Behold, I Come Quickly: Inflammation

Showing posts with label Inflammation. Show all posts

Saturday, May 20, 2017

How grains destroy your skin

By Dr. Mercola May 17, 2017
You may prudently care for your skin each day, cleansing, exfoliating, moisturizing and hydrating. But, did you know that the sandwich you had at lunch may be doing more damage to your skin than skipping one of your nightly rituals?
Your skin is the largest organ in your body, responsible for temperature control, protection and excreting toxins to name just a few. Far from being an inactive covering for your internal organs, your skin is an intricate system of nerves, glands and cell layers that plays a fundamental role in your overall health and wellness.
If you want to protect your skin, age gracefully and reduce problem breakouts, it is time to care for your skin in the same way you care for your heart, control your weight and lift your mood. In other words, pay attention to the foods you eat every day.
Wheat is one of the grains in many of the processed foods at your grocery store that interferes with a healthy complexion and contributes to psoriasis and eczema outbreaks. Proteins in wheat are responsible for inflammation and changes to your gastrointestinal tract, nervous system and cardiovascular system.

Number of People with Gluten Sensitivity Rising

The extreme form of gluten sensitivity, celiac disease, affects people differently. Over 200 symptoms have been attributed to the condition. Approximately 3 million people in the U.S. suffer from celiac disease¹ and close to 20 million suffer from gluten sensitivity.² Dr. Alessio Fasano is the director for Celiac Research and the chief of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition at Massachusetts General Hospital. In a Celiac Disease Foundation blog, Fasano said: ³

"We also know that prevalence is rising and we're in the midst of an epidemic. Based on our study it seems that prevalence has doubled every 15 years in North America.

Why? I think it goes back to the microbiome. There are antibiotics, our diet has changed, we travel more. There have been so many changes in the past 50 years … We don't digest gluten completely, which is unlike any other protein. The immune system seems to see the gluten as a component of bacteria and deploys weapons to attack it, and creates some collateral damage we call inflammation."

In the press release announcing the publication of his new book, "Gluten Freedom," Fasano said: ⁴

"We've shown now that gluten sensitivity actually exists. It's moved from a nebulous condition that many physicians dismissed to a distinctly identifiable condition that's quite different than celiac disease. Gluten sensitivity affects six to seven times more people than celiac disease."

5 Skin Conditions Triggered by Grains

There are several different skin conditions associated with the changes that happen in your body when you eat wheat and other gluten-containing foods. Whether you have celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity, you are at higher risk for suffering these skin conditions when you eat gluten:

• Acne: This skin condition affects nearly 80 percent of all people between ages 11 and 30 in Western cultures.⁵ In contrast, the condition is virtually nonexistent in primitive societies. Hunter-gatherer communities in Paraguay were observed for three years, during which no acne on individuals were found.⁶
The type of symptoms from gluten sensitivity are different from celiac disease, but both include an increase in adult onset acne.⁷ Researchers have found a link between what you eat, how it affects your brain and your skin.⁸
• Atopic Dermatitis: Researchers have found that atopic dermatitis is three times more likely in people with celiac disease and two times more likely in families who have members with celiac disease.⁹
• Psoriasis and Eczema: Psoriasis is uncomfortable and sometimes disfiguring, while eczema is a term applied to a wide range of different rashes that are itchy, red and dry.
One-third of the U.S. population will experience eczema at some point in their lives. Prevalence at least doubled between 1995 and 2008. Eczema is driven in part by an allergic response and often linked to other allergic reactions, such as asthma, allergic rhinitis and acid reflux.¹⁰
Psoriasis often affects large areas of skin and is an immune reaction linked to grain proteins, namely gliadin. In a study published in the British Journal of Dermatology, participants who tested positive for antibodies to gliadin improved when they were placed on a gluten-free diet.¹¹
The National Psoriasis Foundation also recommends those with celiac disease or a gluten sensitivity adhere to a gluten-free diet to reduce or eliminate their symptoms.¹²
• Recurrent Aphthous Stomatitis (RAS): Although they appear similar on the surface, these mouth ulcers or canker sores are not related to cold sores caused by the herpes virus. They can be a minor annoyance or become so painful they inhibit eating and speaking. In a paper published in BMC Gastroenterology,¹³ the authors propose that RAS may be the only visual symptom of gluten sensitivity and recommend patients presenting with RAS are evaluated also for celiac disease.
• Vitiligo: In this skin condition, the pigment is lost, causing white patches to appear. Although not dangerous, it can have a profound effect on an individual's life. A case report of a 22-year-old young woman with vitiligo was published in Case Reports in Dermatology.¹⁴

