Chianciano: Fegato Sano (Chianciano: Healthy Liver)

[ladelfina]

Ok.. so we live near a town called Chianciano Terme (kyan-CHAN-o TER-meh). There's an official government sign on the outskirts announcing that you've come to the "Center of Cures for the Liver."

Italy has a rich history, dating back to the Romans or even earlier, of various natural hot springs and baths where one would go to "take the waters".. a combination of soaking in or drinking (hopefully not both under the same conditions) this healthful essence.

But Chianciano's is especially liver-centric.

Buses of oldsters come in for various therapies. There are hundreds of hotels. There are dozens and dozens of doctor's offices, with obscure specialties like "idrologia" (hydrology).

The description of the water's benefits goes like this:

L'acqua oligominerale Sant'Elena è un'acqua bicarbonato alcalino-calcica, conosciuta da secoli, che sgorga alla temperatura di 13°. L'acqua Sant'Elena, protetta da circa 40 metri di conglomerati e sabbie, è purissima, gradevole, con una bilanciata quantità di sali minerali, con gas rari, ricca di bicarbonati, con un PH simile a quello del sangue, possiede importanti azioni terapeutiche accertate clinicamente e scientificamente sperimentate, ed è particolarmente indicata nella cura delle malattie del rene e delle vie urinarie, nonché nelle affezioni dell'apparato gastrointestinale.
L'acqua Sant'Elena è sempre ben tollerata, agisce sul metabolismo dell'acido urico riducendolo, aumenta la diuresi depurando l'organismo dalle sostanze tossiche, attenua l'infiammazione delle vie urinarie, favorisce durante e dopo la cura l'eliminazione dei calcoli renali e della renella e ne previene le recidive. E' indicata, per la ricchezza di bicarbonati ed oligoelementi, nella cura delle dispepsie e delle gastroenteropatie, facilita le funzioni digestive ed è consigliata, per la sua alcalinità reale, nell'attività sportiva.

Indicazioni:
Malattie del rene e delle vie urinarie: calcolosi, cistiti, cistopieliti, uretriti, prostatiti
Malattie del ricambio: iperuricemia, gotta, artropatia uratica, obesità
Malattie dell'apparato digerente: gastriti, dispepsie, enteropatie
Attività sportiva: come elemento reintegratore dei sali minerali e dei liquidi

http://www.chiancianopoolhotels.it/h...santelena.html


Ok to start off with: "oligominerale" (which you see on dozens of different bottled waters here) means, by law, "low in mineral salts", depositing less than 500mg/L when heated to 180°C. I don't know how that relates either to most tap water or to most bottled water in the US.

The text says (more or less):
The reduced-mineral-salt water of Sant'Elena is a bicarbonated, alkaline, calcareous water, known for centuries, that comes from the spring at a temperature of 13°C (55°F), protected by about 130 feet of sand and conglomerate; it is very pure, pleasant, with a balanced amount of mineral salts, with rare gases, rich in bicarbonates, with a pH similar to that of the blood; it possesses important therapeutic properties that have been scientifically tested and clinically proven, and it is particularly recommended in curing renal and urinary tract diseases, as well as problems with the gastro-intestinal tract.

Sant'Elena water is always well-tolerated [!!!-you've got big problems if you can't 'tolerate' water, IMHO]; it acts on the metabolism of uric acid, reducing it; it augments diuresis, purifying the organism of toxic substances, calming the inflammation of the urinary tract, favoring during and after the cure the elimination of kidney stones and crystals and preventing their reoccurrance. It is indicated, because of its richness in bicarbonates and "oligoelementi" (trace elements?), in the cure of dyspesia and gastric ailments, aiding the digestive functions, and is recommended, because of its alkalinity, during sporting activities.

..and then it goes into the list of diseases this water will aid: kidney stones, bladder infections, enlarged prostate, urethritis, some other kind of bladder infection, gout, obesity, elevated uric acid, "artropatia uratica" ??, gastritis, dyspepsia, etc. etc.

=====
Is this all a crock, or is there something to it? This is taken (somewhat) seriously here by the medical establishment.. and obviously not only Italian tradition has given weight to these cures (Bath, Baden-Baden, etc.)


Now this is the punchline (ready, Rich?).
Another main product of this town is a digestivo, what we know as an after-dinner liqueur. The specialty of Chianciano Terme is an amaro.. along the lines of Benedictine but less sweet and more strongly herbal. What I thought was hilarious is that prominently displayed on the label of this liqueur is the phrase "amico del fegato" -- "FRIEND OF THE LIVER"!

[haha]

Originally Posted by ladelfina

What I thought was hilarious is that prominently displayed on the label of this liqueur is the phrase "amico del fegato" -- "FRIEND OF THE LIVER"!

A friend of the liver is a friend of mine.

My wife is heading to Italy this summer to study with an early music cat named "Fabio". Maybe she can brief me on some more Italian anatomical notions when she returns?

Ha

[ladelfina]

Maybe she can brief me on some more Italian anatomical notions

Be careful what you wish for.

[Meadbh]

Ladelfina, your Italian organ medleys are priceless!