Inflammation - Part 1

If there were one thing that every person could do to promote health and prevent all forms of disease it would be to “deflame”.  Nearly all experts agree that the common denominator of every disease is inflammation in the body.  Chronic inflammation will cause everything from pain and arthritis to cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.  In the next few weeks, I will be discussing how to decrease inflammation in the body.

Most of the process of reducing and avoiding inflammation in the body will start with diet.  Stated simply, we need to increase the foods that decrease inflammation and decrease the foods that promote inflammation.  One food that promotes inflammation may surprise you is grains.  But whole grains are supposed to be good for us, right?  The nutrients and fiber in whole grains certainly are beneficial and whole grains are much better than white bread and products made from white flour.  However, all grains are inflammatory.

Most grains contain two ingredients that are the source of the problem.  You’ve likely heard of gluten.  This protein will often cause a type of allergic reaction in the body that begins in the bowel.  

Grains also contain a substance called phytic acid that will reduce the absorption of calcium, magnesium and zinc.  Likewise, all grains will cause the pH of our body to become more acidic which is known to cause inflammation.

Limiting the intake of grains is a great solution for reducing inflammation.  In the next few weeks I’ll discuss other strategies.

Weight Loss

Certainly there are several effective strategies out there to help with weight loss and promote a healthy way of eating.  I came across this recent study and wanted to share it with you to prevent self-sabotage when it comes to preventing weight gain.

Researchers from Northwestern University have found that eating at the wrong time leads to more than twice as much weight gain as when eating at appropriate times.  These findings were consistent in all the subjects studied.  So what is the wrong time to eat?  Apparently eating after dark is the problem. While still uncertain to the ultimate cause, they believe that metabolism slows at night in response to darkness and circadian rhythms in the body. Calories taken in after dark will not be burned up and will be moved to storage instead.  While we all have different sleep patterns, nighttime is a time for rest and for the body to repair and recharge.  Regardless what time you actually go to sleep, at night your thyroid functions at a lower level dropping your body temperature, lowering your metabolism and encouraging sleep.  This lowered thyroid function and metabolism is likely the cause of this dramatic difference in weight gain at night.

I suspect many of us are guilty of late dinners and evening snacks, but hopefully knowing that these habits deliver twice the punch will make us all modify our habits and plan meals accordingly.  

What Would You Pay for Optimal Health

What would you pay for a pill if you knew it was guaranteed to slow or even stop your brain from aging?  Well, there is no such pill, but the great news is that based on recent information, you don’t need a pill and it doesn’t cost anything to maintain healthy mental function.  Researchers have determined that the primary thing you need to do for your brain is to exercise your body!

Physical exercise is an essential of wellness.  Most people are aware that exercise is critical for maintaining weight, lowering blood pressure, improving sleep, decreasing stress, decreasing pain and even preventing many cancers.  But if these benefits are still not enough to get you going, one 2008 study showed that just walking briskly for 45 minutes three days per week improved “mental fitness” in just six months time. 

A similar study released last September showed that 20 minutes of any exercise per day resulted in improved cognitive function and memory.  The best part of this study was that these benefits persisted even 12 months after exercise had been discontinued!

Regardless of your reasons, the message here is that exercise works and the results are long-lasting.  If you’re not exercising now, it’s time to start.  This study and most others suggest that you need to commit to at least 120 minutes of exercise per week in order to get the best results.

Good luck and always remember that your body was designed to be self-healing.  Practice a healthy lifestyle and let health happen.

Managing Inflammation Naturally

Inflammation is critical for the healing of wounds, fighting infections, and responding to toxic exposures. But like a double-edged sword, inflammation is also a biochemical response that can become too much of a good thing. Unfortunately, if certain substances in our bodies become unbalanced, the inflammation switch can be flipped "on" at the wrong time or get stuck in overdrive even though it is no longer needed.

When inflammation occurs, it can be seen externally as swelling or a rash. But a more dangerous kind is that which can occur internally. If it persists and becomes chronic, it can cause damage to organs or organ systems. Diseases in which inflammation plays a role are heart disease (see my last post), stroke, Alzheimer’s, Fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, cancers, arthritis, gingivitis and other “itis” disorders.

