Food is used to make billions of cells every day, to replace cells that have killed themselves because they are old or for other reasons, and to make the membranes of neurons that will use some varieties of lipids. Hence the need for healthy fats.
Every organ in the body is busy building new tissues and producing energy, making hormones, transporters: digestive hormones, dopamine, serotonin, adrenaline, insulin and up to seven thousand different proteins per cell. We could fill pages with the mysterious and marvellous functions of this powerful factory that is our body to maintain its structures and functioning, which we know little about.
If we do not eat properly, on time and in the right quantities, we are manufacturing our own bodily destruction, bringing forward our deterioration and bad old age. What the body needs every day are proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins.
Here I focus on the first meal, breakfast, as the start of activity after sleep; where, by the way, we have needed all those elements of nutrition. So, beware of not eating dinner.
Now, it is interesting to know that all processes to generate energy from food or to keep us alive produce oxidation, unstable molecules that cling to oxygen and, as they do to iron in windows and railings, rust us. Doctors know that our silent enemies are oxidation and subclinical inflammation, hence the need to understand why we need certain foods.
Polyphenols extend life
Smoothies are a morning way to rejuvenate and slow down our deterioration among other functions. Life-extending polyphenols are found in celery, green peppers, tea, mint, thyme, olive leaves and all fruits (fresh and peeled), vegetables, sesame, pistachios, walnuts, almonds, flax, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, cinnamon (one gram per day) and olive oil, as well as all grains and legumes such as peanuts with their micronutrients and healthy fats.
To a smoothie we should add seeds in small quantities, along with the basics, which are walnuts, pistachios and almonds. A handful per person, which provides protein, healthy fats and micronutrients, all made into flour in a blender. For example: lemon juice and a spoonful of cocoa powder, oat flakes and a gram of cinnamon. The probiotics of kefir or goat's yoghurt, which is more digestible and similar to mother's milk, should not be missing.
Add seasonal fruits that are available. We put apples with their skins, which contain large amounts of polymethoxylated flavones, and grape or tomato juice, melon, watermelon, pomegranate juice, blueberries and carrot smoothie into the blender. This will delay the deterioration of the body and mind from the morning onwards.
An hour of exercise is added to the morning anti-ageing formula. Don't believe that half an hour a day is enough. Too much or too little exercise is equally harmful. Both age us.
Vasodilator polyphenols
Polyphenols have important vasodilatory effects, can improve the lipid profile and reduce the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) that form plaques in our arteries. They have clear anti-inflammatory effects and can modulate apoptotic pathways in the vascular endothelium, a necessary mechanism of programmed cellular self-destruction.
They therefore act as antioxidants and have vasodilator and vasoprotective, antithrombotic, antilipemic and antiatherosclerotic actions. Quercetin and myricetin, followed by kenferol, are the flavonoids with the greatest activity in neutralising the free radicals that oxidise and age our organs. Quercetin is one of the most potent and is found mainly in apples with their skins, garlic, onions and tea.
These compounds are able to attenuate the onset and progression of oxidation and the subclinical inflammation that plagues us. Due to their ability to attenuate the oxidation of LDL or "bad cholesterol". They are also able to produce an increase in the concentration of "good" HDL cholesterol in plasma and also inhibit the proliferation of vascular smooth muscle prior to the formation of atheromatous plaque.
Therefore, smoothies should also contain sunflower seeds with powerful antioxidants, which prevent cholesterol from oxidising, thus preventing it from sticking to the walls of blood vessels, reducing the risk of cardiovascular events. In addition, its vitamin E reduces the risk of developing colon cancer, as well as complications in people with diabetes mellitus. Parsley, celery and apple can be added with their skins, which, as I mentioned earlier, contain large amounts of polymethoxylated flavones. The antioxidant effect also leads to anti-inflammatory effects, helping to reduce symptoms of asthma, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. It is also excellent for the skin.
Cocoa is one of the foods that contains the highest amount of flavonoids, especially epicatechin and catechin, and is a powerful antioxidant. Cocoa can be consumed as a useful food for the prevention or treatment of cardiovascular and other oxidative diseases. Cocoa polyphenols also inhibit coagulation and promote blood flow, preventing thrombus formation. They therefore reduce the risk of vascular accidents. Not chocolate, but cocoa powder.
Grape juice, especially black grape juice, contains vitamin C and minerals such as potassium, copper and iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, sulphur and selenium. It reduces the concentration of plasma lipids, i.e. cholesterol, and drastically reduces the values of triglycerides, free fatty acids and apolipoprotein B, as well as increasing the HDL-cholesterol/LDL-cholesterol ratio, which helps the glycaemic balance of the blood, because it stimulates the pancreas and the production of insulin.
Finally, cranberries and cranberry, with their procinanidins, prevent urinary tract infection by blocking bacteria from adhering to the bladder wall, and improve memory.
Bibliography: Phytohormones and Plant Development Research Group of the University of Murcia.
*José Antonio Rodríguez Piedrabuena is a specialist in Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis, and in management training, group and couple therapies..