Beatriz Larrea, nutritionist: "Eating an ice cream is not going to fill an emotional void"

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A divorce, with a child in the middle, two Covid, a chronic infection in the tooth and an absolute restructuring of his life. A lot of stress that led to a disease, borrelia, after being bitten by a tick. This was the starting point of the holistic nutritionist Beatriz Larrea (Mexico City, March 5, 1983) to write a book fruit of research to put out all those fires in her own body. So he developed "a method to fight inflammation, correct metabolism and renew your energy to be younger."

Put out your burning body in 30 days (Ed. The sphere of books) is the continuation of his famous bestseller practically homonymous, Your body on fire, but now goes from theory to practical. It's about working on the health of your mitochondria and microbiota. "You, right now, are being the architect of your tomorrow," he says.

He had in his hands knowledge and tools to manage stress and, nevertheless, in his new book he is vulnerable to his personal process. And this is the reality of many people. We know the theory, but why is it so hard to keep anxiety at bay? We all have to face stress at some point in our lives. Because we are exposed to viruses like Covid, we can break a relationship, lose our job and a thousand other things that can happen to us. The point is that we build ourselves to fight against whatever comes. We have to be our best version in order to be strong. Because inflammation is the war that your immune system wages against the bacteria or foreign agent that invades your body, but it is also activated in response to things you cannot imagine: overweight, negative thoughts ... I kept myself safe from arsonists thanks to my firefighters: good habits such as sports, food ... Why does everyone have a swollen stomach and feel heavy when eating? Is it another consequence of stress? It is important to distinguish abdominal distension, the result of problems such as the proliferation of bacteria in the small intestine, intolerance or irritable bowel syndrome, and systemic inflammation related to stress, which can alter the metabolism and functioning of different organs. It is what I call a war sustained over time. As if we ran away from a lion every day. This reduces the quality of life and predisposes to diseases. But there are numerous scientific articles that show that proper stress management, an anti-inflammatory diet, sleep, an active lifestyle and hormesis, which is a low dose of stress to which the body adapts, such as a fast or a cold shower, for example, make you take control of your health. We know that ultra-processed foods are related to the development of cardiovascular diseases. However, it is very difficult not to sin in an unfavorable environment. Pastries, soft drinks, cookies, precooked, desserts ... Have they won the Mediterranean diet? The Mediterranean diet is the best that exists, according to science, because it presents a simple, rich, healthy pattern that can be maintained over time based on the vegetable kingdom, legumes, cereals, nuts and fish, being low in meats and ultra-processed. There are many fashions like keto, in which you lose weight but after three years you will have a rebound effect, because no one can feed only on avocado and fatty fish. And like this one, there are many fad diets that, like trends in clothing, come and go, promising miracles that do not fulfill and eliminating some macronutrient. Now it's the carbs. Always restrictions and prohibitions that end up failing. In addition, as you say, the environment does not favor people's health, especially in the city. I'm now in the United States and the streets and cars are huge, nobody walks, the soft drinks are XXL, the hamburgers too... To this we add that food is rooted in culture. Since you are little they give you a prize treat if you behave well, we eat chips watching football, we celebrate a promotion or a wedding with a banquet ... And it's very difficult to reprogram the brain. In the pages he talks about emotional hunger and says: "If the problem is not hunger, the solution is not food." Why then do we all dock the fridge eagerly?age? Because we think in the short term and that gives us immediate happiness. We're all Rachel in Friends with the bucket of ice cream when she breaks up with Ross. Eating ice cream isn't going to fill an emotional void. No chocolate is going to bring you love. And then we feel much worse. Without the boyfriend and upset about having that binge. If I can give one piece of advice, it is to live from consciousness. Soft drinks do not san happiness, you have to look for it in other legs. Like having a life purpose, which does not need to be very ambitious, it can be small things like smiling or doing something for others, or a good friendship that cultivates positive emotions. In the book he also criticizes that sleep is a luxury and also speaks of the saying: "I will sleep when I die" or "it is a waste