Is Being Fat Your Fault? – Part 1Meet the Real Culprits: Leptin Resistance & InflammationHave you ever had the feeling, as you looked at the weighing scale or tried buttoning up your jeans, that there is something wrong with your body? Some stubborn disorder that simply refused to let you shed your excess weight? If you have tried (in vain) to lose weight, or if you have found your healthy intentions sabotaged by sugar cravings and starch binges, you are not alone. You are not helpless, weak or out of control. You are simply suffering from a chemical imbalance; a chemical imbalance you can correct simply by cutting out the wrong foods and begin to eat the right ones.
The problem comes when this ability is disrupted, most often by a condition known as inflammation. Inflammation contributes to conditions like arthritis, asthma, allergies and colitis. Many scientists also suspect that it plays a key role in heart diseases, atherosclerosis and cancer. But there’s another condition that some scientists now realize is caused by inflammation – obesity. This is because inflammation triggers *leptin resistance, which in turn contributes to a sluggish metabolism, unchecked cravings and eventually unwanted pounds. *Leptin is a protein hormone produced by fat cells which enters the blood stream and travels to the brain, where a high level of leptin in the blood tells the brain that you have sufficient energy reserves or that your energy reserves are too high and that the body needs to burn off some fat. Leptin plays an important role in regulating both appetite and metabolism. Inflammation is part of your body’s response to many different types of stress, including infection and injury. Sometimes inflammation creates visible signs and symptoms: redness, swelling, heat and pain. It is often visible only on a cellular level so that you and your doctor may not even be aware of it. Recent research has found 2 new causes of inflammation – the type of food you eat and excess weight. Inflammation disrupts your body’s natural weight regulation system. As a result, you gain weight. The excess fat creates more inflammation, making the extra weight unusually difficult to lose. This results in a vicious cycle of weight gain. The weight gain will worsen the condition that caused you to put on weight in the first place. How Obesity Creates Inflammation Obesity is a direct cause of inflammation in at least 2 major ways. First, some of the hormones produced by fat cells (called adipokines) set off your body’s inflammatory response. The more body fat you have, the more inflammatory adipokines you will produce, particularly TNF-alpha (tumor necrosis factor alpha) and IL-6 (interleukin-6), which are produced by fat cells as well as cells of the immune system. TNF is known for producing the tissue damage and pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune conditions. It can also interfere with the operation of insulin and is a major contributor to insulin resistance. IL-6 is closely related to TNF and is associated with arthritis and heart disease.
Whenever a pro-inflammatory cytokine enters a cell, the cell releases a key group of anti-inflammatory chemicals called SOCS: suppressors of cytokine signaling. As their name suggests, SOCS molecules suppress inflammatory cytokines, but they also interfere with leptin. Instead of allowing that hormone to suppress appetite and speed up metabolism, SOCS molecules disable that signal. Leptin resistance occurs and leads to weight gain. Leptin resistance is such a significant factor in weight gain that a recent Swedish study found that leptin-resistant men in a weight-loss program actually gained weight over the course of the study, even as their fellow participants were able to slim down. Extra fat produces chronic, low grade inflammation. The chronic inflammation produces a chronic anti-inflammatory response from your SOCS molecules. The SOCS response stops leptin from controlling your weight. So your weight goes up, which causes more inflammation. And the cycle starts all over again. For every person, the cycle can start in a different way:
Plus Life’s Anti-inflammatory Trio:
Breaking the Myths about Fat MYTH #1: Fat is bad for you! Eating as little fat as possible. MYTH #2: Fats are not the problem, carbs are. Eat as much fat as you want, and cut back on the carbs. Many types of fat are inflammatory. Saturated fat (found primarily in meat, poultry and dairy products) has powerful direct and indirect pro-inflammatory effects that can be measured after only a meal. We can also correlate levels of inflammation with the overall level of saturated fat in a person’s diet. You can suffer from fat-related inflammation without necessarily having symptoms, though many people experience heartburn, bloating, fatigue, acne, and in addition to joint and muscle pain on a high fat diet. In some cases, these symptoms clear up on a low-carb diet – but as long as you are eating large amounts of saturated fat, your inflammation will persist regardless of your symptoms. So do not be fooled. Eating a diet high in saturated fat guarantees that you will suffer from inflammation as well as leptin resistance and obesity. Fats are very calorie-dense. Whereas proteins and carbs contain about 4 calories per gram, fats contain 9 calories. So the low carbs approach is right about one thing: if you are going to lose or maintain weight on a high-fat diet, you have got to cut way back on the carbs; otherwise you