After previously undergoing medical therapy without success, she was placed on a gluten-free diet. Partial, but rapid repigmentation occurred in the first month and stabilized after four months of remaining gluten-free. The authors suggest that diet modifications, including a gluten-free diet, should be considered for treatment of vitiligo. Read More

Monday, May 1, 2017

The food you eat directly affects your brain

Food is the best medicine. All your cells, bones, signaling molecules, and tissues are built from what you eat. For example, dietary fats are the building blocks of brain tissue and help balance hormones, and muscles are built from protein. Different vitamins and minerals are used to create energy and send electrical impulses along neurons so that we can move, think, and feel. A nourishing diet is the best strategy against depression.

The food we eat affects both our human and microbial cells. Numerous studies have shown that food changes the collection of trillions of beneficial bacteria in our guts, called the microbiome (1). In the name of convenience, flavor, or simply habit, so many of us consume inflammatory foods on a daily basis that increase intestinal permeability (leaky gut), harm the microbiome, and create chronic inflammation that can lead to depression.

Many studies have shown that people who eat an anti-inflammatory diet have significantly lower risks of depression (2-5). A recent study that tracked about 6,500 women over 12 years showed that women eating an anti-inflammatory diet had a 20% lower risk of developing depression than their peers (6). These anti-inflammatory diets consist of healthy fats, vitamins and antioxidants, and plenty of high-quality protein. On the other hand, many foods in the Standard American Diet (SAD) create chronic inflammation. These five inflammatory foods are the most frequent offenders I see when treating patients for depression:

Gluten

By now almost everyone has heard of gluten, the glue-like protein found in wheat. Grains like barley, rye, and contaminated oatmeal contain proteins that may be recognized by your body as gluten. Gluten and gluten-like proteins are some of the most inflammatory foods you can eat.

Many people think that gluten doesn’t affect them since they didn’t test positive for Celiac Disease. However, there are often false negatives on these tests because they don’t test for the full range of gluten proteins. Whether or not you have a diagnosed sensitivity to gluten, it isn’t doing you any favors, as it is almost exclusively present in processed foods.

Gluten drives inflammation by irritating the gut and gut microbes as well as intestinal tissues. This protein causes gut cells to produce a compound called zonulin, leading to intestinal permeability (or leaky gut). Gluten, which is a sticky protein, can also interfere with digestion by clumping together food particles. A recent study showed that gluten caused inflammation in gut cells of healthy volunteers, suggesting that gluten may cause adverse effects that can lead to depression in everyone (7).

Gluten consumption has been linked to depression, seizures, headaches, anxiety, nerve damage, and ADHD-like symptoms (8-10). Gluten has been linked to over 200 conditions, with neurotoxicity topping the list.

I’ve seen amazing recoveries from people who ditched the gluten – including myself. Gluten-free diets have helped people heal from too many seemingly hopeless diagnoses, like depression, to count!

Dairy

Believe me: I understand that dairy can be deeply pleasurable. Growing up in an Italian family, many of my fondest memories involve cheese, ice cream, ricotta, and yogurt. Science supports our attachment to dairy. On a molecular level, dairy contains morphine-like compounds which engage our opiate receptors and create mild dairy addiction (11).

A number of studies have shown that casein, a protein found in dairy products, can drive inflammation. Casein has been linked to several psychiatric conditions, ranging from schizophrenia to depression. Dairy may not be a problem for everyone, and some people can tolerate certain types of dairy, like raw milk. Fortunately, grassfed ghee is a wonderful substitute for butter.

If you’re suffering from symptoms of depression or anxiety, it’s worth eliminating dairy for 30 days and seeing how you feel. Some people are able to re-introduce dairy after a month off with no problems, while others totally lose their taste for it and even vomit when trying it again!

GMOs

Genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) have become a staple in the Standard American Diet. Beyond being a population-wide experiment in manipulating nature’s design, these foods, by definition, have been heavily treated with pesticides and herbicides. Since these chemicals have been designed to kill, it make sense that they’re quite toxic to our own human and microbial cells. Indeed, studies have shown that the common pesticide Roundup (glyphosate) causes cancer.

