For Those not Scientifically Inclined

This is a simplified summary of the last two posts.

Polyunsaturated fats in the diet are mostly omega-6 or omega-3. These get converted into a diverse and influential class of signaling molecules in the body called eicosanoids. On their way to becoming eicosanoids, they get elongated. These elongated versions can be measured in tissue, and the higher the proportion of elongated omega-6 in the total pool, the higher the risk of a heart attack.

Eicosanoids are either omega-6 or omega-3-derived. Omega-6 eicosanoids, in general, are very potent and participate in inflammatory processes and blood clotting. Omega-3 eicosanoids are less potent, less inflammatory, less clot-forming, and participate in long-term repair processes. This is a simplification, as there are exceptions, but in a broad sense seems to be true.

In the modern U.S. and most other affluent nations, we eat so much omega-6 (mostly in the form of liquid industrial vegetable oils), and so little omega-3, that we create a very inflammatory and pro-clotting environment, probably contributing to a number of chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease.

There are two ways to stay in balance: reduce omega-6, and increase omega-3. In my opinion, the former is more important than the latter, but only if you can reduce omega-6 to below 4% of calories. If you're above 4%, the only way to reduce your risk is to outcompete the omega-6 with additional omega-3. Keeping omega-6 below 4% and ensuring a modest but regular intake of omega-3, such as from wild-caught fish, will probably substantially reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses.

Bottom line: ditch industrial vegetable oils such as corn, soybean, safflower and sunflower oil, and everything that contains them. This includes most processed foods, especially mayonnaise, grocery store salad dressings, and fried foods. We aren't meant to eat those foods and they derail our metabolism on a fundamental level. I also believe it's a good idea to have a regular source of omega-3, whether it comes from seafood, small doses of cod liver oil, or small doses of flax.

One Of The Best Natural Treatments For Gout

By John Horner

Grapes are incredible natural treatments for gout. They are
very good at helping you reduce or eliminate painful gout
symptoms. While grapes alone will not get rid of this
painful condition, they will greatly benefit you if combined
with other treatment therapies.

Grapes have several ways they contribute in treating gout.
These include quercitin, water, potassium, vitamin C, and
anthocyanins.

Grapes use quercitin to help treat gouty arthritis.
Quercitin is a powerful flavonoid. Flavonoids help address
the symptoms of this painful disease. They are able to do
this because they contain anti-inflammatory properties.
Inflammation is the main reason for gout pain.

This swelling starts when your uric acid levels get out of
balance. The extra crystals enter your joints and cause
damage and pain. Quercitin helps reduce this swelling.

Grapes are great for helping with hydration. They consist
of around 2/3 water. Eating water dense foods help you in
fighting gout pain. When you are properly hydrated your
body is able to help you eliminate extra uric acid crystals
more efficiently.

Potassium is a major factor in treating gout. This is one
reason grapes are good for helping with this painful
disease. Grapes contain only 5% of the daily allowance for
potassium, but when you add it to other potassium filled
foods, you can get the proper amount you need. Potassium is
helpful because it helps your kidneys function more properly
when eliminating excessive uric acid crystals.

Grapes are able to assist in reducing or eliminating gout
pain because they are filled with vitamin C. Grapes consist
of approximately 20% of your daily needs for this potent
vitamin. Vitamin C is very effective at fighting this
arthritic condition.

A study published in Arthritis and Rheumatism
(2005;52:1843-7) found taking Vitamin C during a 2 month
period at 500mg per day reduced uric acid levels by
approximately 10%. They found vitamin C helps prevent
purines from turning into uric acid. Being able to control
uric acid is important because most gout patients are unable
to keep their levels under control.

Anthocyanins are another reason grapes are great treatments
for gout. Anthocyanins are flavonoids and help control
swelling. Does the color of the grape make a difference?
Some would say yes. The higher the anthocyanins found in
the grape, the more beneficial the grapes are in reducing
swelling. Darker grapes would be better as they contain a
greater amount.

Grapes are so important when you are trying to treat gout
naturally. However, they are best used when combined with
other fruits. Many fruits, such as cherries, contain a lot
of these healthy properties that help you get rid of gout
pain.

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can learn how to get rid of gout naturally.

How To Maximize Your Weight Loss Results

Most of us want to lose weight and get fit. Starting an
exercise program or joining a gym always seems like a great
first step but if you have ever spent any time at a gym you
will notice that not everybody there makes progress on his
or her fitness goals. It is not being at the gym that helps
you to get fit but it is how hard you work at fitness that
makes the difference.

You are going to have to break a sweat in order to see any
real results from an exercise program. You will need to get
your heart rate into the training zone and make sure that it
stays there for a time. There have been some studies in the
past that have shown that exercising for longer periods of
time at a lower intensity will actually burn more fat than
carbohydrates. However good that sounds unfortunately it
does not translate to fat loss.

Burning fat as you exercise is important but not nearly as
important as just burning calories. For example if you are
doing a cardio workout and you keep your heart rate at the
lower ranges for 60 minutes you may burn 350 calories but if
you do that same 60 minute workout and add in some high
intensity interval training or HIIT, you will burn closer to
750 to 1000 calories. So which one will help you lose the
most weight?

High intensity interval training is extremely effective for
fat loss. The idea is to get your heart rate into the target
heart training zone and then for 30 to 60 second intervals
work really hard and raise your heart rate to the higher
ends of the zone and then let it come back down to the lower
ends and repeat a few times. If you do high intensity
interval training you can even cut your workout time by half
or more and still burn more calories and have more success.

In order to determine your target heart rate training zone,
take your age and subtract it from 220, then take that
number and multiply it by 60% and 80%. This gives you a
target heart-training zone. In order to see the best results
you will need to keep your heart rate in that zone while you
are doing your workout.

Another important aspect to losing weight and maximizing
your fat loss at the gym is to lift weights. The fact is
that in order to burn the most calories by just living
everyday you must have more muscle. Muscle is biologically
active and it helps your body to burn more calories just by
being there. Fat is basically an inactive substance and it
does not help your body burn any calories at all.

