Franco Berrino at Corriere: “Here’s what to eat in the three daily meals and secrets for longevity”

At 81 years old Franco Berrino continues to be one of the most authoritative voices in Italy on lifestyles related to prevention and longevity. On September 16 his new book will be released, Our daily poison (Solferino), dedicated to those who define the “invisible enemies” at the table. In a long conversation with the Corriere della Sera He anticipated some of his reflections, which intertwine science, personal experience and “philosophy” of life.

When asked if thediet Both the most powerful medicine we have, Berrino replies: «Also. In this period of life, however, it is theLove to surprise me. You know, I remarried. His name is Cinzia (Borino, ed), a crystalline soul. In two we are 150 years old ». After the loss of a life partner, Jo, the doctor celebrated a marriage underwear in Milan. “Authentic joys have more taste if they remain intimate,” he says. With the new wife it also shares unexpected passions, such as tango, “exciting, like martial arts. I learn the technique, then go fantasy ».

This new season of his life leads him to reflect on the meaning of old age. «Many think that the elderly are on the edge of any possibility of growth and improvement. Macché! The great cultures of the world they have always sought the keys of a happy existence with a goal: that of longevity». And he adds that today in Italy there is no lack of health centenaries, more vigorous than many seventy -year -olds: the difference lies in lifestyle. «I want to imagine another end: age well, without weighing on society, family, children. You can, with healthy food, movement and meditation».

The type of Franco Berrino It is an intertwining of Simple but significant rituals. Start with the Greetings to sun to awaken the body, followed by a few papers of tango, a shower and Five Tibetans«Ancient exercises that help to maintain the joints elastic. It takes little to find energy and centering. We live in running, but ten minutes a day, even just for a greeting in the sun, we can cut them back ».

Of course there is theBeware of foodwhich for Berrino has been a conscious choice for over fifty years, since his children Gilles and Jacopo were born. “I wondered what it was right to put on their dishes and so I discovered the biological When he was still at the beginning. In the nineties I met the macrobiotics: made me understand that nutrition is not only a sum of nutrients, but vital energy ». It means choosing earth products, at zero and seasonal km. “We have an enviable biodiversity in Italy: let’s take advantage of it.”

Among the rules: avoid added sugars, limit coffee, privilege foods Like Muesli, kefir, legumes, whole grains, fruit and vegetables. “On the meat Science is clear: like all foods of animal origin, it must be consumed with caution. I I eat it a couple of times a year: ruby ​​chicken. The last? In memory of the Yak, on the Himalaya, with my friends Sherpa ». There dinnerInstead, it should be “frugal”, if not even skipped: “I chose to stop at the snack”. When it is not possible, better to opt for soups, vegetable creams, light legumes or small portions of cereals.

But nutrition is not the only point of his thought. For Berrino the real emergency concerns the public healthin crisis “after years of political choices that have favored private health, in the blind neoliberal illusion that the market could adjust everything. Today health does not prevent: she repairs organs damaged by incorrect lifestyles». For this he insists on the need to face the great knots: «The real prevention lies in the courage to remove The causes of diseases: tobacco, sugars, industrial foodsall poisons I speak of in the new book. But this means touching enormous interests. No politician has the strength to do it ».

Also the ultra -processed substances They are dangerous: they seduce the palate, but wear the body. Hence the idea that resistance to this era begins with small daily gestures. Not only what we put on the plate, but what we cultivate, physically and metaphorically. «We poisoned land, waterfallair and mind. We live over time of the fastest change in history, but the body cannot follow it. Stress and garbage food fall us sick, drugs create new damage, prohibited pesticides are replaced by others who will soon make the same end ». And concludes with a warning that looks to the future: you have to “invest in schoolculture, free information ».