Proteomics in the service of health

(by Lino Grossano) (ANSA) - Milan, June 23 - The IX annual congress of the European Proteomics Association opened at Milan Expo on Tuesday centring on the role of food proteins in nutritional science. "To claim 'we are what we eat' and that food can be our medicine is not just philosophy but an indisputable reality," representatives of the Italian Proteomics Association (ItPA), which organised the congress, said.
    "We know in fact that the food we ingest is transformed and also contains proteins that our body uses, in a complex direct relationship," the organisers continued.
    Study of the proteome of a given food "makes us aware that, once it has been ingested and transformed by the human organism, it can change the structure of the proteins in the latter, for better or worse". For example, the study of the proteins contained in milk and breast milk "has shown the existence of proteins that help cognitive development, others that forge and improve the child's immune system, reinforcing it", ItPA continued. "Research has confirmed the importance of breast feeding, showing how this guarantees not only psychological but also physiological continuity", as well as allowing the choice of milk best able to reduce allergic reactions in children. Scientists have also looked at the proteins contained in the micro-organisms that are present naturally in many foods, which they say also give these foods their particular taste.