Exercise is important but you won't see any results from an
exercise program unless you also have a good diet. Abs are
built in the kitchen, not at the gym. Making sure that you
consume a healthy and nutritious diet is undoubtedly the
most important aspect of any fitness program. You will never
see results unless you follow a healthy diet, no matter how
much you exercise.

If you want to maximize your fat loss the most important
fundamentals should be to incorporate some HIIT into your
cardio routine, start a good weight-training program and
improve your diet. If you do all of these basic things you
will see results quite quickly.

The Most Powerful Muscle Building Concept On The Planet

By Josh Owen

If you're looking for an easy way to finally build muscle
mass, you've found the perfect article. I'm not sure why
anyone wouldn't want to build muscle. Muscle makes life so
much easier. You feel better, have higher energy levels,
you're stronger, and you're healthier. You can use this one
simple but powerful technique to build muscle quickly.

Building muscle doesn't 'just' help you look much better.
Muscle improves your appearance, and we all want that, but
do you know the true benefit of greater amounts of muscle
mass? Can you imagine feeling 100 times better? Imagine high
energy levels when you wake up. Imagine not feeling down or
tired any more. Body fat weighs you down while muscle mass
helps your body. You need more muscle and less body fat.
Then you'll feel better!

Okay, it's easy for me say you need more muscle mass and
less body fat, but how do you accomplish this? I'm going to
tell you about the most powerful muscle building concept on
the face of the earth. This is the secret to building
muscle:

Of course, the first thing you must do is start lifting
weights. Weight lifting is required. Once you have
everything you need to start lifting weights, you must start
eating healthier. You need to eat lean protein sources,
natural carbohydrate sources, and essential fats with every
meal. Eat more often. You've got to eat enough food to gain
weight in order to build muscle. But these things are not
the powerful concept I want to tell you about. I want to
discuss a plan for your weight lifting program.

Start your next weight lifting program with very light
weights. I don't care how easy the set may be. Do higher
reps starting out with lighter weights. I then want you to
increase the weight each workout while decreasing the number
of reps. For example, you could start out lifting 95 pounds
for 15 reps and end your program with 305 pounds for 4 reps.
That huge weight increase over the weeks will ensure that
you've built plenty of muscle as long as your body isn't
accustomed to those weight loads.

This allows you to constantly provide your body with a
muscle building stimulus. This means you get quick results
from each and every weightlifting workout when you eat
correctly and optimize your rest from each weight lifting
session. You begin to see results and huge increases in
muscle size.

After you use this method of increasing the weight each
weight training session, you'll soon reach a point in which
it's hard to increase the weight. Fight hard for a few more
weeks only increasing a small amount each workout, and
then take a one week break from weight lifting. Then start
over! It's that simple. That is the quickest way to gain
muscle size.

In order to build muscle with this powerful concept, you
have to focus on gaining weight each week. But you want this
weight to be muscle and not body fat, right? You must focus
on eating the proper foods. Have 6 meals each day, and make
sure you're drinking enough water and eating plenty of
veggies. You should always strive to gain about 1 to 2
pounds of muscle each week. I recommend 1 pound of muscle
per week as any more than that will be body fat, and you
don't want that. Be patient. One pound per week is 52 pounds
each year!

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Eicosanoids and Ischemic Heart Disease, Part II

Here's where it gets more complicated and more interesting. The ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 matters, but so does the total amount of each. This is a graph from a 1992 paper by Dr. Lands:

Allow me to explain. These lines are based on values predicted by a formula developed by Dr. Lands that determines the proportion of omega-6 in tissue HUFA (highly unsaturated fatty acids; includes 20- to 22-carbon omega-6 and omega-3 fats), based on dietary intake of omega-6 and omega-3 fats. This formula seems to be quite accurate, and has been validated both in rodents and humans. As a tissue's arachidonic acid content increases, its EPA and DHA content decreases proportionally.

On the Y-axis (vertical), we have the proportion of omega-6 HUFA in tissue. On the X-axis (horizontal), we have the proportion of omega-6 in the diet as a percentage of energy. Each line represents the relationship between dietary omega-6 and tissue HUFA at a given level of dietary omega-3.

Let's start at the top. The first line is the predicted proportion of omega-6 HUFA in the tissue of a person eating virtually no omega-3. You can see that it maxes out around 4% of calories from omega-6, but it can actually be fairly low if omega-6 is kept very low. The next line down is what happens when your omega-3 intake is 0.1% of calories. You can see that the proportion of omega-6 HUFA is lower than the curve above it at all omega-6 intakes, but it still maxes out around 4% omega-6. As omega-3 intake increases, the proportion of omega-6 HUFA decreases at all levels of dietary omega-6 because it has to compete with omega-3 HUFA for space in the membrane.

In the U.S., we get a small proportion of our calories from omega-3. The horizontal line marks our average tissue HUFA composition, which is about 75% omega-6. We get more than 7% of our calories from omega-6. This means our tissue contains nearly the maximum proportion of omega-6 HUFA, creating a potently inflammatory and thrombotic environment! This is a very significant fact, because it explains three major observations:

1. The U.S has a very high rate of heart attack mortality.
2. Recent diet trials in which saturated fat was replaced with omega-6-rich vegetable oils didn't cause an increase in mortality, although some of the very first trials in the 1960s did.
3. Diet trials that increased omega-3 decreased mortality.

Observation number two is used by proponents of PUFA-rich vegetable oils, and it's a fair point. If omega-6 causes heart attacks, why hasn't that shown up in controlled trials? Here's the rebuttal. First of all, it did show up in two of the first controlled trials in the 1960s: Rose et al., and the unfortunately-named Anti-Coronary Club trial. In the first, replacing animal fat with corn oil caused a 4-fold increase in heart attack deaths and total mortality. In the second, replacing animal fat with polyunsaturated vegetable oil increased heart attack death rate, and total mortality more than doubled.