The Diet: A Primary Driving Force of Inflammation

Since the prevalence of these conditions can be correlated with and related to our increased diets of nutrient-depleted, calorie-rich convenient foods, it is possible to end the inflammation process with a change in diet. Saturated and trans-fats, refined sugars, processed meats, and artificial sweeteners all shift the balance of chemicals in our bodies toward inflammation by driving inflammatory chemicals like arachadonic acid. Inflammation increases oxidation; oxidation leads to degeneration; degeneration leads to more inflammation; and so goes the vicious cycle.

The Conventional Approach
The conventional therapy for inflammation – pharmaceuticals - has been a tragic failure. The FDA stated that as many as 50,000 people died as a direct result of taking Vioxx, and the 16th leading cause of death in the U.S. are the side effects of non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs like Ibuprofen.1 Thankfully, there are natural alternatives that fight inflammation without dangerous side effects.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids
One group of dietary nutrients enjoying much publicity as it pertains to inflammation and other health benefits are the omega fatty acids. Don’t be confused by the wording here. Omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory because they displace arachadonic acid and other inflammatory chemicals, while omega-6 acids can actually drive inflammation. Proper balance is the key. We already get too many omega-6 fatty acids in the diet, but dangerously low levels of omega-3s. Dietary sources of omega-6 fatty acids would be meat, eggs, dairy, and certain vegetable oils such as the ones found in corn, safflower, and sunflower. Foods rich in omega-3’s include oily fish such as herring, sardines, tuna, mackerel and salmon (preferably wild); oils made from these fish; hemp, flax, pumpkin seeds, soy, canola oil, and walnuts and their oils. Also, non-starchy vegetables such as dark leafy salad greens, spinach, kale, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, and onions also have small amounts of omega-3 fatty acids.

A healthy ratio of these two fatty acids would be 1:1, or at most 5:1 in favor the omega-6s. However, the ratio in the typical American diet is more than 20:1 in favor of the omega-6 fats. This unfavorable ratio shifts the body toward a chronic inflammatory state which can set the stage for many chronic conditions.

Scientists were first alerted to the importance of omega-3 fatty acids in the 1970s when Danish researchers discovered that Greenland Eskimos suffered almost no heart disease, cancer, or arthritis in spite of eating diets very high in animal protein and fat. Most of the foods they were eating, it was later discovered, was rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and two omega-3 fatty acids in particular - Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

While altering the diet is paramount, we can also achieve more therapeutic levels of omega-3 fatty acids by supplementing with purified fish oil. Some research suggests taking as much as 4 grams per day of fish oil for cardiovascular disease, and 8 grams for neurological diseases. It is nearly impossible to get that much omega-3 fatty acids from the diet alone, so supplementing becomes necessary as a way to manage these types of problems.

The benefits of fish oil supplementation enjoy one of the broadest and largest bodies of evidence of any therapeutic substance, pharmaceutical or natural. In fact, fish oil supplementation has been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks by up to 90%2 (see graph below), and increase IQ scores by up to 13%3.

The Problem of ContaminationThe FDA has stated that a 132-pound woman eating two cans of albacore tuna per week would exceed safe dose ranges of mercury by 3 times! Unfortunately, one of God’s most healthful foods for human consumption has been contaminated by various toxins and heavy metals. For this reason, eating fatty fish must be limited, and this emphasizes the importance of supplementing with fish oil capsules.

However, fish oil supplementation does not necessarily solve the problem, as fish oil supplements can be MORE toxic than eating fish if manufacturers do not take the necessary steps to remove all the contaminants through an ultra-purification molecular distillation process, and then by following that process up by paying a laboratory to perform a third-party analysis verifying that the oils are contaminant free.

