In recent years inflammation in
the body has been receiving more attention as to one of the major causes of
illness in America. While some inflammation is good, like the burning, red and
puffy skin you get around a cut or bruise that denotes the body is healing
itself; other forms of inflammation can be deadly.
Dr. Barry Sears describes this
low grade dangerous inflammation as silent inflammation as it is usually not
painful and thus not easily detected.
Dr. Sears states that silent inflammation harms the body in a number of
ways. Studies have shown that it destabilizes cholesterol deposits on coronary
arteries, leading to heart attacks and possibly strokes.
It also drives insulin
resistance that is a major factor in diabetes and weight gain and also attacks
nerve cells in the brains of those predisposed to Alzheimer’s and triggers
rapid cell division, causing healthy cells to turn into cancerous ones.
In his book The
Anti-Inflammation Zone, Dr. Sears explains that silent inflammation is the
first sign that your body is out of balance and you are no longer well. You
can’t feel it, but its damaging your immune system, heart and brain. There are three underlying hormonal changes
that are linked to silent inflammation.
These conditions set the stage for chronic disease and include the
hormones Pro-inflammatory eicosanoids, Insulin and Cortisol.
Each of these hormones
contributes to silent inflammation when overproduced by the body. Fortunately each can be brought back into
balance following a correct diet, exercise and use of high grade Omega 3 fish
oil. Anti-inflammatory eicosanoids (the good ones) come from eating a diet rich
in long-chain omega 3 fatty acids found in fish while limiting omega-6 fatty
acids found in vegetable oils.
Insulin is the storage hormone
that drives nutrients to the cells. It is
vital for your survival since it allows cells to either store nutrients or
immediately use them for energy. If we
eat a diet rich in omega 6- fatty acids, simple carbs and sugars with no or
minimal exercise, our cells are full and the insulin turns those sources to
fat. Excess insulin is also a major
cause for increasing silent inflammation.
Controlling insulin is essential if you want to reverse silent
inflammation and move toward a state of wellness.
Cortisol is the third hormone
that affects silent inflammation. When
your body is in a constant state of silent inflammation, it reacts by having
your adrenal glands pump out high amounts of cortisol, the primary anti-inflammatory
hormone you have to slow down excel inflammation.
While there are various tests
you can take that will test your level of silent inflammation, Dr. Sears’s
notes that your triglycerides (TG) divided by your good (HDL) cholesterol is
the ratio to use. The TG/HDL ratio will
tell you if you have what is called metabolic syndrome, which is caused by
insulin resistance. Metabolic syndrome
is a cluster of chronic conditions (obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease,
and hypertension) that are related to insulin levels caused by insulin
resistance.
The higher the TG/HDL ratio,
the higher your insulin levels and the more silent inflammation you may be
generating. A ratio greater than 2,
however, does indicate you have high inflammation. The lower your TG/HDL ratio
is, the greater your protection against heart disease.
This protection comes from
having a high percentage of nonatherogenic (friendly) LD particles in the
bloodstream. Silent inflammation causes
the arteries to become rough and when you have predominately small LDL
particles they can easily become oxidized and stick to the artery walls, thus a
major cause of heart disease.
Next week I will look at ways
to reduce silent inflammation and reduce your risk for chronic diseases.