Alarmingly, these chemicals have been found in fetuses and breast milk, showing that the toxins used in modern farming are harming generations to come. Roundup is toxic to fetal cells and can lead to birth defects. This toxicant disrupts our microbiome, messing with the production of essential amino acids like tryptophan, absorption of minerals, and detoxification in the liver.

In addition to Roundup, the primary herbicide sprayed on GMOs like soy, GMOs also carry a variety of other toxicants that may be even more harmful in combination than alone. As even non-GMO foods can be contaminated with pesticides, I advise my clients, especially those suffering from depression, to eat organic.

Think eating organic is too expensive? Our Vital Mind Reset community support director, Shauna, has written an excellent article about eating healthy on food stamps!

Sugar and Artificial Sugar

Americans love sugar. The average American eats a staggering 164 pounds of sugar per year (12,13). Think about that for a moment. Even worse, sugar is highly addictive – the more we eat, the more we want.

Our bodies were not designed to handle the blood sugar and insulin roller coaster that many of us are on. Here’s how it goes: when you eat sugar, whether it’s in an obvious form like soda or a non-obvious form like pasta, your blood sugar increases quickly. This fast increase then spikes insulin. When insulin removes blood sugar, you then have a blood sugar crash, and cortisol comes in to compensate and try to move sugar out of storage and back into the bloodstream. This process, often called reactive hypoglycemia, is responsible for carb and sugar cravings (since your brain needs steady sugar to function), which leads to anxiety, headaches, irritability, and ultimately depression.

Overall, high blood sugar causes inflammation, which is one of the most significant risk factors for depression. Balancing blood sugar is one of the most effective treatments for depression and anxiety.

Sugar messes with our brain health in three main ways. First, sugar creates inflammation, often by spiking insulin and harming our gut microbiome. Next, sugar derails hormones, ultimately increasing levels of the stress hormone cortisol and disrupting the balance of sex hormones. Finally, sugar starves the brain and damages important structures in our bodies, like cell membranes and blood vessels (14). All this can lead to depression.

Because of all the research showing how harmful sugar is (15-18), food manufacturers have gotten creative with its naming. Don’t be fooled by code names like cane sugar, crystalline fructose, maltodextrin, high-fructose corn syrup – it’s all sugar.

It’s tempting to swap out sugar for artificial sweeteners. Artificial sugars, like aspartame and sucralose, are ‘zero calorie’ because they cannot be digested by the human body. But these chemicals don’t just pass through your body with no effect. Artificial sugars confuse hormones and change your microbiome. A high-profile scientific article showed that artificial sugar consumption leads to metabolic syndromes like insulin resistance and diabetes (19). Choose sweeteners that your body recognizes, like honey.

Vegetable Oils

The Standard American Diet contains large amounts of unhealthy fats, mostly in the form of commercial vegetable oils. Many processed foods, ranging from store-bought cookies to salad dressing, contain these oils. Vegetable oils include safflower oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, and canola oil. These oils are considered ‘processed’ because many high-heat and high-pressure steps, as well as chemical solvents, are required to create them. Further, many of these oils are made from GMOs.

For example, have you ever seen a canola plant? Canola oil, which has been touted as “heart healthy,” is derived from the Canadian rapeseed plant. Recognizing that “rape oil” was not a good marketing tactic, this invention was given a new name as a combination of “Canada” and “ola,” which means oil. Today, it is genetically modified by Monsanto to withstand saturation with Roundup herbicide (20, 21).

In short, our bodies do not recognize vegetable oils, especially when they’re heated and distorted. Consuming vegetable oils sounds the alarm of inflammation. Processed vegetable oils have been linked to thyroid dysfunction, cardiovascular diseases (22), nutrient deficiencies, cancer (23), and psychiatric disorders like depression (24, 25).

So what do I eat?!

I recommend that people give themselves 2-4 weeks to kick the sugar, gluten, and dairy habit. In this time, you can try non-GMO foods and healthier fats like olive oil and lard. People are amazed by how good they feel and how quickly their tastes change.

