Nutritional Andrology
Title and all contents deposited with SIAE by Ciro Basile
Fasolo
The object of Nutritional Andrology is the HEALTH of the MALE at GLOBAL LEVEL, in its CURRENT BEING, but also in its TOGETHER BEING and in its FUTURE BEING.
Slogan: Nutrition, nutrients, lifestyles for a better fertility and sexuality of the male, the couple and future adults
NUTRITIONAL ANDROLOGY aims at a better knowledge of nutritional constituents, their processing processes, interferences and effects on the individual, in order to give specific indications for each person, on the model of medication on the patient.
Let's go back to what I presented in the lecture held during the 45th Congress of the Italian Society of Andrology, held in Riva del Garda from 11 to 13 September 2021.
Nutritional Andrology was born on the basis of a series of acquisitions already a few years ago and recently enriched with new contributions. Let's start with some historical elements.
Already in the early years of the national campaign for Andrological Prevention Week (SPA), which I conceived and promoted in 2000, in the brochure The 10 Golden Rules, there was talk of
1. Adopt healthy sexual behavior (Respect, Protection, Hygiene)
2.Avoid smoking (cigarettes, but also marijuana and the like): smoking reduces sexual performance and creates irreparable damage
3. Take care of your nutrition and weight; weight gain correlates with increased risk of Diabetes, Hypertension, Dyslipidemias, Obesity
4. Do regular physical activity, but correctly (we reveal the risks to avoid: Overtraining, Doping, Risky activities, such as excessive cycling, martial arts, soccer), try to have regular sexual activity.
The SPA took place annually over 13 years, involving 265 public and private centers each year and allowing free andrological views to over one hundred thousand Italian males.
The slogan of the 2006 edition was Male sexuality can also be cultivated and the visual highlighted the land and the cultivation system. This was a first time when the environment of nature and cultivation were associated with sexuality and fertility. The theme was resumed, with the MangiAmi slogan (Eat and Love), Love and Eat), subsequently with regard to the Mediterranean diet, the subject of the visual and concept of the 2009 campaign, with the juxtaposition that what we eat reverberates on our sexual and reproductive capacity.
Subsequently, the magazine IoUomo returned to the topic several times, highlighting both the aspects that positively correlate with the health of the male, such as the intake of antioxidants contained, for example, in tomatoes and wine and on the other hand the substances in able to carry out deeply harmful actions, such as pollutants, pesticides, substances with an endocrine-like action. Particular attention was also paid to the uncontrolled use of substances purchased via the Internet and sometimes lacking accurate controls.
In 2018 and 2019, the Italian Society of Andrology (SIA) promoted two important congresses dedicated to the sexual and reproductive health of the male, called NAU, or Nature, Environment and Man.
In these meetings the main foods of the diet, lifestyles, supplements and nutraceuticals were considered.
Nutraceuticals are substances of natural origin that can perform a beneficial function on the body.
The term nutraceutical was introduced in 1989 by Dr. Stephen De Felice, who coined this definition by combining the words "nutrition" and "pharmaceutical", to indicate how the natural constituents present in food or plants can be synthesized to create drugs useful for preventing and treating some diseases.
Nutraceutical products, in our system, are classified as food supplements and are mostly associated with so-called functional foods: products that, in addition to having a nutritional effect, have added substances that can influence some physiological processes of the body.
Nutraceuticals perform the specific function of improving the state of health and preventing the risk of disease. Nutraceuticals are the natural evolution of classic supplements. Nutraceuticals are substances derived from plants, microbial agents and foods that can be integrated into a diet either through the intake of functional foods enriched with nutraceutical substances or in the form of supplements in tablets or capsules.
The main nutraceutical products, which should not be confused with functional foods, are essential polyunsaturated fatty acids such as Omega 3 and Omega 6, folic acid, bioflavonoids, carnitine, creatine, ascorbic acid, lycopene, malt dextrins, probiotics, mineral salts such as calcium, magnesium, fluorine, sodium and zinc. (a).
Recently, in April 2021, SIA presented on its YouTube channel, a direct "Nutrition and sexual health of the male", with the participation of Dr. Andrea Ghiselli, former member of CREA (Council for research in agriculture and analysis of the agricultural economy) and President of the Italian Society of Food Science, Max Mariola, chef, Dr. Tiziana Stallone, nutritionist, Dr. Danilo Di Trapani and Dr. Paolo Turchi, andrologists and the participation of audience from home (b).
