6533b7d4fe1ef96bd1261fc4

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Coffee and tea breaks for liver health

subject

description

Let food be your medicine (Hippocrates, 400 B. C.) The quality of diet, calorie intake and physical activity/sedentari-ness are pivotal drivers in the interplay between health and non-communicable diseases, and the battle against the risks associ-ated with Western-type behaviour is the top priority of medical societies and health institutions. Unfortunately, any attempt at adopting a healthy lifestyle is counteracted by unhealthy environmental pressure, which favours the diseases of affluence, including liver diseases. The typical Mediterranean diet, characterized by the consumption of complex carbohydrates, fibre-and antioxidant-rich vegetables, and polyunsaturated fatty acids, is considered the prototype of a healthy diet associated with favourable hepatic outcomes. Unfortunately, this diet is no longer the standard food choice even in the Mediterranean area, where it has largely been replaced by a Western-type diet, rich in saturated fatty acids and sugars, which are associated with a higher risk of metabolic liver disease.