But the trend didn't continue into later trials. This makes perfect sense in light of the rising omega-6 intake over the course of the 20th century in the U.S. and other affluent nations. Once our omega-6 intake crossed the 4% threshold, more omega-6 had very little effect on the proportion of omega-6 HUFA in tissue. This may be why some of the very first PUFA diet trials caused increased mortality: there was a proportion of the population that was still getting less than 4% omega-6 in its regular diet at that time. By the 1980s, virtually everyone in the U.S. (and many other affluent nations) was eating more than 4% omega-6, and thus adding more did not significantly affect tissue HUFA or heart attack mortality.

If omega-3 intake is low, whether omega-6 intake is 5% or 10% doesn't matter much for heart disease. At that point, the only way to reduce tissue HUFA without cutting back on omega-6 consumption is to outcompete it with additional omega-3. That's what the Japanese do, and it's also what happened in several clinical trials including the DART trial.

This neatly explains why the French, Japanese and Kitavans have low rates of ischemic heart disease, despite the prevalence of smoking cigarettes in all three cultures. The French diet traditionally focuses on animal fats, eschews industrial vegetable oils, and includes seafood. They eat less omega-6 and more omega-3 than Americans. They have the lowest heart attack mortality rate of any affluent Western nation. The Japanese are known for their high intake of seafood. They also eat less omega-6 than Americans. They have the lowest heart attack death rate of any affluent nation. The traditional Kitavan diet contains very little omega-6 (probably less than 1% of calories), and a significant amount of omega-3 from seafood (about one teaspoon of fish fat per day). They have an undetectable incidence of heart attack and stroke.

In sum, this suggests that an effective way to avoid a heart attack is to reduce omega-6 consumption and ensure an adequate source of omega-3. The lower the omega-6, the less the omega-3 matters. This is a nice theory, but where's the direct evidence? In the next post, I'll discuss the controlled trial that proved this concept once and for all: the Lyon diet-heart trial.

Exercise - Why You Need a Support System

When it comes to any kind of working out, having a support system is very important. Most people use exercise to stay healthy and lose weight, or to even gain weight. There are a number of people who can be a part of your support system in order for you to be as healthy as possible. These people will help you stay motivated so that you aren’t tempted to skip your workouts and watch television instead!

First, a health care professional should be at the head of your support systems. Doctors will be able to give you suggestions about your exercise routine as well as point out anything you are doing that could be bad for your body. When you have your doctor on your side for your workouts, you know that you are being safe and making good health decisions. Make sure that you visit your doctor regularly to chart your progress and also check with him or her when you drastically change your fitness program.

Also at the top of your list of support group members should be personal trainers. If you can afford it a personal trainer is the best way to meet weight loss or maintenance goals. A personal trainer will also be able to correct your form and give you tips to making your workouts as successful as possible. He or she will be mental support as well, urging you to do better at all times.

Your family can also provide a great support system. Even while you are at home and not doing exercise, you and your family can together work to live a healthier lifestyle by not smoking, eating healthy foods, and getting outside more often instead of sitting on the couch every day. You can take your whole family to the gym or on walks or cycling. This is a great way to bond as well as do something right for your bodies together.

Lastly, look to others who are exercising to round out your support system. You can work out with a partner in order to stay motivated. Find someone who does similar workouts as well and go to the gym, or attends the same classes. This can be great motivation. You can also look to more wider workout partners by joining an aerobics class. After your class and showering, hang out with these new friends and you’ll find that living a healthy life is rewarding and easier to do than you may have first thought. When you are starting a fitness program having a good group of support people can truly make all the difference.

Why You Need A Body Detox

By Isabelle S. Mihajlov

Getting a body detox is gaining popularity in many health
circles. Because of the toxic build up in our bodies,
getting clean on the inside is a must. A typical American
has years of poor eating habits, exposed to poor air
quality, and has low fiber diets. Also, stress can attribute
to the increase of toxins being formed in our bodies. If our
bodies do not properly and regularly eliminate this build up
in our colon or other organs, we are prone to sickness and
disease.

Generally, our body does a good job in trying to eliminate
the toxins we are exposed to daily. But it is a challenge to
handle this onslaught of toxins. The toxins will adversely
affect the functioning of vital organs like the liver, kidneys,
and the colon. Poor health is usually a result of a toxic
colon which leads to a toxic liver, thus polluting the tissues
and the bloodstream. For optimal health, our bodies must be
free of dangerous toxins.

How Do I Know I Need A Body Cleansing?

You need to take action if you have one or more of the
following problems. Diarrhea, impaired digestion,
constipation, fatigue and low energy, gas and bloating,
hemorrhoids, excess weight, food allergies, bad breath, foul
smelling stools. These are only some of the symptoms.

Just like you car needs the oil changed regularly or your
outside of your body regularly needs a washing, so does your
internal body. Waiting too long or till you start
experiencing some symptoms listed above, is not a wise idea.
You will increase your risk of developing much more serious
problems like cancer the longer you procrastinate.

Our bodies today simply cannot keep up with the extreme
exposure of ingested or inhaled toxins. The toxins that are
not eliminated simply accumulate in fat cells, tissues,
blood, organs, and remain stored indefinitely resulting in
all kinds of health issues. You can change to a high fiber
diet and eat less acidic foods, but a simple solution is to
regularly get a body detox or body cleansing.

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How To Treat Crohn's Disease

Crohn’s Disease is and IBD—Inflammatory Bowel Disease—that mainly affects the small intestine. It causes both chronic pain and diarrhea and is similar to ulcerative colitis, which causes ulcers in the intestinal lining. Crohn’s Disease affects both men and women and can show up in children or in later adulthood. No one is quite sure what causes Crohn’s Disease, but there are a variety of treatment options.