Finally, the very recent Consensus Conference, promoted by the SIA in Palermo (2-3 July 2021), on couple fertility, indicates that 90% of Italian andrologists consider the use of nutraceuticals useful in the treatment of male infertility.
WHAT HAPPENS IN OTHER AREAS OF MEDICINE
This is very interesting, because it shows that various areas have already been moving for some time.
Thus, the world of Psychology and Psychiatry, with the ISNPR (International Society of Nutritional Psychiatry Research), highlighting the important relationships between the intestine and the brain (1) and seeing food as a new frontier for the treatment of mental health (c).
Similarly, in the field of Orthopedics (d), attention is paid to the importance of some nutrients on muscle strength (lean red meat, fish, poultry, eggs, fruit, cereals, cereals, beans, legumes) and bone strength (milk and dairy products, broccoli, almonds, sardines, canned salmon, figs, oranges, apricots, strawberries, kiwis, blackberries, raspberries, pineapple, soybeans).
In Neuroscience, the University of Washington has a Nutritional Neuroscience Lab (e) and various scientific articles correlate diet with mental health, as well as adherence to the Mediterranean diet in the elderly and their better function cognitive (2-3).
In Oncology, epidemiological studies indicate how epidemiology identifies associations between aspects of diet, nutrition and physical activity with one or more cancers and nutrition can influence and potentially improve the immune response against cancer (4).
In Urology, attention is focused on the importance of an appropriate diet both in the prevention and in the case of prostate cancer (5), emphasizing the role of the intestinal microbiome.
In Andrology, some recent works (6) point out that, in the first place, the increase in the intake of selenium and zinc, omega-3 fatty acids (ω-3), Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and carnitine supplements have been positively related to sperm quality. And, furthermore, in terms of food groups, vegetables, fruits, nuts and whole grains, all rich in fiber and antioxidants, and fish, seafood, shellfish, poultry and low-fat dairy products were positively associated with the quality of the food. semen.
A 2020 paper reports that epidemiological observations are in agreement in demonstrating an association of low quality sperm parameters with: 1- increased intake of red meat, processed and offal meat and whole dairy products; 2- by-products of water disinfection, accumulation in the food chain of persistent organochlorine pollutants, pesticides, phthalates from food and water containers and hormones used in cattle breeding. Conversely, better semen parameters were observed in subjects who consumed a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fish (7).
CONSIDERATIONS
1- WHAT WE CAN CONSIDER AS NUTRITIONAL
I would say anything that comes into contact with our body and changes it, from air, to water, to the sun etc.
More strictly, we can talk about Foods, Nutrients and Nutraceuticals, seen from a system perspective:
a) Nature system: that is all the foods that come to us from nature.
b) Man / Environment system, i.e. the various systems of cultivation, harvesting, conservation, storage, processing (cooking and various treatments), as well as pesticides, preservatives and in general everything that interferes with what is natural.
c) Nutraceutical system: all derivatives and products processed by the industry.
In all this we can say that NUTRITION has effects on Man, both when in EXCESS and in DEFECT.
2- NUTRITIONAL ANDROLOGY aims to improve knowledge of nutritional constituents, their processing processes, interference and effects on the individual, in order to give specific indications for each person, on the model of medicine sewn on the patient.
3- Literature is indicative of correlations between nutrition and lifestyle and male health.
The development of nutraceuticals has made it possible to bring out a series of knowledge, sometimes very ancient, from the custom of popular uses and knowledge, sometimes surrounded by haloes of mystery and magic, to bring them into a scientific dimension, supported in many cases by studies and from evidence. This has the consequence that the doctor and the specialist must know these substances in depth, so as to be able to use them in the best possible way for the type of patient's need, while at the same time making them fully aware of both the positive and possible aspects. adverse effects.
