The Mediterranean diet helps in the reduction of inflammation caused by rheumatological diseases and is complementary to drug therapy.
For this reason, it is essential to encourage its dissemination. This is the appeal launched by the Italian Society of Rheumatology (SIR) during the talk show "Rheumatology and lifestyles", organized on the occasion of the 60th National Congress in Rimini.
"There are more than 200 rheumatological diseases and for each of them the course and needs are different," says Gian Domenico Sebastiani, president of SIR. A trait that unites them, however, is the sensitivity to nutrition: although to different degrees, the inflammation caused by diseases decreases when the right foods are introduced into one's daily habits. The Mediterranean diet is the most correct from a nutritional point of view, it invites the intake of foods in different quantities depending on their peculiarity and includes everything, vegetables, fruit, cereals, meat, fish, eggs.
In Italy there are 5.4 million rheumatological patients: many of them could really benefit from it". On the contrary, Ester Giaquinto, a specialist in Food Science and Dietetics, points out, "exclusion diets, especially if self-managed or administered without medical supervision, can lead to a series of nutritional deficiencies that are likely to impact the state of bone health as a result, for example, of a low total calcium intake".
Nutrition is "able to influence the course of inflammatory rheumatological diseases because it puts the gut microbiota in 'operational connection' with the immune system," adds Maurizio Cutolo, a rheumatologist and expert in nutrition. For example, most fruits and vegetables are generally rich in carotenoids, which also exert an antioxidant and therefore anti-inflammatory action." In addition to a healthy diet, sports activity can also have beneficial effects: "In inflammatory rheumatological diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, it can be recommended to patients in remission, who, thanks also to the very effective pharmacological treatments we have, are increasing," says Giuseppe Capua, a specialist in Nuclear and Sports Medicine, an expert in sports traumatology.
"I am proud to bring my sporting experience into a scientific context, where specialists and experts can emphasize the importance of physical activity," concludes Jury Chechi, former gymnast and host of the talk show. Well-being certainly also passes through the table and movement, which exerts a strong physical, psychological and emotional impact. Practicing sports, obviously when possible and under the guidance of your rheumatologist, can really prove to be a panacea".
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