Allergia in Primavera, la relazione con gli alimenti
Torna puntuale la rubrica del martedì, “Food is Life”, in cui la nutrizionista di Amica Natura, la Dottoressa Chiara D’Adda, affronta i temi più importanti di alimentazione, salute e benessere. Oggi, in vista del cambio repentino di temperature e dell’arrivo prossimo della Primavera, la Dottoressa D’Adda ci spiega il rapporto tra allergia in Primavera e la relazione allergica in relazione all’assunzione di determinati alimenti.
Allergia in Primavera, le cause
“Questa situazione atmosferica, così anomala, pazzerella e con temperature molto al di sopra delle medie stagionali, ha purtroppo anticipato una serie di patologie su base allergica legate alla risposta individuale.
L’allergia è un’eccessiva reattività dell’organismo, causata da un’inappropriata risposta delle immunoglobuline E (IgE ) a particolari antigeni definiti ALLERGENI. Tale risposta è legata al rilascio di mediatori, tra i quali l’ISTAMINA, da parte di mastociti e basofili.
I sintomi delle allergie primaverili
Clinicamente le sindromi allergiche possono colpire:
💥 intestino ( allergie gastro-intestinali)
💥 apparato respiratorio e oculare (rinite, asma, oculorinite)
💥 cute (orticaria, eczema, dermatite)
La Primavera si sta già facendo sentire e questo fa pensare ad una stagione anticipatamente complicata per i soggetti allergici. Per esempio nei giorni di bel tempo la concentrazione dei pollini di betulla nell’aria è già alta e nei prati cominciano a spuntare le prime graminacee.
C’è bisogno di un approccio che integri diverse strategie di terapia e che possa consentire di attraversare questo periodo in maniera serena. Sapete che è molto importante conoscere il termine ✅CROSS- LINK? Indica reazioni allergiche scatenate nello stesso individuo da cause apparentemente non correlabili fra di loro, in particolare il polline e alimenti di origine alimentare.
Allergia a Primavera e alimenti, qual è la relazione?
Alla loro base c’è una risposta immunitaria nei confronti di proteine simili fra di loro.
Il 70% delle persone allergiche ai pollini soffre di reazioni crociate con gli alimenti. Nei periodi in cui le allergie si manifestano è molto importante controllare e ridurre anche gli alimenti che cross linkano con i noti allergeni.”
Qui di seguito vi fornisco un esaustivo riassunto:
Quinoa salad with soy meatballs Amica Natura
Quinoa is an increasingly popular ingredient in the cuisine of Italian families. A raw material that, in addition to being versatile and nutritious, rich in vitamins and proteins, combines perfectly with seasonal vegetables and Amica Natura soy meatballs.
Ingredients
250 g quinoa bio
a dozen of cherry tomatoes
desalted capers
100 g Taggiasca olives
two cucumbers
a few leaves of fresh basil
extra-virgin olive oil
salt and black pepper
lemon juice
coriander and chilli pepper to taste
a pack of Amica Natura soy meatballs
How to prepare quinoa
Rinse the quinoa well to remove the bitter taste, let it pass under the water several times until the water becomes clear. After washing and dabbing, take a pot and lay the quinoa, covered with water. Cook until all the water is absorbed to complete.
Let the quinoa cool. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Peel the cucumbers and cut into cubes, the same with the tomatoes. Put them in a bowl with rinsed capers, taggiasche olives, salt, pepper and oil, lemon juice, to taste coriander and chilli pepper, a few leaves of basil and leave to marinate for about ten minutes.
Sauté the soy meatballs in a pan with oil, as indicated on the package, combined with a sauce to taste and salad quinoa and served on the table.
Tasty Carnival recipe: the Italian focaccia
A tasty Carnival recipe, the Italian focaccia stuffed with a natural Amica Natura ground meat without preservatives, to be offered at home to children as a delicious and nutritious snack or as a single dish, genuine (and fast to cook) for the whole family.
The Fucazza de carnuale salentina is a typical recipe, prepared by families in the beautiful lands of Salento, during the playful and goliardic days of Carnival. Try preparing this tasty and rustic focaccia for adults and children, flavor guaranteed!
Let’s find out how to prepare this tasty recipe for Carnival, the stuffed focaccia salentina, made with organic ground beef Amica Natura.
La Fucazza de carnuale salentina is a typical recipe, prepared by families in the beautiful lands of Salento, during the playful and goliardic days of the Carnival. Try preparing this tasty and rustic focaccia for adults and children, flavor guaranteed!
Let’s find out how to prepare this recipe for a tasty carnival, the stuffed focaccia salentina, made with organic ground beef Amica Natura.
