Dietitian and nutritionist Blanca García-Orea Haro, with over 1.8 million followers on Instagram, participates in the 'Science and Health' cycle of Diario Sur and warns that low-grade chronic inflammation is silent and can lead to serious diseases.
The dietitian and nutritionist Blanca García-Orea Haro, known on social media as @blancaNutri, warned this Tuesday in Málaga that low-grade chronic inflammation is a silent problem that can go unnoticed for years. She made this statement during her talk at the 'Science and Health. Research to Live' cycle, organized by Diario Sur with the sponsorship of the Unicaja Foundation and the collaboration of the Cancer Research and Advanced Therapies Centre Foundation (CITAC).
Before a full room, García-Orea delivered a direct message: "If you don't have time to take care of yourself, in the end, you will have to spend time taking care of your illness." The specialist in digestive, hormonal nutrition, and microbiota presented her latest book, '5 Weeks to De-inflame Yourself. The Revolutionary Method That Will Change Your Habits' (Grijalbo), the sixth of her career.
"Low-grade chronic inflammation is silent and can accompany us for days, months, weeks, and years; we can live with it, but we do so with worse quality and symptoms such as headaches, muscle pain, depression, anxiety, digestive problems, diarrhea, constipation, or gas"
The nutritionist differentiated this chronic inflammation from feeling bloated, which is "a subjective feeling of being full" without changes in abdominal circumference, and from acute inflammation, which is necessary to repair an injury. She also emphasized that the accumulation of abdominal fat is something different.
When asked about measures to curb inflammation, she insisted that it is a set of habits: "Inflammation decreases with a lifestyle pattern. If you have to choose between diet, exercise, and resting well, the most important is to rest well; otherwise, everything else goes wrong." In this regard, she pointed out that poor sleep conditions the food choices of the next day and gave the example of someone attending a wedding who, tired the next day, opts for carbohydrates and ultra-processed foods.
Regarding rest, she warned that screens interfere with melatonin production: "Blue light inhibits melatonin; many people take the pill while watching television or on their phone, and that can't be." Her recommendation is to put away screens an hour before sleeping, use warm light, and read a book.
As for diet, she advised having a savoury breakfast or one with enough protein, between 20 and 30 grams, to avoid glucose spikes. "If I break my fast after so many hours without eating with something sweet, I will have more glucose spikes during the day and will be more unstable. When abdominal fat increases, it's a sign of uncontrolled glucose," she explained.
The nutritionist reminded that after 40, muscle is lost naturally and recommended strength exercises and walking at least ten thousand steps a day. "You can exercise for 50 minutes a day and be sedentary the rest of the day," she noted, before emphasizing that taking the stairs, going to the supermarket, or playing with children or grandchildren counts as activity.
Regarding intermittent fasting, she differentiated the twelve-hour fast, which she considers fundamental and not a real fast but a night rest, from others of 14, 16, or 18 hours, more suitable for those who cannot have breakfast or dinner. "The goal of intermittent fasting is not to lose weight," she clarified. She also dispelled the myth of eating five times a day.
On supplements, she was clear: "First, it's important to know that supplements are an extra, not something necessary." She indicated that protein powder, without sweeteners or sugars, can be useful if the daily amount, which she places at 1.6 grams per kilo of body weight, is not reached. "100 grams of raw meat or fish is 20 grams of protein; an egg is six grams," she detailed. Regarding creatine, she said it seems to her "one of the best supplements" due to its scientific evidence.
Finally, she assured that there are better techniques than injecting GLP-1 analogues, such as Ozempic or Mounjaro, and advised maintaining a good diet and not abandoning strength exercise.
The talk was conducted by the editor-in-chief of Diario Sur, Alberto Gómez, and included the intervention of the director of Institutional Relations of the Unicaja Foundation, Miguel Gil.
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