The Journey of a Thousand MilesIt has been said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. The first step in beginning a life free of inflammation and vitality-sapping degeneration begins with lifestyle. The importance of exercising, eating healthfully, and losing weight cannot be overstated. And in the context of eating right, since even the healthiest Western diets are so deficient in omega-3 fatty acids, supplementing with high quality fish oil must be considered part of the first step.
__________________________________________

Robbins, Andy. "Managing Inflammation Naturally." Web blog post. Quantum Health. 28 June, 2008

References:

1. Wolfe M M, Lichtestein D R, and Singh G. Gastrointestinal Toxicity of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs. New England Journal of Medicine 1999;(24):188-89.

2. Lawrence J. Whalley, Helen C. Fox, Klaes W. Wable, John M. Starr, Iae J. Deary. Cognitive Aging, Childhood Intelligence, and the Use of Food Supplements: Possible Involvement of n-3 Fatty Acids. Am J Clin Nutr 2004; 50:1650-7

3. Adapted from Siscovich et al. JAMA 1995;274: 1363-1367

Inflammation Worse for Heart Than Cholesterol

Worse than cholesterol?

That might be difficult to believe, but the top health concern of millions of Americans is about to be trumped by what medical researchers say is an even bigger trigger of heart attacks.

The condition is low-grade inflammation, which may originate in a variety of unlikely places throughout the body, including excess fat. New federal recommendations are being written that will urge doctors to test middle-aged and older Americans for it. The discovery of its surprising ill effects is causing a top-to-bottom re-thinking of the origins and prevention of heart trouble.

Conventional doctors call it a revolutionary departure from viewing the world's top killer as largely a plumbing problem blamed on cholesterol-clogged arteries, which is the standard theoryin modern cardiology.

"The implications of this are enormous," says Dr. Paul Ridker of Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital. "It means we have an entire other way of treating, targeting and preventing heart disease that was essentially missed because of our focus solely on cholesterol."

In the past few years the evidence has become overwhelming that inflammation hidden deep in the body is a common trigger of heart attacks, even when plaquing in the arteries is minimal. Inflammation can be measured with a generic $10 test that looks for high levels of a chemical called C-reactive protein (CRP), one of many that increase during inflammation.

While measuring cholesterol is still an important consideration, it is noteworthy that half of all heart attack victims have levels that are normal or even low. Clearly, something big has been missing from the equation, and that something appears to be inflammation.

Ridker estimates that between 25 million and 35 million seemingly healthy middle-aged Americans have normal cholesterol but above-average inflammation, putting them at unusual risk of heart attacks and strokes. A series of landmark studies by his team beginning in 1997 suggest that inflammation is a better predictor of heart attacks than cholesterol. They found those with high levels of CRP have double the risk of people with elevated cholesterol. High amounts of CRP also predict increased risk of heart attacks and strokes years before they occur, even when cholesterol levels are low.

Having both inflammation and high cholesterol together is especially ominous, resulting in a NINE-FOLD increase in risk.

Nearly everyone who reaches middle age has at least some degree of fatty buildup, known as plaque, in the arteries. The new evidence suggests it becomes threatening if weakened by inflammation, which makes it squishy and fragile. Even a small lump of plaque can burst, prompting the formation of a clot that in turn chokes off blood flow and causes a heart attack or stroke.

Many people with no outward signs of anything wrong have high levels of internal inflammation. It is exactly the same sort that causes swelling, heat, and redness during infections or allergic rashes.

Researchers believe the internal inflammation has many possible sources. Often, the plaque itself becomes inflamed as immune cells invade the area in a defense response. But inflammation that arises elsewhere apparently can be just as bad, because it bombards the plaque with damaging chemicals.

For example, fat cells churn out these inflammatory mediators, which is one of many reasons why being overweight is so bad for the heart. Fat cells, or adipocytes, are now being referred to as “endocrine organs” by researchers because of their ability to “talk” to the rest of body through inflammatory mediators, and the language they speak is one of alarm. Being overweight sets off an ongoing state of alarm throughout the body through the production of inflammatory chemicals, and they in turn can cause muscle tissue breakdown and a catabolic snowball process that leads to more inflammation, more production of fat cells, and an accelerated rate of aging and degeneration through increased oxidation.

Other possible triggers of CRP include high blood pressure, smoking and lingering low-level infections such as chronic gum disease.