Tasty recipe for carnival: the stuffed Italian focaccia
Ingredients
an onion
a fresh mozzarella
400 g ground meat Amica Natura
100 g of grated cheese
50 g pecorino cheese
salt and pepper
some cherry tomatoes
extra virgin olive oil
a bunch of parsley
Preparation
Peel and mince the onion. Fry it with a drizzle of olive oil, leave it to flavor, add the ground meat Amica Natura, cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes. Salt and pepper rule, lower the flame and finish cooking over low heat for 10 minutes.
Take a bowl, add the diced tomatoes, cheese, oil and salt, pepper, chopped parsley and mix well.
Take a pan and cover with parchment paper. Cut the dough into two, put the first part as a base, spread over the minced meat and the mixed ingredients of the terrine, spread them well and mix everything. Close with the top part, sealing the edges with a fork.
Brush the surface with an egg yolk. Bake in preheated oven at 180 degrees, in ventilated mode, cook for about 20 minutes, checking the cooking of the Carnival focaccia paste.
Serve the warm, or even cold, your Carnival focaccia!
Spaghetti meatballs, Magda’s recipe
Our friend food blogger Magda, like always delights us with one of her delicious recipes, a first course with a family taste, easy and fast, perfect for everyone. Today Magda used the Amica Natura’s vegetarian frozen meatballs with broccoli to make her recipe, a new addition to the “Mix La Polpetteria” collection by Amica Natura.
Pasta with meatballs in sauce, are not in all respects a great classic of traditional Italian cuisine, in reality, even if present in some regional recipes, they are much more famous in the States, where they are even one of the symbolic dishes of the Italian typical kitchen in the world.
Spaghetti meatballs are in fact super popular overseas, where they are commonly served in Italian restaurants and even sold ready to be consumed. They became famous also for the film Lilli and the Vagabondo, with an unforgettable scene in the collective imagination.
Then we discover the recipe, back in vogue in Italy, made with quality ingredients for a first course … tasty.
Spaghetti meatballs with tomato | Amica Natura
Ingredients
250 g of tagliatelle or spaghetti
meatballs Nature Friend with broccoli
a handful of fresh basil leaves
500 g of fresh organic tomato sauce
2 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
a spoon of sugar
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano
salt and pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
Preparation
Tomato sauce
In a pot heat 2-3 tablespoons of oil. Fry 2 shallots and 2 finely chopped garlic cloves. Add the tomato puree, 2-3 sprigs of thyme, 10 basil leaves, 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano, a teaspoon of sugar.
Meatballs
Lightly oil a baking dish, place the still frozen meatballs in it. Add a little oil and bake in preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.
Pasta
In the meantime put the water on the fire to boil the pasta. When it boils, cook the tagliatelle or pasta you have chosen. Draw it taking care that they remain well “al dente”.
In a bowl, pour the well-drained pasta, the tomato sauce and mix it all together. Finally, add the meatballs and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Once ready, serve the hot pasta.
Pasta with meat, mushrooms and bechamel sauce, recipe
Our friend food blogger Giovanna, of the food blog “La Tavola Allegra ” delighted us with a recipe of a first dish succulent and delicious: pasta with minced meat, mushrooms and béchamel.
The Fusilli recipe with the white meat sauce made by Elisabetta was prepared with minced meat Amica Natura, a natural preparation, without added preservatives, high quality and always practical, because always available in pantry, does not perish in little Time (saving on food waste) and maintains unchanged flavor and freshness.
It fades the meat with red wine and lets it evaporate. Now add the previously cleaned and sliced mushrooms, mix carefully. Bathe the condiment with 1-2 ladles of meat broth well hot (it will be good also of the simple water), add also a pinch of nutmeg and a pepper.
Carefully mix and cover with a lid. Cook the white meat sauce over a moderate flame for about 30 minutes and in the meantime prepare the béchamel according to the habits (or use the ready-made packaging).
Italian aubergine meatballs with tomato sauce | Amica Natura Food Service
A perfect dish for tapas and aperitifs: Italian eggplant meatballs in tomato sauce
An original idea that will appeal to customers of a transversal target, of every age, are the Amica Natura eggplants vegetarian meatballs, served with a fragrant tomato sauce, inspired by one of the most popular tapas in Spain: the albondigas with tomate. This vegetarian version can be prepared in a very short time, thanks to the Amica Natura eggplants balls, already cooked and reactivated in a few minutes by frozen food, tasty and healthy ingredients. How to serve them? In practical cups or in terracotta cocotte, just as they are served in typical Iberian bars. Eggplant meatballs with Sicilian tomato sauce are perfect for a tasty aperitif.