will be eating too many calories. But cutting out nuts and seeds, fruits, beans and starchy vegetables mean that you are depriving yourself of the fiber and many vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that your body needs to stay healthy. The moment you get tired of eating such restricted diet and add some carbs back into your daily intake, the combination of carbs and high calorie fat will cause you to gain back any weight you lost on the more restricted aspects of the plan. Meanwhile all the bad fats you have eaten such as those found in meat, bacon, butter and cream- have inflamed your body, setting you up for the leptin resistance that will make future weight loss and weight maintenance very difficult. Get to know your Fats! Saturated fats: If you eat lean meat and some seafood, you will be filling up your quota of saturated fats. Avoid butter, cream, margarine and shortening. If you consume high fat food such as bacon or chicken skin, you will easily overdose on saturated fats which will tend to promote weight gain, inflammation and cardiovascular problems. Monounsaturated fats: You need a moderate amount of these friendly fats to help you digest and absorb anti-inflammatory nutrients, many of which are fat-soluble. Monounsaturated fats appear to be beneficial and their consumption is associated with decreased rate of heart disease and related problems. Polyunsaturated fats: There are 2 types; omega-3s and omega-6s.The amount of omega-3 you need is partly determined by how much omega-6 you consume. Ideally, your ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s should be 4:1, so make sure you are eating at least one fourth as much omega-3 as omega-6 fat. The more omega-3 fats you consume relative to omega-6 fats, the better. Fats to Avoid: Trans Fat Plus Life’s Weight Management Series:
Understanding the power of Omegas Scientific understanding of the many roles played by omega-3 fats in the body has advanced considerably since 1990s. In fact, we are just beginning to understand the many anti-inflammatory cellular effect of omega-3 fats. You do not need much omega-3 fat to ensure that this nutrient accomplishes its tasks. Only about 1 percent of your total calories need to come from omega-3 fat (about 1.5 to 2.5 grams a day). However, this small amount of omega-3 is only enough if you are not eating too much omega-6 fats. Omega-6 fats compete with omega-3 fats for transport into cells and can crowd omega-3s out of the way, taking their place in the body’s metabolic processes and keeping the body from making use of them. The more omega-6s there are, the more omega-3s you need in order to offset the competition. It is not just how much fat you eat; the proportion of different types of fat are also highly important. Research has shown that fish oil supplements are helpful for people with heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, dysmenorrheal and depression, so if you are suffering from any of these conditions, you might consider taking supplement fish oil. Symptoms that you might benefit from omega-3 supplementation:
If you are allergic to fish or you have other reasons for not consuming fish or fish oils, you can substitute with flaxseed oil. Women should use flaxseed oil with a high lignin content, which may help prevent development of breast cancer. Plus Life’s Essential Fats Series:
The Truth About Carbohydrates and The Key to Choosing Your Carbs First, let us define carbohydrates. They are a form of hydrated (watery) carbon: a combination of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Animal foods, with the exception of milk, are almost devoid of carbohydrates. Virtually all our dietary carbs come from plant foods: fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains. Breaking the Myths about Carbohydrates MYTH #1: Carbohydrates are divided into 2 categories: simple and complex. The simple carbs are bad for you; the complex carbs are good. Would it surprise you to realize that white flour (most of us agree that is not particularly healthful or conducive to weight loss) actually contains complex carbohydrates? After all, it is a starchy food. The starch in white flour is not good for either your health or your weight, but it IS complex – exactly as complex as the starch found in whole grains or unrefined flour. You can see why this distinction is not very helpful as far as diet is concerned. Both white rice and brown rice contain complex carbs (starches rather than sugars). Yet a processed grain of white rice comes in a fiberless kernel with very few nutrients while a natural grain of brown rice comes encased in fiber – a vital component of a healthy diet, along with B vitamins and other nutrients. It is not enough to look at the carb’s complexity; you have to look at its package. The simple carbs found in carrots and berries are both more nutritious and supportive of weight loss than the complex carbs found in flour and potatoes. That is because the carbs found in carrots and berries come in a package that is rich in nutrients (especially anti-inflammatory nutrients), while flour and potatoes are deficient in anti-inflammatory nutrients. You can also use color as a basic rule of thumb. Generally the most intensely colored fruits and vegetables are the most nutritious and the ones that give you the most in terms of the nutrient to calorie ratio. MYTH #2: Carbohydrates can be divided into 2 categories: low glycemic and high glycemic. The low