One of the main symptoms of Crohn’s Disease is vitamin D deficiency, because it is not absorbed regularly into the body due to the active inflammation in the intestines. Vitamin D is necessary to help regulate the amount of calcium in the body. You normally get vitamin D through the foods that you eat and the sun, which causes you to absorb vitamin D through the skin. However, for Crohn’s Disease patients, a vitamin D supplement may need to be taken.

If you don’t get enough vitamin D in your system, osteomalacia is the result. Osteomalacia is a condition in which your bones are weaker than they should be. In children, this can cause rickets and in all age groups, osteomalacia means that you can very easily fracture your bones. If you add vitamin D supplements to your diet and spend more time in the sun, you should be able to get the levels of vitamin D your body needs to prevent this from happening.

Vitamin D supplements are usually not classified as drugs and can therefore be purchased over the counter at a pharmacy or health food supply store. However, just because they are not technically drugs doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use precautions when taking these supplements. First, ask a doctor if it is safe for you to take. Because of your Crohn’s Disease, you are probably taking other daily medications. Sometimes, a supplement can interact to cause side effects or decrease the potency. You should also ask your doctor how much you should be taking every day. Too much vitamin D leads to overdose or vitamin poisoning, which can lead to problems with your kidneys and liver. It is best to only take the recommended amount.

Crohn’s Disease may be a difficult medical condition with which to live, but little things like vitamin D supplements can make life easier. Talk to your doctor today to learn how to make vitamin D supplements a part of your daily life routine to help battle Crohn’s Disease.

Eicosanoids and Ischemic Heart Disease

Dr. William Lands, one of the pioneers of the eicosanoid field, compiled this graph. It may be the single most important clue we have about the relationship between diet and ischemic heart disease (heart attacks).

To explain it fully, we have to take a few steps back. Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are primarily omega-6 and omega-3. This is a chemical designation that refers to the position of a double bond along the fatty acid's carbon chain. Omega-6 fats are found abundantly in industrial vegetable oils (corn, soybean, sunflower, cottonseed, etc.) and certain nuts, and in lesser amounts in meats, dairy and grains. Omega-3 fats are found abundantly in seafood and a few seeds such as flax and walnuts, and in smaller amounts in meats, green vegetables and dairy.

The body uses a multi-step process to convert omega-3 and omega-6 fats into eicosanoids, which are a diverse and potent class of signaling molecules. The first step is to convert PUFA into highly unsaturated fatty acids, or HUFA. These include arachidonic acid (AA), an omega-6 HUFA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), an omega-3 HUFA, and several others in the 20- to 22-carbon length range.

HUFA are stored in cell membranes and they are the direct precursors of eicosanoids. When the cell needs eicosanoids, it liberates HUFA from the membrane and converts it. The proportion of omega-6 to omega-3 HUFA in the membrane is proportional to the long-term proportion of omega-6 and omega-3 in the diet. Enzymes do not discriminate between omega-6 and omega-3 HUFA when they create eicosanoids. Therefore, the proportion of omega-6- to omega-3-derived eicosanoids is proportional to dietary intake.

Omega-6 eicosanoids are potently inflammatory and thrombotic (promote blood clotting, such as thromboxane A2), while omega-3 eicosanoids are less inflammatory, less thrombotic and participate in long-term repair processes.

Many of the studies that have looked at the relationship between HUFA and heart attacks used blood plasma (serum lipids). Dr. Lands has pointed out that plasma HUFA do not accurately reflect dietary omega-6/3 balance, and they don't correlate well with heart attack risk. What does correlate strikingly well with both dietary intake and heart attack risk is the proportion of omega-6 HUFA in tissue, which reflects the amount contained in cell membranes. That's what we're looking at in the graph above: the proportion of omega-6 HUFA in the total tissue HUFA pool, vs. coronary heart disease death rate.

You can see that the correlation is striking, both between populations and within them. Greenland Inuit have the lowest proportion of omega-6 HUFA, due to a low intake of omega-6 and an exceptionally high intake of seafood. They also have an extraordinarily low risk of heart attack death. The red dots are from the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT), which I'll be covering in a bit more detail in a later post. They're important because they confirm that the trend holds true within a population, and not just between populations.

In the next post, I'll be delving into this concept in more detail, and explaining why it's not just the ratio that matters, but also the total intake of omega-6. I'll also be providing more evidence to support the theory.

Is a Vitamin Supplement Necessary For your Kids?

When it comes to your kids and vitamin supplements, you should know that most children do not need extra or supplemental vitamins or minerals. If you base your children’s diet on the food guide pyramid, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, you shouldn’t need to give your child vitamin supplements. However, it is important to know that of all the age groups, children can be the one that is the hardest to control when it comes to diet. Children don’t understand what it means when something is essential for their bodies, and they are much more prone to being picky eaters or having poor diets. If you child is eating a special diet, they might need more vitamins or minerals. These can include vegetarians, children with allergies, or children that have religions which state certain foods shouldn’t be eaten.

The most important thing for you to keep in mind when it comes to making sure that your child has a healthy diet is to ensure that they are getting the proper amounts of the right kinds of vitamins and minerals. If this isn’t happening because of what they are eating, you either need to change what they are eating, or make sure that they are getting the vitamins in another way. Vitamin supplements can be purchased in kid-friendly shapes and flavors, so it shouldn’t be a problem to have your child take them.

There are several vitamins and minerals that are going to be important for your child to have enough of. These include, especially, iron, which is needed in children to prevent anemia. This usually happens if children aren’t given enough extra iron after they are six months old, which happens often if a baby drinks cow or goat milk instead of formula. Young and adolescent girls are also at a risk of having an iron deficiency.

Another important thing that children need is calcium. This is something that is completely necessary for healthy bones and teeth. If children are drinking milk and eating dairy products, they are probably getting enough calcium, but if they aren’t, you might need to supplement this in their diets.

It is also important that children are getting fluoride. This helps to build healthy teeth. However, it is important that they only get enough fluoride, and not too much, so don’t add to their intake unless your dentist or doctor thinks that you should.

