote an eating disorder
by Tina Simoniello
Foods called “super”
Over the years avocado, black cabbage, broccoli, walnuts, chia seeds, blueberries, goji berries and açaí berries, pomegranate, plant extracts (such as curcumin), have been baptized spirulina algae and, recently, even duckweed, which is not yet widespread and has already earned the title of superfood of tomorrow. Most of the time the benefits associated with these foods concern the management of cholesterol and blood pressure, the prevention of chronic diseases, the strengthening of the immune system or even the slimming power. Studies and experiments on them multiply. But will they really be “super”?