glycemic carbs are good for your health and weight; the high glycemic carbs are bad. A food that potentially inspires a quick upsurge of blood sugar is considered high glycemic; a food whose effect on blood sugar is slower is considered low glycemic. But having said this, we have not really gone very far toward making healthy food choices. For example, did you know that carrots rate higher on the glycemic index than candy bars? That is because the fat in a candy bar modifies the candy’s effect on blood sugar causing a slower rise. Despite their higher rating on the index, carrots do not give you a quicker blood sugar surge than candy, because carrots are mostly water. So no doctor in the world would advise patients to eat candy bars and avoid carrots. It is not as though the glycemic index tells us nothing of value. Studies have shown that the more foods you consume that score high on the glycemic index, the more you are to have high CRP levels, indicating increased inflammation. But much of the effect noted in these studies was due to foods like white bread, white rice, so we are talking about foods that are also low in fiber and other nutrients. You do not need to know the glycemic index to know that these ‘white’ foods are not a good basis for a healthy diet. So the glycemic index is a pretty rough guide to choosing foods but it should not be your major focus. Fiber and Phytonutrients: The Key to Choosing Your Carbs
Phytonutrients refers to nutrients found primarily in plants that can profoundly influence the function of the cells in your body. They include carotenoids and flavonoids (also known as bioflavonoids). Carotenoids and flavonoids are pigments that give color to food: yellow to deep purple (flavonoids) or pale yellow to bright red (carotenoids). The best-known carotenoid is beta-carotene; the pigment that makes carrots orange and that helps your body make vitamin A. Tomatoes are a rich source of another carotenoid known as lycopene. Here are some other documented health benefits of phytonutrients-rich foods:
Healing Herbs Plus Life’s Phytonutrients Series:
Next month’s article:
Extracted from book ‘The Fat Resistance Diet’ by Dr Leo Galland, M.D. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Second, fat tends to attract a type of white blood cell known as a macrophages, which also produces inflammatory chemicals. Macrophages are scavenger cells, sometimes called the garbage collectors of the immune system (their job is to gobble up cellular debris). These scavengers seem to be drawn to body fat because fat cells (especially if you are obese) tend to leak and break open. Macrophages move into the leaky fat tissue to clean up the mess. Once embedded in your fat, macrophages begin spewing out inflammatory chemicals, most notably, the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-6.
Incomplete or partial hydrogenation produces polyunsaturated fatty acids that are relatively stiff and straight, like a saturated fatty acid, but which the body tries to treat as if they were unsaturated. This produces profound biochemical confusion in your body’s cells, making trans fat the most dangerous type of fat. The laboratory science made it clear that trans fat interfere with the way body utilizes essential fatty acids. In other words, no matter how many healthy omega-3s and omega-6s you consume, if you consume trans fat, you are undermining your own efforts at health and sabotaging your weight loss. In the famous Harvard Nurses’ Study, trans fat were found to be about twice as dangerous as saturated fats. Subsequent research showed that trans fats raise cholesterol to higher levels and promote inflammation, insulin resistance and leptin resistance. To make matters worse, a recent study discovered that trans fats tend to increase your waist size. Trans fats are very dangerous products that play no beneficial role whatsoever in human nutrition. In fact, they prevent your body from getting the nutrients it needs.
Fiber is an indigestible substance with no nutritional value, yet it is of vital importance to your health and your weight. Fiber is the bulky, fibrous material in fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and whole grains. It passes through your digestive tract without being absorbed. Fiber has a protective effect, because it seems to pick up the toxins and harmful bacteria that accumulate in your digestive tract and move these poisons out through your bowel movements. The consumption of fiber has been associated with a decreased incidence of heart attack and stroke, and a number of studies suggest it decreases the incidence of colon cancer and gallstones. Fiber also helps prevent constipation. You can find fiber in whole grains, nuts, vegetables and some fruits, including berries. Low fiber consumption contributes to many health problems. We have selected some fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds and eventually legumes and whole grains that will help you increase your fiber consumption (*refer table 1). The detoxifying properties of fiber can have a powerful anti-inflammatory effect. A study done at the U.S. government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta found that the less dietary fiber in a person’s diet, the higher the blood CRP levels were likely to be (CRP levels are a good indicator of inflammation).Home | About Us | Contact Us | Products | Testimonials | Promotions | Articles | Distributors | Healthcare Professionals | Payment |