Eggplant meatballs, how to serve them with Italian tomato sauce
Mix La Polpetteria, the perfect Mix created for food service and horeca operators
High quality frozen food for restaurants, with an authentic flavor, without preservatives, optimize preparation times and food costs, plus they are anti-waste
Empanadas stuffed with minced meat, the recipe
For the special “Recipes from the world” by Amica Natura, we are leaving today to Argentina, to discover a famous local recipe, tasty, nutritious, with healthy and genuine ingredients: the tasty empanadas.
The empanadas are perfect to be prepared at home, but also to be included in the menu for all those who want to delight customers with a touch of South America flavour. The empanadas stuffed with meat are in fact also a beloved and lively street food, to be shared in moments together with family and friends.
Crispy outside, stuffed with a delicious minced meat with sauce inside, the empanadas are a really irresistible preparation.
Brief history of the famous empanadas
The empanadas are a rich dish typical of Spain and South America, initially served during the Creole music festivals, the origin is not exactly known. It is said that the recipe comes from the Spaniards who in turn are said to have “stolen” from the Arab culinary traditions. In Argentina he was preparing for the great return party of the “Gauchos” from the Pampas (the vast plains for farming located in Argentina).
The recipe of empanadas stuffed with minced beef
Ingredients
For empanadas (for about 4 people)
90 ml of water
1 egg
salt
half teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
200 g White flour
For the stuffing
an onion
180 g of organic ground beef Amica Natura
a potato
a handful of pitted black and green olives
half a glass of white wine
a knob of butter
salt and pepper
a teaspoon of cumin seeds
a teaspoon of sweet paprika
chopped coriander q.b..
Preparation
Take a bowl and add the flour, salt, beaten egg and oil. Knead and slowly add the water, mix and knead until you get a homogeneous and compact dough. Wrap with the film and allow it to rest for two hours at room temperature.
Meanwhile in a pan add the butter and fry the finely chopped onions. Add the potatoes cut into cubes, add flavor. Add the minced meat and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes. Blend with white wine. Add the olives. Cook an hour more on low heat while continuing to mix. When almost cooked, add the paprika, cumin, salt and pepper, chopped coriander.
Resume the dough empanadas and spread it on a floured surface, helping yourself with a rolling pin. Make circles with a coppapasta (12-14 cm). Fill half of the circle with the minced meat, close and seal with the help of a fork. Brush with the beaten egg yolk and bake at 180 degrees, in a previously heated oven, for about 20 minutes. Alternatively, fry in sunflower oil (at an appropriate temperature) and remove when the empanadas become golden. Serve hot.
Foods that are good for the memory and the brain
Like every Tuesday, come back the appointment with the Amica Natura column of our nutritionist “Food is Life” . The Dr. Chiara D’Adda, surgeon, specialist in nutrition and health and team doctor of series A1 Basketball Brescia Leonessa.
We are always closer to Spring and it is time to think about taking better care of our health, so as to live the best season. Today we talk about another topic of fundamental interest for health and well-being, that is foods that are good for the memory and the brain. Let’s find out what they are.
Foods that are good for the memory of the brain
”
Your beauty care starts from what you eat. And you know that besides the somatic beauty (of the body) the “beauty” of your brain, your mind, your being is very important.
You have to stay young for as long as possible, and keep an excellent memory.
The brain works pretty much like a personal computer. And can also have a very large memory, but if the internal processor is not performing, it is slow or damaged it is difficult to easily access all the information and use it.
Also keep in mind that the brain up to 30 years has no problems in processing information quickly. After 30 years, alas, there is a gradual slowdown.
But the good news is that the health of our brain starts from what we are eating … In the long run the brain cells shrink and die with a consequent loss of memory. What foods are our friends to delay this process? They are intelligent foods, to be brought to the table as much as possible by combining them with aerobic physical exercises.
Here they are:
vegetable
Olive oil
Dried fruits
Red fruits
Aromas and spices
Dark chocolate
Cocoa
Coffee and green tea
Seafood fish
Red wine (a little 😉)
legumes
Poultry
eggs
Fermented foods
Whole grains
Red meat
Small quantities of butter
It is important to keep your blood sugar under control, because if this goes out of normal values, insulin is unable to do its job and nerve cells lack the right energy with a consequent cognitive decline early, up to the destruction of part of the brain cells and reduction of brain and memory volume. Choose foods with low glycemic index, which keep in insulin quiet and lower cellular inflammation.
Other decisive factors for the well-being and health of memory and brain:
It is also very important to have a restful sleep that helps us manage stress.