It’s can be overwhelming to try to overhauling your diet, and we’ve been led to seek quick and easy fixes. As someone who’s radically changed her diet and outlook on eating, I assure you that the deep commitment to yourself and your health is worth it. When you remove these inflammatory foods, you can more easily tap into your intuition to properly nourish yourself.

References

13.https://bamboocorefitness.com/not-so-sweet-the-average-american-consumes-150-170-pounds-of-sugar-each-year/

Kelly Brogan MD

What modern wheat is doing to your body

I am sure that the majority of you are well aware that processed, white, enriched wheat products contain zero nutritional value and are actually very bad for your health. What many don’t understand, however, is that products made with or containing whole wheat are actually no better for your health. In fact, all modern wheat will compromise health… end of story.

Our hunter-gatherer ancestors collected all they could from the ground for food including insects, berries, nuts, etc. In their gathering, they found that the animals were eating grass and they became curious. They broke it down and somehow incorporated wild wheat into their diet. This grass was called Einkorn and had only 14 chromosomes.

Wheat back then was different

Plants can mate with each other and combine chromosomes. At some point in time, the wild grass Einkorn mated with another type of wild grass and the offspring Emmer ended up with 28 chromosomes — this is the wheat that is mentioned in the Bible. However, this is not the wheat of today, that is for sure.

In the Middle Ages, bread was a staple and very common food. Emmer mated with another grass which contributed more chromosomes to result in Spelt, Triticum landraces with 42 chromosomes.

In 1960, when the threat of world population explosion was imminent, there was an investment made in agricultural research where lots of money and time were devoted to new ways to increase wheat yield. At this time, different strains of wheat were crossed over and over again to select certain characteristics and to introduce unique genes.

Scientists introduce high-yield strain of wheat

The government says to eat more wheat, despite health effects.

The resulting wheat yielded up to 10 times more per acre. When this wheat was introduced to many third world countries, famine was greatly reduced within one year. Dr. Norman Borlaug received the Nobel Peace prize for his work creating this high yield strain of wheat.

Because this wheat is so prolific, it has taken over almost all of the world’s wheat supply. There are also about a million acres of what is known as Clearfield Wheat being grown in the Pacific Northwest. It is a semi-dwarf strain of wheat that has had its seed and embryos exposed to a chemical, sodium azide, which is an industrial toxin.

Toxic chemicals in wheat

In fact, in the few cases of human ingestion, the Poison Control Center has warned people not to offer CPR because the person offering the CPR may also ingest the chemical and die. In addition, if the victim vomits, people are told not to put the vomit in the sink because it might explode. That is how dangerous this chemical really is.

The makers of Clearfield wheat claim that their product is a result of “enhanced, traditional plant breeding techniques,” making a distinction between genetically modified wheat. However, although no gene splicing techniques were used, many other methods were, such as the purposeful induction of mutations using chemicals, high dose x-ray and radiation techniques to induce mutations coupled with cross breeding. These methods are far worse than genetic modification, according to Dr. William Davis, author of the book “Wheat Belly.”

The government says to eat more wheat…

The government tells us that we need to eat more grain, meaning more wheat. Over 90 percent of all grain consumed is wheat. In the food pyramid, we are advised to eat 60 percent of calories from wheat. The new food plate design also tells us to get at least 1/4 of our calories from wheat.

Here is why we need to stop listening to what our government is telling us about the food pyramid:

Modern wheat makes you hungry

Modern wheat is designed to keep you hungry.

It is estimated that up to 10 percent of the population has a sensitivity to the protein in wheat known as gluten (some estimate it may be higher, closer to 30 percent). However, the other 90 percent of people who consume wheat really should not be eating it either.

Here’s why: Gluten is a two-part protein that is comprised of gliadin plus glutenin. Glutenin has a unique elasticity that gives us the ability to stretch our pizza or bread dough — and even spin it over our heads if we are inclined to do so. Gliadin, the other part of the gluten protein, was heavily studied in the 1970s by psychiatrists. They found that if they took all of the wheat out of the diet of their patients with schizophrenia, they improved markedly.

When they put the wheat back, they found that the condition worsened. So the question asked was what was in bread that led schizophrenics to hallucinate? It was traced back to the gliadin protein which, when ingested, enters the brain and binds to opiate receptors where it stimulates appetite.

