The 1st Canary Food Conference concludes that lifestyle is a determining factor in digestive health

Our lifestyle has a lot to do with our digestive health, but not only what we eat, but also the level of stress, lack of sleep or smoking, determine it. With the intention of offering the necessary tools to address this reality from pharmacy offices, the First Canary Food Conference was born, which, through COFCAN, was held in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and in Santa Cruz de Tenerife during the first fortnight. June. In them it has been made clear that a healthy diet intervenes directly in the improvement of health, but especially that from the pharmacy office it is possible to intervene through knowledge of diet, allergens or intolerances in a better intervention on medication. of the patient, without forgetting the indications for healthier habits.

For Silvia Afonso, Nutrition member of the Official College of Pharmacists of Las Palmas, “a high percentage of the consultations made at the pharmacy counter are directly related to health problems related to gastric difficulties or diet, but not only That’s why,” he explains, “Pharmacy professionals must also have up-to-date knowledge about how each medication interacts with each food, since the success or failure of a treatment may depend on it, which is why the schools’ Food labels pharmacists from the Canary Islands saw it necessary to carry out specific training and keep it updated over time”.

The sessions, which were held in person and were divided into two afternoons. The dietitian-nutritionist and doctor in Medical Sciences Berta Pinto participated in the first of them, as well as the pharmacist and doctor in Nutrition and Public Health Cristina Ruano.

Pinto focused his presentation on how food allergies and intolerances should be addressed from the pharmacy office. In this sense, he insisted on the importance of “differentiating well between the two”, and pointed out that the most relevant cases of the latter were celiac disease and lactose intolerance – present in 40% of medications – and milk protein. cow among allergies.

Gastric pathologies were addressed by Cristina Ruano, focusing on gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and peptic ulcers, pathologies that have increased in recent years and that, to a large extent, are caused by the bacteria Helicobacter pylori and that already affect to more than half of the world’s population.

Both cases are greatly affected by poor diet, tobacco, a sedentary lifestyle, etc., pointing out healthy habits, rest and avoiding stress as recommendations. He also recommended the consumption of probiotics, whole grains, bananas, and green leafy vegetables.

The nutritionist Ruymán Rodríguez and the dietitian-nutritionist-food technologist Elena Doreste were in charge of giving content to the second day of the conference.

Rodríguez began by differentiating between inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome, updating knowledge and forms of treatment.

He provided data that shows an increase in the incidence of irritable bowel, both nationally and worldwide, the causes of this being lifestyle habits, stress, diet, which he recalled is something fundamental. “In supermarkets,” he said, “more and more shelves are dedicated to ultra-processed foods and less space is dedicated to fresh products.”

Doreste was in charge of giving the talk on intestinal dysbiosis, for which she spoke about the intestinal microbiota – a set of microbacteria that live in the intestine. He noted that “there is more and more evidence of the importance of these elements in the development of diseases and their prevention, depending on their condition.” For this reason, he pointed out the importance of foods that allow their development and supplements.

“The pathological state of the microbiota,” he noted, “occurs when there are more malignant bacteria than beneficial ones, breaking the balance.”

Among the reasons for these, “the abuse of antibiotics” stood out.

He ended his presentation with an explanation about the variant called SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth), which occurs when there is an abnormal increase in the entire bacterial population in the small intestine.