Is it possible to lose weight by eating? Science says yes. Strawberries, oranges, chocolate are not only good but, according to researchers, they should contain substances able to boost the metabolism and keep us healthy. Losing weight while eating, but how does this mechanism function and which food can make this possible?
Green tea, strawberries, oranges, dark chocolate, turmeric, lovage, blueberries, parsley, cabbage, capers, apples, peel of red and black grape are all food that we can use in order to lose weight, keep us fit and healthy. These fruit and vegetables indeed, thanks to the contained substances, are able to activate sirtuin, a class of proteins that are activated during periods of low energy by calorie restriction and exercise. These proteins say to our body that we are in “survive” status, for this reason the fat is no longer accumulated, metabolism boosts and the damaged cells are repaired faster. To sum up, with calorie restriction it is possible to slow down the aging processes and to lose more weight, this has been demonstrated by a study (1), that covers 30 years and has been published in 2014 on Nature Communications, one among the most important scientific journals in the world. According to the study, calorie restriction can increase longevity in the monkeys objects of the study by lowering also the risk of tumors and heart diseases. The problem is that calorie restriction can cause tiredness and irritability, but fortunately a help can arrive by the food that are considered sirtuin activators because they are able to mimic the calorie restriction status while eating. Sirtuin are activated and the body has all the benefits described. David Sinclair of the Harvard Medical School has been studying for years the substances that can activate sirtuin, he has discovered that, among these substances, resveratrol, contained in red grape, but also fisetin in kaki fruit, apples and strawberries, the epigallocatechin gallate of green tea, curcumin in turmeric, quercetin in capers, dark chocolate, asparagus, onions and lettuce, and capsaicin of chili pepper are all sirtuin activator substances. Also the researchers of IEO, the European Institute of Oncology, Pier Giuseppe Pelicci and Lucilla Titta are studying the so called Longevity Smartfood (2), food able to mimic the calorie restriction and activate sirtuin, such as dark chocolate, capers, onions, berries and other food reported in this article.
It is important to underline that, by inserting the sirtuin activator food in a diet rich in fat and unhealthy food, we cannot expect to lose weight. Only if these foods are part of a diet rich in fruit, vegetables, legumes and whole grain flours we can say that we are using all the arms in order to activate all the protective mechanisms against aging processes, illnesses and overweight.
(1) Caloric restriction reduces age-related and all-cause mortality in rhesus monkeys, Nature Communications, 2014, Ricki J. Colman et al., University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA
(2) “The Smart Food diet”, Eliana Liotta, Rizzoli
