The Hidden Dangers of Chronic Inflammation

Over the past century science has made great progress in many areas of medicine. One hundred years ago, the top three causes of death came from infectious germs: pneumonia and flu, tuberculosis, and gastrointestinal infections. Today few of us die from contagions; the top causes of death are noncommunicable illnesses that are largely preventable: cerebrovascular disease, heart disease, and cancer. Sadly, while we’ve made some strides in reducing the rates of some of these chronic ill nesses thanks to better prevention and pharmaceuticals, not much has revolutionized my field: averting and treating brain disorders. And these present some of the biggest challenges in medicine.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, also known simply as ADHD, has been diagnosed in more than 4 percent of American adults and well over 6 million American children, and an astounding two-thirds of these children are taking mind-altering medications, the long-term consequences of which have never been studied. In fact, 85 percent of the ADHD medicines used across the entire planet are used in America.

Despite our vast knowledge in medicine today, especially compared to what we knew a century ago, the development of disease within the context of the human body still remains puzzling–even to the most educated, brilliant individuals who stay on top of the scientific literature.

There a lot we’ve figured out: We’ve cracked the human genome code, our DNA; we’ve developed advanced diagnostic tools and revolutionized treatments; and we’ve produced vaccines, antibiotics, and other antidotes to combat known invaders. But in the face of all this, we can struggle mightily to understand why one person dies relatively young while another lives vig orously past ninety. Or why one individual looks 65 at the age of 85, and another appears to be in her 50s when she’s really barely 40. We’ve all heard of the athlete with no documented risk factors for coronary artery disease who dies suddenly of a heart attack; the lung cancer victim who never smoked; and the slim health-nut who is diagnosed with diabetes or early onset dementia.

The problem with inflammation is that it can become chronic. A water hose turned on momentarily to extinguish a small fire is one thing; but leave the hose on indefinitely, and you’ve got another problem on your hands. Millions of people are besieged by an inflammatory process that’s always in the “on” mode. Their immune systems have been permanently keyed up, but they won’t necessarily feel it as they would if they had a laceration or sore throat. This type of inflammation is systemic – it’s a slow-boil full-body disturbance that is usually not confined to one particular area. The bloodstream allows it to spread to every part of the body; hence, we have the ability to detect this kind of pervasive inflammation through blood tests.

Many of the biological substances produced as a result of inflammation are injurious to cells, leading to cellular dysfunction and destruction. It’s no wonder that the leading scientific research shows that chronic systemic inflammation is a fundamental cause of the morbidity and mortality associated with all manner of disease and virtually every chronic condition you can imagine. Even your mood is affected by inflammation. One of the first things I hear from people I put on my protocol is that it has more than a physiological impact; it has a tremendous psychological effect, too. And new science tells us that mood disorders as severe as depression are, in fact, rooted in inflammation – not necessarily in low or misbehaving brain chemicals.

Throughout human evolution, and for the greater part of the last 2.6 million years, our ancestors’ diets consisted of wild game and seasonal fruits and vegetables. We sought fat as a calorie-dense food source. It kept us lean and served us well in our hunter-gatherer days. In fact, we consumed a diet estimated to contain as much as ten times more fat than our current intake. Today most people fear dietary fat, equating the idea of eating fat to being fat.

Obesity and its metabolic repercussions have almost nothing to do with dietary fat consumption and everything to do with an addiction to carbs. People continue to gravitate toward “fat free,” “low-fat,” “multigrain,” and “whole grain” labels, foods that contain ingredients whose downstream effects assault the brain and body.

Eating carbohydrates stimulates insulin production, which leads to fat production, fat retention, and a reduced ability to burn fat (much more on insulin shortly). Dietary fat does not do this. What’s more, as we consume carbohydrates, we trigger an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase that tends to drive fat into the cell the insulin secreted when we consume carbohydrates makes matter. worse by triggering enzymes that promote fat storage.

The same is true of cholesterol: Eating foods high in cholesterol has no impact on our actual cholesterol levels, and the alleged correlation between higher cholesterol levels and higher cardiac risk is untrue. We have been consuming animal protein and saturated fat for the past 100,000 generations. Yet we’ve been told that saturated fat is dangerous. The fact that approximately 50 percent of the fat in human breast milk is saturated should go a long way to highlight the value and importance of saturated fat.

Source : The Grain Brain Whole Life Plan: Boost Brain Performance, Lose Weight, and Achieve Optimal Health by David Perlmutter, Kristin Loberg

Goodreads : https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29214704-the-grain-brain-whole-life-plan