4- The development of the internet has increased exponentially the diffusion and marketing of substances that can be easily acquired beyond any institutional and medical control. This, in some cases, translates into a risk for the person as there may be substances from uncontrolled plantations or components subjected to treatments without specific control or they may contain substances not declared on the label. In other cases, the patient is not aware of the fact that some substances may interfere with others or may have interfering effects with drugs taken for pathologies of the person: see the case of ginseng which can interfere with products used for regulating the coagulation. In all cases the person may be faced with no effects desired and even the doctor who is not aware of the use may have difficulty in correctly framing the situation.
PATHWAYS OF NUTRITIONAL ANDROLOGY
Some of the main pathways of Nutritional Andrology are:
1- promote scientific research
2- activate integrated courses with nutrition experts and experts of other skills (eg gastroentrologists - see microbiota)
3- develop joint actions with food producers and processors
4- develop joint actions with nutraceutical companies
AIMS OF NUTRITIONAL ANDROLOGY
The purpose of Nutritional Andrology is the HEALTH of the MALE at GLOBAL LEVEL, in its CURRENT BEING, but also in its TOGETHER BEING and in its FUTURE BEING.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Diet and sperm quality: Nutrients, foods and dietary patterns. Reprod Biol, 2019 Sep;19(3):219-224.
SITOGRAPHY
OTHER INTERESTING PAPERS
Adan, R.A.H., van der Beek, E.M., Buitelaar, J.K., Cryan, J.F., Hebebrand, J., Higgs, S., Schellekens, H., Dickson, S.L. (2019). Nutritional Psychiatry: Towards improving mental health by what you eat. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 29 (12), 1321-1332.
Caporuscio, J. (2019, December 17). What is the Best diet for mental health? Medical News Today. www.medicalnewstoday.com
“Facts & Statistics.” Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA. Retrieved on 3/4/2020 from: adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics.
Firth, J., Veronese, N., Cotter, J., Shivappa, N., Hebert, J. R., Ee, C., Smith, L., Stubbs, B., Jackson, S. E., & Sarris, J. (2019). What Is the Role of Dietary Inflammation in Severe Mental Illness? A Review of Observational and Experimental Findings. Frontiers in psychiatry, 10, 350. doi.org
Kelley J. (2010). Antidepressants: Do they “work” or don’t they? New York, NY: Scientific American. Retrieved on 3/4/2020 from:www.scientificamerican.com
Lake, J., & Turner, M. S. (2017). Urgent Need for Improved Mental Health Care and a More Collaborative Model of Care. The Permanente journal, 21, 17–024. doi.org
O'Mahony, S.M., Clarke, G. Borre, Y, E. Dinan, T.J., Cryan, J.F. (2015). Serotonin, tryptophan metabolism and the brain-gut-microbiome axis. Behav. Brain Res., 277, pp. 32-48
Petrilli, M. A., Kranz, T. M., Kleinhaus, K., Joe, P., Getz, M., Johnson, P., … Malaspina, D. (2017). The Emerging Role for Zinc in Depression and Psychosis. Frontiers in pharmacology, 8, 414. doi:10.3389/fphar.2017.00414
Pies, R. (2019). Debunking the Two Chemical Imbalance Myths, Again. Psychiatric Times: (36) 8. Retrieved on 3/4/2020 from: www.psychiatrictimes.com
Sandhu, K.V., Sherwin, E., Schellekens, H., Stanton, C., Dinan, T.J., Cryan, J.F., (2017). Feeding the microbiota-gut-brain axis: diet, microbiome, and neuropsychiatry. Translational Research, 179 (2017), 223-244.
Sarris, J. (2019). Nutritional Psychiatry: From Concept to the Clinic. Drugs 79, 929–934. doi.org
Sarris, J., Logan, A. C., Akbaraly, T. N., Paul Amminger, G., Balanzá-Martínez, V., Freeman, M. P., Hibbeln, J., Matsuoka, Y., Mischoulon, D., Mizoue, T., Nanri, A., Nishi, D., Parletta, N., Ramsey, D., Rucklidge, J. J., Sanchez-Villegas, A., Scholey, A., Su, K. P., & Jacka, F. N. (2015). International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research consensus position statement: nutritional medicine in modern psychiatry. World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 14(3), 370–371. doi.org
Strandwitz P. (2018). Neurotransmitter modulation by the gut microbiota. Brain research, 1693(Pt B), 128–133. doi.org
World Health Organization. (2018). Depression: Key Facts. derived from: www.who.int