If you don’t think that your child is getting enough vitamins or minerals, you should consult with your doctor to make sure that you can find a good balance and a good children’s multivitamin for them to be taking. However, it is crucial that you realize that a vitamin is not a replacement for food and is not a substitute for a varied diet.

Eicosanoids, Fatty Liver and Insulin Resistance

I have to take a brief intermission from the heart disease series to write about a very important paper I just read in the journal Obesity, "COX-2-mediated Inflammation in Fat is Crucial for Obesity-linked Insulin Resistance and Fatty Liver". It's actually related to cardiovascular disease, although indirectly.

First, some background. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) come mostly from omega-6 and omega-3 sources. Omega-6 and omega-3 are precursors to eicosanoids, a large and poorly understood class of signaling molecules that play a role in basically everything. Eicosanoids are either omega-6-derived or omega-3-derived. Omega-6 and omega-3 compete for the enzymes that convert PUFA into eicosanoids. Therefore, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in tissues (related to the ratio in the diet) determines the ratio of omega-6-derived eicosanoids to omega-3-derived eicosanoids.

Omega-6 eicosanoids are very potent and play a central role in inflammation. They aren't "bad", in fact they're essential, but an excess of them is probably not good. Omega-3 eicosanoids are generally less potent, less inflammatory, and tend to participate in long-term repair processes. So in sum, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 in the diet will determine the potency and quality of eicosanoid signaling, which will determine an animal's susceptibility to inflammation-mediated disorders.

One of the key enzymes in the pathway from PUFA to eicosanoids (specifically, a subset of them called prostanoids) is cyclooxygenase (COX). COX-1 is expressed all the time and serves a "housekeeping" function, while COX-2 is induced by cellular stressors and contributes to the the formation of inflammatory eicosanoids. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen inhibit COX enzymes, which is why they are effective against inflammatory problems like pain and fever. They are also used as a preventive measure against cardiovascular disease. Basically, they reduce the excessive inflammatory signaling promoted by a diet with a poor omega-6:3 balance. You wouldn't need to inhibit COX if it were producing the proper balance of eicosanoids to begin with.

Dr. Kuang-Chung Shih's group at the Department of Internal Medicine in Taipei placed rats on five different diets:

1. A control diet, eating normal low-fat rat chow.


2. A "high-fat diet", in which 45% of calories came from a combination of industrial lard and soybean oil, and 17% of calories came from sucrose*.


3. A "high-fat diet" (same as above), plus the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib (Celebrex).


4. A "high-fat diet" (same as above), plus the COX-2 inhibitor mesulid.


5. An energy-restricted "high-fat diet".

The "high-fat diets", besides being high in sucrose (table sugar), also presumably had a poor omega-6:3 ratio, in the neighborhood of 10:1 or possibly higher. Weight and fat mass in rats and humans increases with increasing omega-6 in the diet, and also increases with a high 6:3 ratio. I wrote about that here. Rats eating the high-fat diets (groups 2- 4) gained weight as expected**.

Rats in group 2 not only gained weight, they also experienced increased fasting glucose, leptin, insulin, triglycerides, blood pressure and a massive decline in insulin sensitivity (seven-fold relative to group 1). Rats in groups 3 and 4 gained weight, but saw much less of a deterioration in insulin and leptin sensitivity, and blood pressure. Group 2 also developed fatty liver, which was attenuated in groups 3 and 4. If you're interested, group 5 (energy restricted high-fat) was similar to groups 3 and 4 on pretty much everything, including insulin sensitivity.

So there you have it folks: direct evidence that insulin resistance, leptin resistance, high blood pressure and fatty liver are mediated by excessive inflammatory eicosanoid signaling. I wrote about something similar before when I reviewed a paper showing that fish oil reverses many of the consequences of a high-vegetable oil, high-sugar diet in rats. I also reviewed two papers showing that in pigs and rats, a high omega-6:3 ratio promotes inflammation (mediated by COX-2) and lipid peroxidation in the heart. Are you going to quench the fire by taking drugs, or by reducing your intake of omega-6 and ensuring an adequate intake of omega-3?

*Of course, they didn't mention the sucrose in the methods section. I had to go digging around for the diet's composition. This is typical of papers on "high-fat diets". They load them up with sugar, and blame everything on the fat.

**Rats gain fat mass when fed a high-fat diet (even if it's not loaded with sugar). But humans don't necessarily gain weight on a high-fat diet (i.e. low-carb weight loss diet). What's the difference? Low-carbohydrate diet trials indicate that humans spontaneously reduce their caloric intake when eating low carbohydrate, high-fat food.

Stress On The Job - How To Cope

Face it. Even if you are stressed beyond your limits in the
office, you can't do anything about it. After all, what job
does not involve any stress? The secret is to make sure that
you can manage on the side the job of managing your stress!

Managing your stress however can be really tricky if you are
inside the office. The work environment limits the ways that
you can manage your stress. For instance, if watching TV or
movies relieves your stress, you cannot very well do that
inside the office. Neither can you play badminton or sing
with a karaoke. The most that you can do is to play some
quick computer game, hoping that somehow it can relax you.
For some people, this is enough; but for others, it is not.

But there are ways to relieve the stress while sitting on
your office chair. Often, the trick is to not wait for the
stress levels to go up. As they say in medicine, an ounce of
prevention is more than a pound of cure. Don't wait to get
stressed, avoid it like the plague! Here's how.

1. Eat healthy. People who are basically healthy will have
more energy levels on which to work on. They are more able
to withstand late nights and are more able to keep up with
long brain activities as compared to people who are not. To
do this, you've got to eat healthy foods especially those
that are rich in vitamins, minerals and proteins. Besides,
having all the energy that you need will help you cope
better with stress when it happens.

2. Sleep. Sleeping provides the body the rest that it needs.
Brain activity and bodily functions slow down when people
are sleeping. Muscles also relax. When the body lacks sleep,
energy levels go down and the brain becomes disoriented.
This results in poorer concentration, which in the long run
can become detrimental to your job functions. Thus, one way
to avoid stress altogether is get the requisite 8 hours or
more sleep. It will do you good.

