Inflammation and Disease - Is Your Body On Fire?
Inflammation has been shown to reduce your immunity for fighting disease and cancer, it causes organ damage and is critical in predicting heart disease and diabetes.
Think high cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease? Not nearly as much as another blood test marker called C-reactive protein.
When this protein is found to be elevated, your odds are much greater that you'll have a heart attack or stroke.
C-reactive protein is present when blood vessels are inflamed.
What Causes Inflammation It appears that diet by far has the greatest impact in inciting an inflammatory reaction in your body.
And the three biggest mistakes you can possibly make, basically the Standard American Diet(SAD), are: 1.
Eating mostly cooked food, and at a high temperature.
Eating food cooked this way causes the cells in your body to secrete a protein that stimulates inflammation.
The higher the temperature, the more the inflammation.
To really be healthy we should get at least 30% of our food in its raw form.
2.
Consuming lots of sugar.
It is estimated that the average American eats 180 pounds of sugar per year.
As little as 100 years ago, we ate roughly 1 pound of sugar per year.
Sugar comes in many forms from fruits, grains and, of course, table sugar and sugar additives.
Quite frankly, all sugars at high levels are bad for you.
In fact, sugar is known to be the most damaging molecule to our cells.
3.
Consuming too much Omega 6 fatty acids.
This includes just about all processed and fast foods.
It is found in oils such as corn oil and vegetable oils.
When this fatty acid is primarily used by our cells the end products are powerful pro-inflammatory agents.
The opposite is true for Omega 3 fatty acids.
Now knowing this, if you think about what you normally eat, I think you would likely agree that you are on fire! Want To Know What You Can Do To Put Out The Fire Inside? 1.
Stop smoking.
Smoking not only causes hardening of the arteries but causes blood vessel inflammation.
2.
Reduce sugar intake.
This includes fruits and grains, in addition to the obvious of less table sugar, honey, agave and sodas, etc.
3.
Eat more fish, raw nuts and olive oil, to increase omega 3 levels.
Also consider taking a daily fish oil supplement to further improve the ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3's.
4.
Avoid fast food and processed food.
Also avoid foods that are made with corn or vegetable oils.
5.
Get regular exercise.
Being active and getting regular exercise has been shown to reduce inflammation.
6.
Reduce stress.
The stress hormone cortisol is a well known pro-inflammatory so develop ways to lower stress in your life and give yourself and your adrenal glands a break! 7.
Get enough sleep.
Studies show that getting between 7-8 hours of quality sleep every day can reduce inflammation.
8.
Increasing your HDL cholesterol has also been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect in the body.
If you truly want to do all you can to minimize your chances of developing cancer, heart disease and diabetes, you now have the information and the power to do it.
But, do you have the will? Only you can answer that honestly.
Think high cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease? Not nearly as much as another blood test marker called C-reactive protein.
When this protein is found to be elevated, your odds are much greater that you'll have a heart attack or stroke.
C-reactive protein is present when blood vessels are inflamed.
What Causes Inflammation It appears that diet by far has the greatest impact in inciting an inflammatory reaction in your body.
And the three biggest mistakes you can possibly make, basically the Standard American Diet(SAD), are: 1.
Eating mostly cooked food, and at a high temperature.
Eating food cooked this way causes the cells in your body to secrete a protein that stimulates inflammation.
The higher the temperature, the more the inflammation.
To really be healthy we should get at least 30% of our food in its raw form.
2.
Consuming lots of sugar.
It is estimated that the average American eats 180 pounds of sugar per year.
As little as 100 years ago, we ate roughly 1 pound of sugar per year.
Sugar comes in many forms from fruits, grains and, of course, table sugar and sugar additives.
Quite frankly, all sugars at high levels are bad for you.
In fact, sugar is known to be the most damaging molecule to our cells.
3.
Consuming too much Omega 6 fatty acids.
This includes just about all processed and fast foods.
It is found in oils such as corn oil and vegetable oils.
When this fatty acid is primarily used by our cells the end products are powerful pro-inflammatory agents.
The opposite is true for Omega 3 fatty acids.
Now knowing this, if you think about what you normally eat, I think you would likely agree that you are on fire! Want To Know What You Can Do To Put Out The Fire Inside? 1.
Stop smoking.
Smoking not only causes hardening of the arteries but causes blood vessel inflammation.
2.
Reduce sugar intake.
This includes fruits and grains, in addition to the obvious of less table sugar, honey, agave and sodas, etc.
3.
Eat more fish, raw nuts and olive oil, to increase omega 3 levels.
Also consider taking a daily fish oil supplement to further improve the ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3's.
4.
Avoid fast food and processed food.
Also avoid foods that are made with corn or vegetable oils.
5.
Get regular exercise.
Being active and getting regular exercise has been shown to reduce inflammation.
6.
Reduce stress.
The stress hormone cortisol is a well known pro-inflammatory so develop ways to lower stress in your life and give yourself and your adrenal glands a break! 7.
Get enough sleep.
Studies show that getting between 7-8 hours of quality sleep every day can reduce inflammation.
8.
Increasing your HDL cholesterol has also been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect in the body.
If you truly want to do all you can to minimize your chances of developing cancer, heart disease and diabetes, you now have the information and the power to do it.
But, do you have the will? Only you can answer that honestly.
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