of time". What are the consequences of resting less than the seven or eight hours you recommend and how to deal with dream stealers like TikTok and Netflix? If you don't exercise, you can go on living. If you don't eat well, too. But I warn you that if you do not sleep it is impossible to continue, and the best proof is that a single day when you have not rested well already affects your energy and mood the next day. You are much more irascible, your joints hurt... Sleep is a priority because it repairs your entire body. It is the best anti inflamaging. But, as with food, the atmosphere plays against us. I turn off my mobile phone and TV an hour before going to sleep because it's the best way to inhibit blue light from screens and start secreting melatonin for rest. The hormone needed to regulate sleep and wakefulness.Why do you recommend training on an empty stomach? It combines two longevity strategies. We have more and more evidence that a balance between the calories we consume and expend is decisive to extend healthy life expectancy. Fasting activates pathways such as AMPK, generates more insulin sensitivity, activates autophagy [biological process by which cells repair themselves] and produces metabolic flexibility. In short, sport and fasting together make you stronger and more resilient. Now, I cannot send a person who has not done sports in his life to a fasting spinning class. First start by moving with the exercise and then you introduce fasting little by little. You are the director of your body and you must connect with your feelings of hunger and satiety. We must be flexible, especially women, who are hormonal beings and there are days when we are with a lot of energy and others, when the rule comes, where it is better not to force the body. Yoga, meditation, breathing... There are more and more mechanisms to manage stress. But we get on the road and honk our horns. Are we more irritated? Stress is not something that comes from outside, it is the interpretation that our brain makes of that fact that happens. Traffic is always going to be there, especially in cities. Look, I'm from Mexico City and it's a horror to get in the car. I can get angry and my cortisol up or I can spend that stuck time putting on a podcast and learning something interesting. You have the power when you are bombarded with negative thoughts and your health will depend on it. I follow the Dalai Lama on Instagram, for example. And I foster relationships that make me a better person. You modulate the environment and you can choose to eat well, sleep well, have good companies to sustain you... So, when a Crisis you will be able to overcome and you will have evolved. On their list of food recommendations is red wine. Only a single cup for its catechins and polyphenols, powerful antioxidants. But, nevertheless, many nutritionists talk about zero alcohol being best and this generates a lot of controversy. Who is able to have a single glass of red if, for example, dinner out? There is a lot of debate with this, because studies that say that a single glass of red wine a week can make you live longer are not the jewel of literature and alcohol in itself is negative. It is difficult for people to take one, at least two drinks are taken, so it is not usually recommended, because they are not going to stay there and once past that threshold it is preferable not to have ingested any alcohol. The benefits of red wine focus on resveratrol, with anti-inflammatory properties and on the skin of the grape that is used in red wine, but we usually use food and alcohol as a social element, to unite in community. I don't drink any alcohol, but a glass of red wine a week doesn't have a negative effect and helps generate that compensatory mechanism at the end of the week. Flexibility helps maintain a good lifestyle. He also attributes fantastic properties to EVOO: "It improves male fertility, decreases menstrual pain, in addition to favoring fewer days of bleeding." This could be the best campaign for a product as ours as extra virgin olive oil and, however, why is it encouraged to cook and drink other oils? There are many foods around which fear is generated for their calories but, really, we would have to throw the whole pot and not the splash in the gazpacho for them to be harmful. As a dressing, EVOO is fantastic: it has large amounts of polyphenols and antioxidant properties. A hero of the anti-inflammatory battle.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOUR DIET

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• More legumes and more fruit.
• Fewer buns and less processed.
• More fish, less red meat.
• No to flours, yes to whole grains.
• More anchovies and salmon, less salami and ham.
• Yes to matcha tea and no to soft drinks.
• Add spices to meals, olives and capers.
• If you want to raise the level, add hunger to the desire to eat. Do sports on an empty stomach to reduce inflammatory markers.

• Feeding
• HBPR
• nutrition

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