3. Exercise. Another way to combat stress and to prevent it
from happening altogether is to have a daily run or an
exercise routine. Experts say that a person must work out 30
minutes each day to successfully keep the body in shape and
healthy. Exercise strengthens our resistance and
surprisingly increases the energy levels. It helps keep the
stressors at bay as it relaxes the muscles and keeps the air
flowing freely through breathing techniques.

4. Manage time. Nothing can make you more stressful than not
managing your time well. Just ask people who are used to
cramming for exams or for work assignments. Planning your
time right and doing what you are supposed to do on time
will help keep the stressors away. Besides, by doing your
assignments and work load piece by piece allows you to relax
while doing it and gives you enough time to really work on
it should the boss decides to have it real early.

5. Smile. Being happy and optimistic is the number one stress
buster there is. Do you know that smiling can help keep the
muscles in the face relaxed? It actually uses less muscles
than when you are frowning. So laugh on the job and keep it
cool.

Can't Stick To Your Weight Loss Program? Here's Why

By Erin Upshaw

Many people are very similar to you. They are tired of
constantly trying new exercises and diets that just will
never work. You're motivated at first, but as time progresses
you become tired of it, and you feel as if you have failed
again.

Does this sound like you? Are you wondering why you cannot
stick to your weight loss program? Well, so are many others.
There are many factors that could explain why you cannot
stick to your weight loss program, and this article will
examine a few of them in depth.

Your program may have been a bad program that resulted in
failure. Maintaining an extreme diet will fail on you
because it is too difficult to maintain. Eating specific
fruits or performing weird exercises or workouts for long
periods of time is eventually not sustainable. If you're
looking to stay slim, you've got to pick a routine that you
can maintain consistently for the long-term.

A lack of support from family and friends causes many to
quit their diets. Maybe your family and friends didn't
provide the support you needed in order to say no to that
bite of rich dessert. It could be possible that your
friends had no faith in you or your diet. A fact of life is
the fact that support is critical when focusing on weight
loss. Try joining a weight loss group with others that are
in the same situation, or consider hiring a personal trainer
that will keep you motivated towards your goals.

You could have been dieting incorrectly while exercising too
much, or even dieting without doing a single exercise
routine. The results you expected didn't happen and led you
to quit what you were doing and loose focus. Both diet and
exercise are a necessary combination when doing a workout
program in order to lose weight. No matter what plan,
program, or diet you choose, you must combine a balance of
diet and exercise.

Another reason was that you expected results far too
quickly. Diets take time to work, and your body may take
even more time to adjust to your new diet before weight loss
is noticed. Your body is resistant and will require you to
use diet and exercise to steer it to shed pounds. Stick to
a well designed program, and the results you want will be
achieved.

A final reason for you to quit your weight loss program
could be that you lacked a bona fide commitment. It is
impossible to begin a new lifestyle with only half the
motivation. Diet and exercise plans require full mental
commitment. You will find yourself taking shortcuts around
your diet and become frustrated when the scale goes up not
down. Personally commit to this workout plan from day 1 and
don't look back. Remember that if you continue to do what
you always did then you will get what you always got.

Most people advertise all kinds of secrets to weight loss,
but the secret never really was a secret. It's the one
truth that we all know: a lifestyle with a healthy diet and
exercise are what will help us all lose weight and stay in
shape. There are no secret tricks or shortcuts to becoming
healthy. You've just read the trick for yourself. You will
not find a "fat buster" cure besides a healthy diet and
exercise. Do your research, pick a workout plan that you
will enjoy, and stay with it. Remember to aim for realistic
and achievable goals and you will be sure to shed those
unwanted pounds.

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Peer Pressure And Healthy Eating - How To Say No

If you are on a diet or simply enjoying a healthy lifestyle, then you probably know that peer pressure to eat foods that are not good for you is a major part of your life. If you are worried about the food that goes into your mouth, don’t worry—there are ways to overcome peer pressure. It simply takes a little know-how to get people off your back!

Parties are a major source of peer pressure, especially with alcohol. However, remember that alcohol contains hundreds of empty calories in just one drink. When you go to a party, people might be pressuring you to have a drink and relax, and it can be difficult to say no when they are constantly trying to convince you. Instead, offer to be the designated driver. This way, people won’t want you to drink and, in fact, they will probably be purchasing you waters and maybe even helping to pay for your gas. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

Another time when you may feel pressured to eat is at work when the boss orders lunch for everyone at a meeting or when you have to visit a client. Instead of giving in to temptation, simply politely decline the food by letting your boss know in advance or order a meal that is healthy and split the portion in half so you have a meal for tomorrow’s lunch as well.

Baby showers, weddings, birthday parties, and other special events can also wreak havoc on your diet, even if you are good at resisting temptation on your own. When someone hands you a piece of cake and won’t take no for an answer, it can be difficult to know what to say! Here, little white lies might be appropriate. For instance, saying that your stomach was upset earlier in the day will convince a person that you don’t want to eat at the moment or pretending to have a chocolate allergy will get people to allow you to enjoy the party without a hassle surrounding food.

Remember, however, that while refusing bad foods is fine, you should be eating good foods. If you do not, dangerous eating habits and disorders can develop, which will give you, your friends, and your doctor a real reason to worry. It’s ok to say no to peer pressure, but don’t say no to food in general!

The Coronary Heart Disease Epidemic: Possible Culprits Part II

In the last post, I reviewed some of the factors that I believe could have contributed to the epidemic of heart attacks that began in the 1920s and 1930s in the U.S. and U.K., and continues today. I ended on smoking, which appears to be a major player. But even smoking is clearly trumped by another factor or combination of factors, judging by the unusually low incidence of heart attacks in France, Japan and on Kitava.

