Posts Tagged ‘Inflammation’

Being called fatty is not the problem. It isn’t even being charged for two airline seats, or being asked to get off the flight. It is that by being a fatty, you’re on fire literally and figuratively.

Those extra pounds cause inflammation, which is akin to a fire within. The consequence of this is chronic health conditions, and accelerated aging. Your shape is the precursor of things to come.

APPEARANCE 

The outward appearance is the least of the problem. What is of concern is the increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and cancer risk. Your weight is a precise and accurate measurement of your loss in function, not gain.

There is a debate going on that says you can be overweight and healthy. That is true, but you can’t rely on this fact to be consistent. The reason is that most people who are overweight rely on inflammatory foods for nutrition.

HEALTH

It is a sub-group that has outstanding health and is grossly overweight. In a study published in the May 2009 “Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology” it suggested an increased occurrence of food allergies may be liked to the rising rate of childhood obesity. It is known that obesity is associated with a greater development of atopic diseases such as eczema and psoriasis. Also a 59 percent increase in food sensitization was noted. “The analysis of continuous Body Mass Index (BMI) with total igE levels supports the concept that increased weight is associated with increased allergic predisposition.” IgE is a class of antibodies produced in the lungs, skin, and mucous membranes and responsible for allergic reactions.

Medical research suggests that obesity (BMI), allergy (igE) and inflammation (C – reactive protein) are related. Inflammation is the foundation for the development of allergies, and degenerative diseases.

FAT CELLS

Fat cells produce inflammatory hormones. The question scientists ask is whether inflammation precedes obesity or obesity leads to inflammation and allergy. This is like asking which came first the chicken or egg. Of course inflammation is a cause of obesity, and obesity sets you up for more inflammation. An anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle is the answer to both possible scenarios.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 2005-2006, were analyzed and the key findings were:

• Allergies are more prevalent among obese and overweight children.
• Obesity is associated with chronic inflammation.
• Allergy is also associated with inflammation.

AGING

There are a lot of people who are aging and manage to remain healthy. These people can gain weight with less repercussions. It is even thought to be protective to put on a few pounds.

The aging population is the first generation of pill poppers, which say that they have serious afflictions. So their extra weight is not necessarily good if it is coming from nutrient deficient foods. Seniors are also suffering from inflammatory conditions, which are being treated with pharmaceuticals.

CONCLUSION

Being overweight is less about appearance and more about substance. The effect of the extra fat is where the problem resides. Obesity is associated with chronic, low-level inflammation in fatty tissue. Double jeopardy is when you see it and then do nothing about it. Seeing the weight as a cosmetic issue doesn’t make sense, when everything points to a lifetime of nagging health problems. That is the real shape of things to come.

When a house is on fire you get out, when your body is on fire you stay and put it out.

Cholesterol is not an accurate predictor of heart attacks. That unhappy outcome is from a poor lifestyle, and related to the amount of processed food. Just because you have a presumably higher overall reading doesn’t mean you should go on a low-fat kick.

HEART DISEASE

Your heart is a workhorse, when given the proper nutrition. While the doctors are on patrol to see if your cholesterol is too high, they ignore the true cause of heart disease, nutritional deficiencies. It is heartbreaking in the literal, as well as figural, the miscalculations made on the part of the medical community.

The cholesterol lowing drugs cause nutrient deficiencies. The common assumption is that high cholesterol will cause clogged arteries.

INJURY NOT CHOLESTEROL

The studies to pay attention to are the ones that show atherosclerosis is the response to injury. The body uses cholesterol to respond to injury of the cells lining the inside of the arteries. It is injury to the lining of the blood vessel, not cholesterol that is the cause of heart disease.

Cholesterol is the innocent bystander who happens to be arround when there is a heart blockage. Fireman are around when there is a fire, and they don’t usually get blamed for the destruction. Vascular injury can occur from mechanical stress, tobacco fumes, metabolic consequences of diabetes, deficiencies of vitamins A and D, consumption of trans fatty acids, and microorganisms.

Sounds to me like a lifestyle problem. Omega 6s in our diet causes inflammation. Since this is in most processed food we know the solution, and it isn’t in a pill.

DIET AND EXERCISE

When diet and exercise doesn’t help who do we call, the doctor of course. What is wrong with this picture is that there isn’t a single culture that eats their natural diet that doesn’t find diet and exercise enough.

From the early Eskimos who ate a diet of whale blubber and other good fats to the native America’s who hunted on the Great Plains cholesterol wasn’t problematic.

Now, when they followed the path of civilization they now have to call the doctor.