Keep the waistline under control
Reduce a lot of sugars and refined flours.
Reduce the salt.
Stop super alcohol.
And what about trying intermittent fasting?
Babaganoush, the Lebanese recipe sauce for falafel
Spring time will come soon. And this will be the delicious and perfect recipe for the famous falafel or the tasty soy meatballs Amica Natura, to surprise and delight your guests. An exotic preparation, with delicious spicy notes, which immediately remember the summer season and special aperitifs to share, outdoors.
Try it to give an Oriental appeal to the appetizer or dinner! To cook the aubergines you can opt for the oven or the grill, to give the characteristic smoky scent. Perfect accompanied by fresh and juicy tomatoes cut into small cubes with fresh basil or coriander, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and white pepper.
Ingredients
1 garlic glove
pepper q.b.
salt q.b.
lemon juice
2 purple aubergines
some mint leaves
extravirgin olive oil
40 gr sesame or tahina paste
Preparation
Wash the aubergines and make small incisions for length, to let the bitter liquid out and obtain a more pleasant taste. Cover the baking sheet with baking paper and bake in a hot oven at 180-200 degrees for 40 minutes. Let the aubergines cool, peel them gently and remove the pulp for good.
In a mixer, add a little chopped mint, the crushed garlic clove, lemon, salt and pepper, a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, sesame paste and mix everything at minimum speed. Leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and then serve with falafel or soy meatballs.
Foods that are good for the thyroid #FoodIsLife
As promised last episode, Dr. Chiara D’Adda, surgeon and nutritionist, speaks to us today in the heading “Food is Life” of a very important and interesting topic, or what are the best foods for a good functioning of the thyroid and to try to prevent potential disorders. So let’s see together with the Doctor, what are the foods that are good for the thyroid.
Artichokes are good for the liver and therefore protect the thyroid
The artichokes ➡️ keep the liver healthy and efficient, which is the organ in which the fundamental event occurs, that of the conversion of T4 into T3. They contain purifying substances and iron. If you eat them raw, sliced into thin slices and seasoned with lemon juice and oil and a little salt, they will maintain the many properties they have.
Lemon juice is rich in vitamin C, which increases iron absorption.
Coconut oil, many benefits for the thyroid
Coconut oil, also an ingredient in our kitchen and that you should learn to use more! Rich in lauric, caprylic, capric acid, which are included in healthy fats. It has beneficial and above all anti-inflammatory effects for the intestine and consequently for the immune system it contains. And it is known that the immune system helps the balance of thyroid function.
Whole grains, a panacea to relieve inflammatory processes
➡️ Whole grains have a low glycemic index and therefore insulin will not have excessive spikes, which are the ones that favor the inflammatory processes that can influence the general hormonal pattern. Insulin in stillness is the passport for a condition of health of our body. Prefer those without gluten! And soak them 6/8 hours before cooking, as this will eliminate phytates, phytonutrients that cover them and hinder the absorption of vitamins and minerals.
Dried fruit in shell, a well-being explosion
Pistachios contain tyrosine, amino acid precursor of thyroid hormones. Brazil nuts contain selenium in good quantity. Do you know that with three nuts a day you get the amount necessary for the proper functioning of the thyroid?
Marine products, fish, bivalve molluscs, crustaceans, iodine source
Be careful, however, the fish should not be overcooked, otherwise the Omega3 contained in it will be altered.
Meats rich in zinc, such as beef, turkey and lamb
Another beneficial food for the proper functioning of the thyroid is meat, in this case the meat rich in zinc, such as beef, turkey and lamb.
Wheat germ, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesamoo seeds.
These types of seeds are rich in zinc, a mineral very important for the thyroid, because it promotes enzymatic reactions useful for the metabolism of thyroid hormones.
Probiotics like yogurt, fermented milk, sauerkraut, miso
They keep the intestinal flora in balance, contrasting permeability, reducing inflammation and strengthening the immune system.
Cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli
Abounds with cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, but well cooked, because over-cooking disables the mechanisms with which crucifers interfere with the action of iodine on thyroid hormones, limiting their function..
Seasonal fruits and vegetables
➡️ better raw vegetables, because minerals, large thyroid allies, and at temperatures over 60 degrees reduce vitamins are dispersed in cooking water. Remember that leeks and asparagus also contain iodine.
Foods that are harmful to the thyroid?
Trying to limit gluten-containing foods can give rise to “molecular mimicry”. No excesses with milk and cheese, potentially at risk of molecular mimicry and rich in calcium, a mineral very precious for the bones, but tendentially antagonist of iodine and therefore little friend of the thyroid.