Although many chemicals increase during inflammation, CRP is particularly easy to measure. Many doctors believe that CRP should measured in everyone over age 40, just like cholesterol, regardless of their other risk factors like cholesterol or high blood pressure.

"It begins to look like a standard risk factor that one would evaluate at least once in middle age in most people," says Dr. Wayne Alexander of Emory University. "This is a very important concept for the general public to be aware of and to think about for their own health."

"We believe the niche for C-reactive protein - and it is a large niche - is the healthy population who want to do what they can to lower their risk of cardiovascular disease," says Dr. Richard Cannon of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

Screening is important because inflammation can be readily lowered in several ways. One of the most powerful is losing weight. Exercise also helps, as does moderating alcohol intake, giving up smoking and lowering one’s blood pressure. Thus, doctors are likely to urge these habits for people with high CRP readings who until now would have seemed to be at no special risk of heart problems.

"In the last decade, people talked about their cholesterol levels," Dr. Cannon says. "In the next decade, the cocktail chatter will be, 'What's your C-reactive protein?' Everyone will need to know that."

Robbins, Andy.  "Inflammation Worse for Heart Than Cholesterol."  Web blog post.  Quantum Health.  23 June, 2008

5 Super-Foods that are Probably Already in Your Cupboard

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

5 Super-Foods that are Probably Already in Your Cupboard

When considering the typical American diet full of fried foods, nutritionally-flawed fast food, and the ever-increasing amount of sugar and chemical additives, it leaves one wondering how in the world anyone lives to a ripe old age!

It turns out that hidden in the typical western diet of highly-toxic processed foods are wonders of nature that you'd never suspect are really health foods.
Here, then, is a short list of the five most powerful health-enhancing foods that don't seem like health foods but which are quite possibly already in your cupboard – foods that help to ward off disease even when the rest of the diet is not so healthy.

#1 - Mustard
Mustard, believe it or not, is a medicinal paste made from the seed of the mustard plant. It's a superfood that's been around for at least 5,000 years, and it's one of the few common sources of the anti-carcinogen, selenium, a trace mineral often absent from our produce because of over-farmed soil.
Mustard is known to help in reducing migraines, and it's a natural anti-fungal and antiseptic. Another benefit of mustard is that it's never made with MSG or yeast extract. Mustard products -- even conventional products from non-health-food companies -- are still very healthful to consume.

#2 - Cole Slaw
Cole slaw is made out of one of the most powerful natural medicines in the food kingdom: raw cabbage.

Raw cabbage is a proven cure for stomach ulcers. It's also an amazing anti-cancer food that can help prevent (or even reverse) many types of cancer. Cabbage has been one of the most medicinal foods ever consumed in the history of mankind. It's also good for you even when cooked, such as in the case of cabbage soup, or fermented, such as in sauerkraut.

Cabbage is rich in indole-3-carbinol (I3C), one of its many anti-cancer nutrients.
It's best to make your own cole slaw at home, but if you purchase store-bought cole slaw, be sure to avoid processed ingredients often used in cheaper cole slaw recipes, such as high-fructose corn syrup and canola oil (which is often GMO).

#3 - Cinnamon, cloves, rosemary, paprika and other spices
Nearly all the pungent cooking spices are actually powerful medicines.

Cinnamon, for example, helps regulate blood sugar in diabetics. Cinnamon is also a powerful anti-microbial agent (i.e. it kills bad bacteria).
Cloves are the No. 1 source for the highest density of antioxidants found in the entire food supply. Yes, cloves have a higher ORAC value (an antioxidant score) than any other food or spice.

Rosemary is a great source of antioxidants as well, and is also a powerful digestive tonic, anti-inflammatory, and internal detoxification herb.
Ginger is legendary as an immune-boosting, circulation-enhancing tonic herb that's also fantastic for beating winter colds and flu. Ginger even works to relieve muscle pain!