In addition, gliadin, acting like an opiate in the brain, has other disastrous effects. For example, people with ADHD become hypersensitive and have behavioral outbursts, people with schizophrenia have major hallucinations, people who are bipolar become increasingly manic and those with eating disorders, such as binge eating, will develop food obsessions.

By 1985, everything at the supermarket with wheat in it came from the prolific semi-dwarf strain or a spinoff. Interestingly enough, if you compare what happened to America’s weight prior to and after 1985 it is evident that there was an obesity explosion. It is still happening today, and it all started after the “new” wheat was introduced.

A huge increase in the number of diabetics also followed the introduction of this new wheat. Although cause and effect cannot be proven scientifically, it seems evident that we have all been fed an appetite stimulant.

Modern wheat raises blood sugar

Just two slices of whole wheat bread raises blood sugar higher than six teaspoons of table sugar. How does this happen when whole wheat is considered a complex carbohydrate that we are encouraged to eat more of? The complex carbohydrate of wheat is called amylopectin-A, which is highly sensitive to amylase, which we have in our stomach and mouth. This makes it very easy to digest and raises blood sugar rapidly. Wheat for breakfast, wheat for lunch and wheat for snacks results in visceral fat that encircles the intestines, heart, liver and kidneys. Repetitive high blood sugar results in what Dr. Davis calls a “wheat belly.”

Modern wheat causes inflammation

When bacteria or a virus enters the body our immune system responds in many ways. Plants do not have the same type of immune system, but they have lectins which are proteins that are toxic to mold, fungi and insects. Some lectins are benign to humans, like the lectin found in spinach, while some are very toxic. The lectin in wheat (wheat germ agglutinin) is a four-part complex molecule.

When this lectin is isolated and given to rats in very small amounts, it destroys the small intestine. Average Americans consume about 10 to 20 milligrams of the wheat lectin in a day — that’s enough to do significant damage.

When we consume wheat, the gliadin protein unlocks the normal intestinal barrier and allows foreign substances to enter the bloodstream, such as wheat lectin. This is why people who eat wheat have autoimmune and inflammatory distress such as joint inflammation, bowel inflammation, acid reflux, inflammation of the brain, inflammation of the airways and more. In fact, there is not one system that escapes the inflammatory assault of wheat.

Good things happen when you remove wheat

First of all, taking wheat out of the diet is not as easy as might think; it is in a lot of foods — even ones we would not associate with having wheat. For example, wheat is in Twizzlers, Campbell’s Tomato Soup, taco seasoning, frozen dinners, cereals, salad dressings, granola bars and a lot more. Why is there wheat in so many products?

In 1960, we could find wheat only in things where we would expect to find wheat, like breads, pastas and pancake mix. Today, it is an entirely different story. Wheat is in all kinds of foods where we would not expect to find it.

Is it possible that food manufacturers know a little something about wheat as an appetite stimulant (on top of the fact that is it heavily subsidized by our government and therefore artificially inexpensive)?

What happens when you stop eating wheat

Removing wheat from your diet may help you lose weight.

Dr. Davis tells us that taking wheat out of our diets will result in the following:

Dramatic weight loss
Reduced appetite
Lowered blood sugar
Reduced joint pain
Reduced inflammation
Improvement in cognitive function
Reduced anxiety
Reduced food obsessions
Lowered blood pressure
Reduced triglycerides
Increased energy
Improved sleep

What about gluten-free?

Going gluten-free is a good thing because you avoid problems with gluten and gliadin, wheat germ agglutinin and amylopectin A. However, gluten-free foods contain other things, mainly potato starch, rice starch, tapioca starch and corn starch. These are the only foods that raise blood sugar higher than the amylopectin A found in whole wheat.

Warning: If you choose to be gluten-free, avoid the commercial products. Do this at least until you educate yourself on the differences between the various gluten-free products on the market.

What can I eat?

Eat real, single-ingredient foods as much as possible. You can eat nuts, healthy fat, organic fruits and vegetables, grass-fed beef, organic chicken and turkey, wild caught salmon, cheese, organic eggs, coconuts, avocados, flaxseeds, olive and hemp oils as well as a variety of other foods that are in their natural state. The more refined a food is, the more likely it contains wheat and other byproducts of the refinement process. They are just too dangerous to your health, so choose food wisely.

— Susan Patterson Alternative Daily