The hidden health risk

Under normal circumstances, inflammation is part of a healthy immune response, a biological automatic response to an injury sees cells and chemicals being sent to heal an infection or injury.  Which is what happens when you are, for example, bitten by a mosquito, the area around the bite becomes inflamed, red, itchy and often painful.  This swelling is actually to stop the poison from the mosquito bite circulating freely in the blood while other cells and histamines repair the area and eliminate the poison.

However, just like in many other areas of life, there is a dark side to this normally healing process.  Chronic "hidden" inflammation, that you can't necessarily feel or see can occur throughout the body when something kick-starts the immune system and turns off the shut-off button.  What sets off the alarm and kick-starts the immune systems differs in each person: repeated or prolonged infections, smoking, gum disease, obesity, etc all of which have the same end result: an endless trickle of immune cells that interferes with the body's healthy tissues, which set off genetic mutations that can lead to cancer, diabetes, depression, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's, and a long list of etc..

However, on the whole a person will not know they suffer from chronic inflammation until something more serious happens.  There isn't even a reliable medical test for it.  There is a test for an inflammatory marker called C-reactive protein (CRP), which is recommended for people at risk of heart disease, as high levels of CRP are associated with future heart attacks and strokes, but it is not used on a general level as researchers still don't fully understand the role CRP plays and whether it really is a sign of incremented risk of disease.  However, what has been clearly established is that people with poor health habits tend to have higher levels of inflammation.

"In recent years, we've come to accept that inflammation plays a role in many chronic diseases, but it's about an imbalance - too many pro-inflammatory chemicals and not enough anti-inflammatory ones," says Moise Desvarieux, an inflammation researcher at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

In a normal situation, hours after the alarm is set off kick-starting the immune system to fight and injury or infection, the body then sends out anti-inflammatory substances to restore equilibrium.  So in order to stay healthy, both systems have to be in good working order.

Lots of medications, such as Aspirin, can reduce inflammation.  However, there are healthier options to reduces inflammation other than popping pills, here are some tips:

While being overweight raises your risk of inflammation, what is more important is where your fat deposits are.  "It's where your body puts the fat, on your waist as opposed to your hips and thighs, that indicates a pro-inflammatory state," says Carol Shively, Professor of Pathology at Wake Forrest University School of Medicine who has studied fat distribution.  Fat stored around internal organs is far more dangerous than subcutaneous fat on the hips and thighs.  The fat surrounding internal organs leads to stress and the stress hormone cortisol, "appears to bind receptors on these fat cells, setting off a process that promotes the storage of fat and increases the number of fat cells," says Prof. Shively.  "These extra cells then produce more chemicals that increase inflammation."

Now this, as you are probably aware, takes us back to the apple or pear body shapes.  Having a large waist measurement (80cm or more in women and 94cm or more in men) means you are likely to have excess inflammation.  Other indicators are:

• high blood pressure (130/85 or above)
• raised glucose levels (100mg/dl after fasting)
• high triglyceride levels (150mg/dl)

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), these all point to an inflammatory condition called metabolic syndrome, a common precursor of diabetes and heart disease.

So what is the best way to reduce belly fat?

Now the good news is that belly fat is a lot easier to get rid of than the subcutaneous kind on hips and thighs.  So basically all you really need to do is to eat less and move more.  Adopting a mediterranean diet which is rich in fruit, vegetables, fish, nuts, seeds and olive oil has been proven to protect the heart, probably because it lowers the level of pro-inflammatory chemicals.  Another benefit of this type of diet is that it may protect against depression by raising levels of Omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants used by the body to manufacture anti-inflammatory chemicals that increase blood flow to the brain.

Don't over do the exercise to start off with.  Exercise has been proven to produce less inflammation as it protects against metabolic syndrome.  1 hour, 5 times a week is enough.  Just walking at a fast pace which makes conversation difficult is adequate.  If you want to run but never have, start slowly little by little.  Intersperse fast walking with bits of jogging and build up gradually.  There is a brilliant podcast called From Couch to 5K - free on the NHS website (Couch to 5K), is a great way to learn to run if you never have.

Surprising recent data shows that flossing and brushing your teeth twice a day reduces the risk of heart disease.  There is a well established link between gum disease and heart disease, researchers believe that the same bacteria that cause inflammation and swelling in the gums appear to be a source of inflammation and thickening of the arteries.

The top 10 ANTI-INFLAMMATORY foods you should include in your diet:

1. Wild Salmon
2. Kelp
3. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4. Cruciferous Vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and brussel sprouts
5. Blueberries
6. Turmeric
7. Ginger
8. Garlic
9. Green tea
10. Sweet potato

The top 5 INFLAMMATORY foods to avoid:

1. Sugars: sodas, fruit drinks, sweets, etc..
2. Common cooking oils: grape seed, cottonseed, sunflower, corn and safflower oils
3. Trans fats: deep fried foods, fast foods, commercially baked products, margarine, etc..
4. Dairy produce.
5. Factory farm animals.  Stick to grass fed animal produce.

So the key is to:

• Eat less
• Get Active
• Floss and brush twice a day.

Social Nutrition:
You can make an appointment to improve your health with Social Nutrition either in person (Madrid) or online (Skype).  Just send an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com