If you like curry, then you'll be glad to know that turmeric, the main ingredient in curry, is also an amazing source of natural medicines. It's a powerful anti-cancer as well as an anti-inflammatory medicine.
In Southern and Midwestern cuisine, barbeque sauce is a surprisingly good source of bitter alkaloids and health-enhancing spices (often including mustard and paprika), but this is only true with the rich, homemade sauces, not the highly-processed super-market sauces, which are usually loaded with sweeteners.

Nearly all the common spices you find in grocery stores are medicinal foods.

#4 - Raisins
Raisins may not sound unusually healthy, but if you think about what they really are, it becomes obvious how powerful they can be as a health food. Raisins are dried grapes, of course, meaning they contain all the natural phytonutrients of grape skins.

Remember: Most of the phytonutrients in grapes is found in the skin. This is why it's so important to buy only organic raisins, because grapes sprayed with fungicides have low levels of resveratrol – one of the most powerful of all the nutrients found in grapes. Organic grapes have the highest levels of resveratrol.

Raisins are also very high in naturally-occurring antioxidants, making them a fantastic overall source of nutrition.

#5 - Common nuts: Walnuts, pecans, peanuts, etc.
Once again, nuts may not be on your list of the healthiest foods, but they probably should be. Walnuts are an amazing natural medicine that helps reduce the risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular disease. They're very high in natural antioxidants and also help reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Pecans boost brain protection and also help lower cholesterol levels. Almonds are now being widely used to make almond milk (a natural anti-cancer milk beverage) and almond butter, and even the common peanut is now making a comeback as a health food.

Just remember: When you buy nuts, raw is best because heat processing destroys the phytonutrients found in foods. Avoid "salted" nuts because they're almost always salted with toxic sodium chloride (simple table salt). Avoid "flavored" nuts because they almost always are made with MSG flavor enhancers such as yeast extract or autolyzed proteins. Just look for plain, simple, unsalted nuts.

So there you have it: Five simple and common foods that you probably didn’t know were healthy super foods.

Vitamin D: A Deficiency Pandemic

Dr. Michael Holick, MD, of Boston University and author of The Vitamin D Solution, says that vitamin D deficiency is epidemic throughout the USA through all age groups. In fact, 75% of US teens and adults are deficient. Unless you live south of the 30th parallel, which runs along the panhandles of Florida and Texas, it is very difficult to get enough vitamin D from the sun, especially in the winter months, because the sun never gets high enough in the sky for the ultraviolet rays to penetrate the atmosphere. Furthermore, less and less people get out in the sun because of inside activities and entertainment. Kids and teenagers, for example, once active outdoors, find more reasons to stay indoors than to go outside because of digital entertainment. Similarly, the elderly rarely get enough sun exposure because of inactivity. Thus, it has become important to supplement this important nutrient even during summer months, since serum levels of most patients tested will be woefully inadequate all throughout the year, and because nearly every disease has a vitamin D deficiency connection. 

While supplementation seems to be the answer, a Boston study found the 36% of young adults 18-29 years old had vitamin D levels below 20 ng/mL at the end of winter in spite of consuming fortified milk or a multivitamin daily. Furthermore, an article appearing in JAMA (Feb. 11, 2013) indicated that researchers found that OTC vitamin D supplements from a dozen manufacturers tested at a range that was as low as 52% of their advertised vitamin D content. Duffy MacKay, vice president of the scientific and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) in Washington, DC - a trade group representing supplement manufacturers and ingredient suppliers, said that "there is no excuse for supplements to deviate from their labels." Yet, this goes on in the industry routinely because there are no FDA regulatory standards on supplement label claims. That is where GMP certified products that are tested both internally and externally ensures products that do not deviate from label claim.


The Vitamin D Council has recently raised their supplement recommendations from a minimum of 4,000 IUs per day to 5,000. Hence, active people might consider supplementing at least 1,000 IUs per day during the summer months if they get outside regularly, and more if they are less active. During the winter months, it is not unreasonable to supplement as much as 10,000 IUs per day, and more if serum levels are extremely low. 

Robbins, Andy.  "Vitamin D: A Deficiency Pandemic."  Web blog post.  Quantum Health.  28 June, 2013