''Leptin, present in breast milk, prevents obesity and diabetes''
So says Andreu Palou, expert in Nutrigenomics, who received the VII award Food and Health of the University of Navarra.
According to the expert in Nutrigenomics and professor at the University of the Balearic Islands, Andreu Palou, leptin, a protein present in breast milk, "prevents against obesity and other related ailments, such as diabetes". This has assured it on the occasion of the submission of the VII award Food and Health, which he received at the University of Navarra.
For this scientist, one of Spain's leading specialists in Nutrition and Genetics, the malfunction of this protein is at the root of many obesity problems: "When leptin works, it warns our body that it already has enough fat reserves, causing the sensation of hunger to decrease and the energy expense to increase".
The programs of study that he started with his team in 2000 allowed him to find that one of the most common causes of this malfunction of leptin is found in the lack of its consumption during breastfeeding, "since leptin is present in breast milk but not in artificial milks. We realized this when we discovered that our stomach contains leptin already from birth, when we are almost incapable of synthesizing it. Subsequently, programs of study with breast-fed infants confirmed that they put on less weight thanks to the leptin in their mothers' milk."
Regarding other parental factors that affect their children, Dr. Palou reminds us that we still do not know exactly how much the parents' diet influences the health of their offspring: "Genes are very important, but so is the history that each of us writes with them. By this we mean that nutrition in the early stages of life also produces chemical modifications in genes, conditioning their expression and function".
Are we eating better than ever?
On the other hand, Andreu Palou confirms that despite the fact that nowadays we eat better than ever, there is greater control of food and life expectancy has increased, "we top the list of European countries with the highest rate of childhood obesity, together with Malta. This issue can be explained, in part, because we have a greater amount of food available, which is appetizing, energy-dense and because we are losing the main features of the Mediterranean per diem expenses ".
In this regard, the new award Food and Health of the University of Navarra stressed the seriousness of these data, "since childhood obesity is, statistically, a guarantee of obesity at later ages".
The submission of this award is part of the I Nutrition Week of the academic center. Previously, the expert will participate in a roundtable with his disciples, moderated by the Full Professor of Nutrition Alfredo Martínez Hernández.