T2-Fat-P4

Topic 2 - Fat - Part 4

Moving on from the last part of this topic on Fat, this release is talking about inflammation, which we spoke about in the last Topic on Cholesterol and Om-3 &-6.

What is inflammation?

The inflammation that we’re talking about it “Silent Inflammation”

"Silent inflammation is simply inflammation that falls below the threshold of perceived pain."
Barry Sears Ph.D.
The Anti-Inflammation Zone

One way to look at health and disease is to look at the level of inflammation in the body and to recognize that as inflammation increases so does state of chronic illness and disease.

When you think of inflammation you probably think of a sprained ankle or when you hit your thumb with a hammer. This is acute inflammation, and it’s normal and healthy. Chronic (silent) inflammation, on the other hand, is when your body is always producing low levels of pro-inflammatory chemicals.

For example, obesity is part of the “inflammatory syndrome” because fat cells secrete chemicals which contribute to cellular inflammation all over the body.

When we talk about, “cellular inflammation” we are talking about every cell that makes up the human body, skin cells, nerve cells, muscle cells, bone cells, blood vessel lining cells, endocrine cells etc…

•Virtually all pain in the body is due to inflammation
•It’s particularly dangerous when that inflammation in the human body is stealth enough not cause pain.
•Because silent inflammation in the human body mostly means silent damage.
•When your body is being damaged cell by cell and you don't even know it.

Reducing this level is the absolute key to determining whether your body is healthy and has vitality or whether it is heading towards chronic illness and pain.
The scientific link between silent inflammation in the human body and life-threatening chronic disease, such as heart disease, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, autoimmune disorders, and cancer is strong.

Ironically, though "silent inflammation" is a damaging force, "acute inflammation" in your body is actually a life saving process.
When inflammation occurs in response to an infection or an injury, we call that "acute inflammation" or what Dr. Sears calls "screaming inflammation."
Unlike silent inflammation that is painless, you feel the pain of "screaming inflammation."

However, this kind of acute ("screaming") inflammation in necessary because your body could not defend itself against foreign invaders like bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and the like without using inflammation to kill off these destructive microbes.

Likewise, your body uses acute inflammation to help repair damaged tissues, so that new tissues can be built and cells revitalized.

However, when inflammation runs rampant and fails to turn itself off, even after cells have been repaired or invading microbes destroyed, then it becomes chronic and silent, taking on a disturbing dark side.

Silent inflammation can damage your arteries, destroy your nerve cells, depress your immune system and promote cancer.

It's critical for you to remember that high levels of silent inflammation in your body means that you are no longer well and you are on your way to illness and/or chronic disease.

It’s a little known fact, but foods play a crucial contribution to cellular inflammation. Most of us think of medications when we think of inflammation. “Take a pill,” is the modern mantra of Western civilization, partly because we want a, “quick fix” and partly because many of us don’t want to take responsibility for our own contribution to our own health circumstances and problems.

But with the ever increasing costs of health care, lack of health care for all, and the lack of success with many health care strategies, people are looking ever more into holistic approaches for the prevention of health problems, rather than the treatment, preventing the cause as apposed to treating the effects, “closing the stable door before the horse bolts” so to speak.

There are a number of causes for inflammation in the human body, some more controllable than others. These include:

•Environment pollution
•Psychological stress
•Physical stress
•Lack of recovery/circadian rhythm changes
•Allergies and intolerances
•Food and Drink

Some of these are easier for us to alter than others, and just because we possibly can’t alter our environment doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try and improve other aspects of the inflammation triggers.

The biggest one that we, every single one of us, can positively affect and change, that we have the power to choose ourselves and alter is food and drink consumption.

Every single one of us has the power within us to choose what we eat and drink what we choose to fuel our bodies with, how we choose to charge our body’s cells. This is not up to someone else; this is up to us, really no excuses, do you choose potato chips or a whole apple? Do you choose soda or whole water?

(Whole water is water with minerals, over 200mol per liter.
This prevents the removal of vital minerals in the body through
osmosis. The transfer from high concentration to low concentration.
The removal of vital mineral from the body through the consumption
of empty water/drinks leads to physical stress.)

The reality is that what we eat contributes significantly to our state of inflammation or lack thereof, even if we are not overweight.