One of the major changes in diet that I didn't mention in the last post was the rise of industrial liquid vegetable oils over the course of the 20th century. In the U.S. in 1900, the primary cooking fats were lard, beef tallow and butter. The following data only include cooking fats and spreads, because the USDA does not track the fats that naturally occur in milk and meat (source):

Animal fat is off the hook. This is the type of information that makes mainstream nutrition advice ring hollow. Let's see what happened to industrial vegetable oils in the early 1900s:

I do believe we're getting warmer. Now let's consider the composition of traditional American animal fats and industrial vegetable oils:
It's not hard to see that the two classes of fats (animal and industrial vegetable) are quite different. Animal fats are more saturated (blue). However, the biggest difference is that industrial vegetable oils contain a massive amount of omega-6 (yellow), far more than animal fats. If you accept that humans evolved eating primarily animal fats, which is well supported by the archaeological and anthropological literature, then you can begin to see the nature of the problem.

Omega-6 and omega-3 fats are polyunsaturated fatty acids that are precursors to a very important class of signaling molecules called eicosanoids, which have a hand in virtually every bodily process. Omega-6 and omega-3 fats compete with one another for the enzymes (desaturases and elongases) that convert them into eicosanoid precursors. Omega-6-derived eicosanoids and omega-3-derived eicosanoids have different functions. Therefore, the balance of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in the diet influences the function of the body on virtually every level. Omega-6 eicosanoids tend to be more inflammatory, although the eicosanoid system is extraordinarily complex and poorly understood.

What's better understood is the fact that our current omega-6 consumption is well outside of our ecological niche. In other words, we evolved in an environment that did not provide large amounts of omega-6 all year round. Industrial vegetable oils are a product of food processing techniques that have been widespread for about 100 years, not enough time for even the slightest genetic adaptation. Our current level of omega-6 intake, and our current balance between omega-6 and omega-3, are therefore unnatural.
The ideal ratio is probably very roughly 2:1 omega-6:omega-3. Leaf lard is 6.8, beef tallow is 2.4, good quality butter is 1.4, corn oil is 45, cottonseed oil is 260. It's clear that a large qualitative change in our fat consumption occurred over the course of the 20th century.

I believe this was a major factor in the rise of heart attacks from an obscure condition to the primary cause of death. I'll be reviewing the data that convinced me in the next few posts.

The Coronary Heart Disease Epidemic
The Coronary Heart Disease Epidemic: Possible Culprits Part I
The Omega Ratio
A Practical Approach to Omega Fats
Polyunsaturated Fat Intake: Effects on the Heart and Brain
Polyunsaturated Fat Intake: What About Humans?
Vegetable Oil and Homicide

How Crucial is Healthy Eating?

Have you ever heard the saying you are what you eat? In some sense, this is true, because if you eat unhealthy foods you are prone to be an unhealthy person. The foods we ingest are extremely important to our ability to grow, maintain function, and prevent illness. Therefore, if you value your health, you should learn as much about healthy eating as possible.

Healthy eating is important from the day we are born. As a child, we grow quite rapidly and this is due in part to the foods we eat. Foods all contain nutrients that provide us not only with fuel to live our daily lives, but also with the very substances that build our bones, muscles, and organ tissues. Not getting enough of one nutrient or another can cause a variety of problems, including stunting our growth. For mothers who are nursing, nutrition is important because breast milk contains the nutrients a child needs to grow and develop properly. Upon growing older, these nutrients are then found in food, but don’t think that healthy eating isn’t important for growth after you’ve gone through puberty. Cells continuously break down and rebuild, so healthy eating for growth continues to be important until the day we die.

Healthy eating is also important for maintaining body function. In out daily lives, we use energy to think, walk, talk, breathe, and perform any other action. The energy it takes our body to do these things comes from two places: fat reserves in the body or our daily food intake. If you don’t eat healthy foods, you will find that you are storing more fat than necessary or that you aren’t getting enough and you feel sluggish or weak. Along with energy-providing nutrients, like fats and carbohydrates, we also need the right nutrients to allow our organs to do their jobs. Hormones and other substances in the body make sure that everything is working properly. If you don’t eat the right nutrients, your body cannot produce these hormones and, as a result, cannot function properly.

Lastly, healthy eating is important in order to prevent illness. When we do not get the right nutrients, our body’s natural defense system against diseases weakens, allowing viruses and bacteria to attack the body. It’s like a well-trained army—if the army doesn’t have enough to eat, it will not do well in battle. Without healthy foods and plenty of water, our bodies simply could not operate on a day-to-day basis. Learning how to eat healthy foods is therefore and important lesson, and one which we should begin learning as children.

Organic, Natural etc - Understanding Food Labels

When you head to the grocery store, shopping for products like eggs, meat, fish, milk, and produce can be very tricky. Signs are posted everywhere labeling food as natural, organic, and a number of other things—but what’s the difference, really? Learning what specific names mean can help you decide if you should shell out extra money on a product or if its simply a marketing ploy.

Natural is a term associated with a number of fruit and vegetable products. Typically, this is simply a marketing ploy to convince you to buy the product. After all, all fruits and vegetables are natural, right? Unless it’s a new kind of food that has been developed and processed, the product is natural. What you really probably want is organic. Organic foods are grown without chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

There are two main benefits to organic foods. First, you are helping the environment because those chemicals are not being introduced into nature. Secondly, you are avoiding ingesting chemicals and are therefore eating more healthy foods. However, organic products are usually more expensive. If you’re on a budget, skip over organic fruits and vegetables that you can peel, like oranges and bananas. After all, once you’ve discarded the peel, you’ve also discarded the chemicals. Instead, opt for organic items like apples, where you eat the peel. No matter what you buy, however, make sure that you rinse off the food when you get home.

Another tricky label you will see is “no hormones.” This is usually in regards to milk or meat products and is false, since all animals naturally produce hormones. Hormones are what helps an animal (even a human) regulate body organs, have young, and otherwise function. All meat products have hormones. What the labels really mean is that no hormones were unnaturally given to the animal, which is sometimes done to increase milk production. Regardless of hormones, however, the milk and meat is safe for a person and not a violation of an animal’s rights.