HOW LOW

Physicians are so engaged in driving cholesterol to new lows, they never look at is the primary goal of health, which is to have individuals function at the best level possible.

As a result of cholesterol lowing medicine the persons has a higher risk of harm. The irony is that the hypothesis that cholesterol is harmful at a certain number is not only unproven, but false.

MYTH

One reason for the high cholesterol myth was the observation; mortality rates for heart attacks dropped in areas with a low food supply in World War ll. This phenomenon was noticed by Dr. Ansel Keys in the 1950”s.

Dr. Keys’ findings were eagerly endorsed by “cholesterol is harmful” advocates, but he himself did not state that cholesterol was the direct cause of heart disease or atherosclerosis. He pointed out that just because cholesterol is present in arterial plaque does not mean that cholesterol is the cause of arterial plaque.

What is wrong with the conclusions, most of the people were following an American diet that had sugar, and refined flour. They were on an inflammatory diet, which produces inflammation. Calorie restrictive diets are known to be anti-inflammatory.

Again wrong assumptions based on the wrong hypothesis. That is the Achilles heel of modern medicine.

DANGEROUS SCIENCE

The fist drug approved for the lowering of cholesterol appeared in 1967 called Atromid-S and was withdrawn from the market in 2000. The drug didn’t prove to lower mortality. However, it was found to increase the incidence of gallstones, cancer, liver disease, and inflammation of the pancreas producing pancreatitis.

The side effects included nausea, diarrhea, loss of sexual performance, weakness, abdominal pain, muscle pain and other discomforts. The newer drugs available for this bring some of the same risks and side effects. This is dangerous science.

CONSIDERATIONS

The biggest consideration is that most cardiovascular disease is seen in people over 60. Fact, higher cholesterol in the elderly is protective. Seniors with higher cholesterol levels tend to live longer than their peers with low cholesterol.

The two reasons for this, first cholesterol is protective, and second those with lower levels are on the dangerous medications. 

First and foremost take the prudent path with a healthy and active lifestyle.

Finding the overeating triggers and dangers in our culture is simple. All you have to do is follow the advertising and obesity rates. The food industry represents a threat that is as big as any to our society. The reason; there is no place to hide from either the advertisements, or the available supply. They know the pathway to desire. Their campaigns are hardcore. They build it and see that you use it. They know most people will surrender to desire.

Dangers 

It has been found that overeating in mice triggers a molecule that destroys metabolism. This also leads to resistance and sets the stage for type 2 diabetes.

This is a new study, by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) that links together the immune system and metabolism. These are paired together as suspect in increasing diseases from diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver, cancer and stroke.  

Science

“When mice eat a normal diet, this molecule called PKR is silent,” states senior author Gokhan Hotamisligil, chair of the HSPH department of Genetics and Complex Disease. “However, if a cell containing PKR is bombarded with too many nutrients, PKR grabs other immune system molecules that respond to this food attack and organizes a firing squad to shoot down normal processes, leading to insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction.”

“We know that nutrients can be detrimental in excess quantities or when they are in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Hotamisligil said. “But we don’t quite understand which paths they travel that result in harm and produce inflammation. PKU is a mechanism by which nutrients-necessary and beneficial under normal conditions-cause damage to cells and organs.”

PKR stands for Protein Knase R. Protein Knases have a profound effect on cells.

Protein Kinases are key regulators of cell function that constitute one of the largest and most functionally diverse gene families. They orchestrate the activity of almost all cellular processes.

The results provide compelling evidence that a process called “metaflammation” occurs in the body, stated Hotamisligil. Metaflammation is inflammation that occurs while the body processes food into energy. Hotamisligi had demonstrated inflammation role in metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, and heart disease in mice and humans.

Metaflammation describes ailments resulting from an unhealthy lifestyle.The two main causes are a lack of nutrition and a lack of exercise. Overeating is a way to use and deplete nutrients.

Reality

Researches are looking to understand how to regulate the PKR molecule through targeted drugs or nutrients. They think this could be the way diseases are prevented and treated in humans. We build, than battle what we build. Having build up a surreal supply of faux foods, we now have to subdue its effect on us.

We are not doomed to a roller coster existence. This is one where we produce new foods and then need drugs to modify the effect. We are at a crossroad in scientific thinking. We are spawning a dangerous trend; lifestyles that depend on technology may be in for some eye-opening surprise.

Conclusion

The causes of many of the diseases appear to lie in aspects of our modern technology driven environment. This is the red light district, where there is real danger of picking up a life threatening illness.

It’s Not Your Fault-Why you Overeat- Presented by Dr.David Kessler a former commissioner of The Food and Drug Administration (FDA).