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Mental health is a fundamental aspect of our overall well-being, just as crucial as physical health. Yet it is often neglected, surrounded by taboos and misunderstandings. This article aims to raise awareness of the importance of taking care of mental health, destigmatize mental illness and provide keys to detecting, understanding and supporting people in distress, whether in a work or personal context.
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The importance of diet for health has been known since ancient times, with Hippocrates and Galen1. In his writings, Hippocrates recommended the following treatment for melancholia (severe depression he attributed to an excess of black bile): “Donkey’s milk should be prescribed. The patient should eat very little food, if not weak; this food should be cold, relaxing, nothing sour, nothing salty, nothing oily, nothing sweet2”.
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Nutrition is one of the pillars of cancer prevention. It also plays an essential role as a complement to cancer therapies. Clinical research in the field of nutrition is advancing, establishing a solid evidence base. This evidence should also help debunk some of the myths and common misconceptions often spread online. To gain a better understanding of the link between nutrition and prevention, we asked Dr Alain Toledano, oncologist, chairman and co-founder of the Institut Rafaël, to give us an update.
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Eating well to stay well as we get older means balancing two seemingly contradictory priorities. On the one hand, we need to maintain muscle and bone mass, which tends to diminish with age, by taking in proteins with a high biological value, i.e. animal proteins. On the other hand, we need to combat the “acidification” of the body caused by these same foods. This acidification promotes osteoporosis as well as having other harmful effects on the body, including fatigue. Antacid – therefore alkaline – food is provided by plants (fruit and vegetables). So how do we go about making sure our diets contain the right food combinations, in terms of both quality and quantity?
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By 2050, it is essential to rethink our approach to health to allow everyone to proactively and sustainably take care of their health capital. Investing in innovations in preventive and personalized healthcare, while developing accessible care devices and dedicated care infrastructures, is a priority. It also involves creating bridges between conventional medicine and traditional, so-called “soft” or “alternative” medicines, to move towards an integrated care pathway that promotes a better quality of daily life.
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Three fundamental aspects affect the relationship between our diet and overall health (human and planetary): the degree of food processing (“Vrai/Real” as opposed to “false”, ultra-processed food), the proportion of animal/plant products (“Vegetable”) and dietary diversity (“Varied“).
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In France, 50% of people are overweight or obese. In its 2022 report, the World Health Organisation sounded the alarm: the prevalence of overweight and obesity is rising steadily – and worryingly – and not a single European Member State looks set to meet the target of halting the rise in obesity by 2025. Obesity is a serious public health problem on a global scale, leading to a host of complications, including an increased risk of cancer – because excess weight increases the likelihood of 13 different types of cancer.
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Like our gut microbiota, our immune system is established from birth. The delivery method and breastfeeding play an important role in the development of our immunity. The gut microbiota of a baby born by vaginal delivery is more varied than that of one born by caesarean section. This difference explains why two babies of the same weight and size have different levels of immunity.
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Seen from the sky, our blue planet does not appear to be short of water. It is true that water covers more than 70% of the Earth’s surface – but 97% of it is salty, and only 3% is freshwater. This freshwater is essential to the balance of ecosystems and our health.To make the best use of this resource, it is important to understand where it comes from and how it is used, so that we can develop the right habits individually and collectively.
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In the past weeks, we shared 6 articles from 6 different reports of the Health Observatory Pro BTP. If you missed them, here a summary with the key learning.
