CHRONIC INFLAMMATION

In my previous two posts on "Root Cause of Arthritis and Other Diseases", it was stated that sugar and carbohydrate food are the main culprit in causing diabetes, heart disease, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, obesity, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, dementia, cancer and many other diseases.  It was also said that "modern wheat" is the worst carbohydrate because it causes blood sugar and insulin to rise rapidly.  It also has an addictive component called gliadin which stimulates appetite.  As explained earlier, the extra sugar molecules attaches itself to a variety of proteins which causes a reaction called glycation.  The glycated proteins are too big and sticky to get through blood vessels.  Eventually, this causes repeated injury to the blood vessel wall which then sets off chronic inflammation.

WHAT IS CHRONIC INFLAMMATION?

Now the most common type of inflammation is sudden and acute, such as when we get injured, the injured area swells, turns red and becomes tender to the touch.  This is a good kind of inflammation whereby our body's immune system will heal itself and then the problem goes away.  However, chronic inflammation is different.  It is a bad kind of inflammation and it does not go away.  It results in persistent swelling, stiffness or pain.  Sometimes we may not even experience any symptoms until the condition worsens.  A test which reveals a high blood level of C-reactive protein is an indicator of our body's overall inflammation.

Recently, I read an interesting article written by Dr. Dwight Lundell who was a heart surgeon with 25 years experience and had performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries. Lundell said that inflammation in the artery wall is the real cause of heart disease and other chronic ailments.  He reaffirmed that sugar, flour and all the products made from them are the biggest culprits of chronic inflammation.  This also includes the excess consumption of omega-6 vegetable oils such as soybean, corn and sunflower that are found in processed foods.  How does the inflammatory process work?  According to Lundell, it is as if you are rubbing a stiff brush repeatedly over soft skin until it becomes quite red and nearly bleeding.  If we kept this up several times a day, every day for five years and if we could tolerate this painful brushing, we would have a swollen infected area that became worse with each repeated injury.  It is also like taking sand paper to the inside of our delicate blood vessels if we spike our blood sugar level several times a day, every day.

How does eating a simple sweet roll creates a cascade of inflammation to make us sick?  Lundell explained that it does not only contain sugar but it is baked in one of the many Omega-6 oils such as soybean.  While Omega-6's are essential as they are part of every cell membrane controlling what goes in and out of the cell, it must be in the correct balance with Omega-3's.  If the balance shifts by consuming excessive Omega-6, the cell membrane produces chemicals called cytokines that directly causes inflammation.  To make matter worse, the excess weight we are carrying from eating these high carbohydrate food creates overloaded fat cells that pour out large quantities of pro-inflammatory chemicals that add to the injury caused by having high blood sugar.  So the more sugar, carbohydrate food and Omega-6 oils we consume, the more problem we will have with chronic inflammation.  The human body cannot process, nor was it designed to consume foods packed with sugars and soaked in Omega-6 oils.

HOW DOES CHRONIC INFLAMMATION AFFECT ARTHRITIS?

In Part 1 of my post on "Root Cause of Arthritis & Other Diseases", I wrote about Dr. William Davis who had written the Wheat Belly book. Davis writes that it is the same inflammation that issues from visceral fat of the wheat belly that also yields inflammation of the joints. The more wheat products we consume, the higher and more frequently blood glucose increases, the more glycation occurs. The cartilage in joints is uniquely susceptible to glycation as cartilage cells are extremely long-lived and are incapable of reproducing.  Once damaged, they do not recover.  If cartilage proteins, such as collagen and aggrecan, become glycated, they become abnormally stiff.  The damage of glycation is cumulative, making cartilage brittle and unyielding, eventually crumbling.  Joint inflammation, pain, and destruction results, the hallmarks of arthritis. 

It is evident now that the risk of arthritis is even greater for someone with visceral fat of the wheat belly variety, as evidenced by the threefold greater likelihood of knee and hip replacements in people with larger waist circumference.  It also explains why joints that don't bear the added weight of obesity, such as those in the hands and fingers, also develop arthritis.  Therefore, losing weight and thereby visceral fat, improves arthritis more than can be expected from just the decreased weight load.

So high blood sugars that encourage growth of a wheat belly, coupled with inflammatory activity in visceral fat cells and glycation of cartilage, lead to destruction of bone and cartilage tissue in joints.  Over years, it results in the familiar pain and swelling of the hips, knees and hands.