Lastly, a label on eggs and meat can indicate if the animal was caged or penned. This does not make a difference in the quality or nutritional value of the meat, but is simply a matter of animal rights. These products may be a bit more expensive, but if you want to make human decisions, that is the way to go. Reading the label and making healthy choices can sometimes be difficult, but learning how to do so can help you make the best choices for you diet.

The Coronary Heart Disease Epidemic: Possible Culprits Part I

In the last post, I reviewed two studies that suggested heart attacks were rare in the U.K. until the 1920s -1930s. In this post, I'll be discussing some of the diet and lifestyle factors that preceded and associated with the coronary heart disease epidemic in the U.K and U.S. I've cherry picked factors that I believe could have played a causal role. Many things changed during that time period, and I don't want to give the impression that I have "the answer". I'm simply presenting ideas for thought and discussion.

First on the list: sugar. Here's a graph of refined sugar consumption in the U.K. from 1815 to 1955, from the book The Saccharine Disease, by Dr. T. L. Cleave. Sugar consumption increased dramatically in the U.K. over this time period, reaching near-modern levels by the turn of the century, and continuing to increase after that except during the wars: Here's a graph of total sweetener consumption in the U.S. from 1909 to 2005 (source: USDA food supply database). Between 1909 and 1922, sweetener consumption increased by 40%:

If we assume a 10 to 20 year lag period, sugar is well placed to play a role in the CHD epidemic. Sugar is easy to pick on. An excess causes a number of detrimental changes in animal models and human subjects, including fatty liver, the metabolic syndrome, and small, oxidized low-density lipoprotein particles (LDL). Small and oxidized LDL associate strongly with cardiovascular disease risk and may be involved in causing it. These effects seem to be mostly attributable to the fructose portion of sugar, which is 50% of table sugar (sucrose), about 50% of most naturally sweet foods, and 55% of the most common form of high-fructose corn syrup. That explains why starches, which break down into glucose (another type of sugar), don't have the same negative effects as table sugar and HFCS.

Hydrogenated fat is the next suspect. I don't have any graphs to present, because no one has systematically tracked hydrogenated fat consumption in the U.S. or U.K. to my knowledge. However, it was first marketed in the U.S. by Procter & Gamble under the brand name Crisco in 1911. Crisco stands for "crystallized cottonseed oil", and involves taking an industrial waste oil (from cotton seeds) and chemically treating it using high temperature, a nickel catalyst and hydrogen gas (see this post for more information). Hydrogenated fats for human consumption hit markets in the U.K. around 1920. Here's what Dr. Robert Finlayson had to say about margarine in his paper "Ischaemic Heart Disease, Aortic Aneurysms, and Atherosclerosis in the City of London, 1868-1982":

...between 1909-13 and 1924-28, margarine consumption showed the highest percentage increase, whilst that of eggs only increased slightly and that of butter remained unchanged. Between 1928 and 1934, margarine consumption fell by one-third, while butter consumption increased by 57 percent: and increase that coincided with a fall of 48 percent in its price. Subsequently, margarine sales have burgeoned, and if one is correct in stating that the coronary heart disease epidemic started in the second decade of this century, then the concept of hydrogenated margarines as an important aetiological factor, so strongly advocated by Martin, may merit more consideration than hitherto.

Partially hydrogenated oils contain trans fat, which is truly new to the human diet, with the exception of small amounts found in ruminant fats including butter. But for the most part, natural trans fats are not the same as industrial trans fats, and in fact some of them, such as conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), may be beneficial. To my knowledge, no one has discovered health benefits of industrial trans fats. To the contrary, compared to butter, they shrink LDL size. They also inhibit enzymes that the body uses to make a diverse class of signaling compounds known as eicosanoids. Trans fat consumption associates very strongly with the risk of heart attack in observational studies. Which is ironic, because hydrogenated fats were originally marketed as a healthier alternative to animal fats. The Center for Science in the Public Interest shamed McDonald's into switching the beef tallow in their deep friers for hydrogenated vegetable fats in the 1990s. In 2009, even the staunchest opponents of animal fats have to admit that they're healthier than hydrogenated fat.

The next factor is vitamin D. When the industrial revolution became widespread in the late 19th century, people moved into crowded, polluted cities and vitamin D deficiency became rampant. Rickets was a scourge that affected more than half of children in some places. Dr. Edward Mellanby discovered that it's caused by severe vitamin D deficiency, milk was fortified with vitamin D2, and rickets was all but eliminated. However, it only takes a very small amount of vitamin D to avoid rickets, an amount that will not contribute significantly to optimum vitamin D status. Vitamin D modulates the body's inflammatory response, it's ability to resist calcium deposition in the arteries, and seems to be important for so many things I had to include it.

The rise of cigarettes was a major change that probably contributed massively to the CHD epidemic. They were introduced just after the turn of the century in the U.S. and U.K., and rapidly became fashionable (source):
If you look at the second to last graph from the previous post, you can see that there's a striking correspondence between cigarette consumption and CHD deaths in the U.K. In fact, if you moved the line representing cigarette consumption to the right by about 20 years, it would overlap almost perfectly with CHD deaths. The risk of heart attack is so strongly associated with smoking in observational studies that even I believe it probably represents a causal relationship. There's no doubt in my mind that smoking cigarettes contributes to the risk of heart attack and various other health problems.

Smoking is a powerful factor, but it doesn't explain everything. How is it that the Kitavans of Papua New Guinea, more than 3/4 of whom smoke cigarettes, have an undetectable incidence of heart attack and stroke? Why do the French and the Japanese, who smoke like chimneys (at least until recently), have the two lowest heart attack death rates of all the affluent nations? There's clearly another factor involved that trumps cigarette smoke. I have a guess, which I'll expand on in the next few posts.