Nutrition as a strategy to prevent non-communicable diseases

Around 400 BC Hippocrates said: "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food". It is now recognized that the increased incidence of numerous disorders (rheumatological, neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, tumors, food intolerances) is also due to environmental factors, such as pollution and incorrect nutrition. Recent studies have shown that a diet poor in refined carbohydrates and animal proteins and, at the same time, rich in fiber and antioxidants - a characteristic of the Mediterranean Diet - can represent a protective factor against so-called Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). The role of nutrition is now considered as important as that of drug therapies in use. A targeted diet is effective to prevent and adequately manage NCDs and to avoid further complications. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help prevent those that have been defined third millennium diseases, due to the progressive aging of the population and to an unhealthy lifestyle. NCDs kill 40 million people each year, or about 70% of all deaths worldwide. In particular, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), four groups of disease killers are responsible for 80% of premature deaths related to NCDs: heart attack and stroke (17.7 million deaths); tumors (8.8 million); respiratory diseases (3.9 million, mainly asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease); diabetes (1.6 million). Moreover, patients with inflammatory rheumatic conditions and neurodegenerative diseases are at increased risk of common comorbidities such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease, which lead to increased morbidity and mortality. The most effective prevention against these diseases is to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Government policies in industrialized countries are now directed towards implementing healthy eating habits to prevent food-related NCDs. Is well established the idea that mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids, polyphenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, vitamins, minerals and fiber are essential for maintaining good health. All these substances are present in abundance in the foods that characterize the Mediterranean Diet, inserted in the 2010 by UNESCO among the intangible cultural heritages of Humanity. The Mediterranean Diet and a healthy lifestyle are associated with a reduction in the onset of chronic diseases, such as cancer, dysmetabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative and rheumatological diseases.