PRO-INFLAMMATION

Now that we know that sugar and carbohydrate foods are the real culprit of almost all diseases, its important for us to make better food choices.  In order to do that, we need to know that the problematic food which promotes inflammation are:-  

• Refined or granulated sugar (including sugary snacks made from them)
• High-fructose corn syrup which can be found in soda drinks, juices and many other products in supermarkets
• All types of flour made into bread, pasta, pizza, donuts, cookies, cakes, bagels, chapatis, noodles etc.
• Cereals
• Rice, grains and starches
• Potatoes
• Alcohol

According to Jack Challem, in his book called The Inflammation Syndrome, omega-6 fatty acids are essential for health but the modern diet provides far too much of it thereby, creating a biochemical setting that encourages chronic inflammation.  Vegetable cooking oils such as safflower, sunflower, corn, soybean, canola and peanut are processed cooking oils which are high in pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids.  They are also found in many processed and packaged foods including microwave meals, breakfast bars and salad dressings. Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils such as vegetable shortenings and hard margarine which contain trans fat are among the worst of these oils because they alter how our body processes fats. 

ANTI-INFLAMMATION

So what can we eat then?  Fresh, whole foods of course.  It is something that our ancestors ate until after World War II, where technologists invented frozen meals heralding the start of the convenience/fast-food revolution.  Soon afterwards, McDonalds and the fast-food industry became a great success.  The downside of fast and highly processed foods have resulted in increased obesity,  diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, cancer etc.  To make matters worse, most of us have been brought up without proper knowledge of food and nutrition.  So I think its time for us to re-learn about nutrition and add fresh, whole foods into our diets such as:-

• Vegetables including leafy greens which are rich in nutrients such as flavonoids and fibre
• Fruits within limits as some fruits such as mango, banana and pineapple are high in sugar content
• Nuts and seeds
• Meats (preferably grass-fed)
• Fish and seafood
• Eggs
• Cheese 
• Yogurt (unsweetened and unflavoured) and pickled vegetables for their natural probiotic
• Herbs and spices

Challem also advised that we should consume food or supplements rich in omega-3 fatty acids as they are anti-inflammatory.  This can be found in cold water fish, leafy green vegetables, flax seed and chia seeds.  We should also use good oils such as Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and Grape seed Oil.  However, these oils are more suitable for salads as they cannot withstand high heat. Palm fruit oil, butter and ghee are highly recommended for cooking with higher temperature. 

CONCLUSION

Based on all the information which I have gathered, I realised now why I have osteoarthritis since my 30's. You see, I was brought up on the typical high-carb and pro-inflammatory diet.  So naturally, we have a family history of  obesity, diabetes, kidney failure, heart disease, hypertension and arthritis.  But I don't blame my parents because they were ignorant about health, food and nutrition.  To make matters worse, I have continued to eat the way that I was eating before even as a married adult because I was also ignorant about food and nutrition.

Now that I have the knowledge, I decided to make a change.  I started living low-carb for four months plus now and never regretted a single moment. There is no counting of calories and no going hungry - just adding more fresh and nutritious food.   Even within this short period, the transformation were huge for me (check out my progress pictures in Part 1 of Root Cause of Arthritis  & Other Diseases). I have lost about 20 to 30 pounds and more than one dress size.  Acid reflux is almost gone and blood sugar level has reduced.  Body aches and pains have also reduced tremendously. My immune system has improved significantly so I hardly fall sick. And I have so much more energy. 

Do I still exercise?  Of course, I do.  But I have changed the way I exercised because of new improved information which is more practical and effective particularly for losing weight.  I learnt this from Jon Gabriel, the best weight loss guru that I have ever come across.  I exercised about 3 times a week for only 20 minutes each time.  The first 10 minutes, I do 20 second sprints of any cardio movement.  Then I do about 10 minutes of strength training and end up with a little bit of stretching.  I also enjoy listening to Jon Gabriel's recordings of visualisation on MP3 which is so calming and meditative.

In conclusion, I would like to say that nothing is going to change the unhealthy foods that are widely available everywhere.  The power is in our hands to make the change for our own health.  All it takes is a conscious effort in the beginning and subsequently, it becomes a natural way of healthy eating and living for the rest of our lives.