This is a one-day symposium on one of the major exports of Italy: the culinary health and nutrition benefits of the Mediterranean Diet. The discovery of the nutrition and health benefits of Italian cuisine demonstrates how Italian global migration and host-country identity-building connect the food and culture of the individual with that of their ethnic group. The presentations are by a distinguished panel of international medical physicians and nutrition specialists.

October 23, 2018, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm. The symposium will be held at The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute located at 25 West 43rd Street, 17th Floor, New York, New York 10036. RSVP necessary since breakfast and lunch will be served. For further information and to RSVP contact Dr. Vincenzo Milione, Director for Demographic studies, Calandra Institute. 212 642 2094

Presentations will include:

The Impact of Environment and Life Style in Human Disease
Prof Antonio Giordano, MD, PhD
President,
Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine; Center for Biotechnology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University

The Italian Mediterranean Diet as a Model of Identity of a People with a Universal Good to Safeguard Health?
Prof Antonino De Lorenzo, MD, PhD
Director of the School of Specialization in Food Science
L'Università Degli Studi Di Roma "Tor Vergata"

Dietary Factors and Brain Aging
Prof. Yian Gu, MD, PhD
Neurological Sciences (Neurology, Epidemiology and the Taub Institute),
Columbia University

Italian Migration and Global Diaspora
Dr. Vincenzo Milione, PhD
Director for Demographic Studies
Calandra Institute, City University of New York

Italy as a Case Study: Increasing Students' Level of Awareness of the Historical, Cultural, Political and Culinary Significance of Food
Prof Lisa Sasson, MS
Department of Nutrition and Food Studies
New York University

Mediterranean Diet, Intangible Heritage and Sustainable Tourism?
Prof. Fabio Parasecoli, PhD
Department of Nutrition and Food Studies
New York University

Regulatory Specifications for Quality and Food Safety
Prof. Gennaro Terracciano, PhD
Administrative Law and University Vice-President
Università degli Studi di Roma "Foro Italico"

The Promotion of Italian Authentic Food Products in the US Market
Maurizio Forte, M.S.
Director, Italian Trade Commission ICE New York

The Way of the Americas: Export of The Typical Product and Ethical Profit
Hon. Mike Rienzi
Founder, and CEO, Mike Renzi & Sons

Pasta Arte: New Model of Circular Agricultural Economy: When an Innovated TraditionTakes Care of You and of the Environment
Massimo Borrelli, MS
CEO and Founder
ARTE (Agriculture Renewed Earth Energy)

The Mediterranean Diet comes from nutritionist Ancel Keys, who in 1945, in the wake of the US Fifth Army, landed in Southern Italy, where he observed one of the highest concentrations of centenarians in the world. He also noticed that cardiovascular diseases, widespread in the US, were less common there. In particular, among the Southern Italians, the prevalence of "wellness" diseases such as hypertension and diabetes mellitus was low, a circumstance that focused his attention on fat consumption. His research suggested that the main factor responsible for the low incidence of these ailments was the type of diet traditionally consumed among people living in the Mediterranean region: one low in animal fat, as opposed to the Anglo-Saxon diet. The link between serum cholesterol and coronary heart disease mortality was subsequently demonstrated by the Seven Countries Study. ... Later the concept of the Mediterranean Diet was extended to a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fish and olive oil as the main source of lipids, and it is shared among people living in Spain, Greece, Southern Italy, and other countries in the Mediterranean basin.