How to reduce inflammation and decrease your risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, chronic pain, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, certain cancers, and arthritis.

We’ve all heard the phrase, "you are what you eat." And guess what, it is true. Unfortunately, many of us have habitually eaten foods that have caused our cells to become filled with unhealthy chemicals known as eicosanoids. Eicosanoids are associated with several common diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, and chronic pain. All of these health problems have been linked to poor diet choices. These eicosanoid compounds come from arachidonic acid (AA), found in polyunsaturated fats.

Polyunsaturated fats are are further broken down into essential fatty acids (EFA). There are two groups of EFAs, Omega 6 and Omega 3. Both of these fatty acids are essential for optimal health.

Omega 3 rich foods, green leafy vegetables, flax seeds, and cold water fish, boost natural anti-inflammatory hormones. Omega 3 foods reduce inflammation and disease processes.

Omega 6 rich foods, whole grains, seeds, seed oils, and corn, are healthy in moderation. However, excess cosumption of these foods, leads to excess production of arachidonic acid (AA) and eicosanoids.

AA is derived from the Omega 6 essential fatty acid foods (grains, flour, seeds, seed oils, corn, and grain-fed livestock), excess sugar, and trans-fatty acids. AA and eicosanoids create chain reactions that produce inflammation. Research shows that inflammation is the driving cause of many diseases including heart attack, asthma, stroke, chronic pain, arthritis, ulcerative colitis, menstrual pain, and recurrent headaches. Therefore, reducing chronic inflammation is the key to preventing and eliminating these illnesses.

The literature on eicosanoids can be complex and somewhat confusing. I’ll do my best to make this paper simple and as painless as possible (no pun intended). While there are numerous eicosanoids, we’re only concerned with three groups:

1. Prostaglandins (PG) regulate constriction or relaxation of blood vessels.

PG has positive effects including regulating kidney function, maintaining integrity of the stomach lining and initiating various aspects of childbirth. However, PG may also increase inflammation, pain, headaches, cramping, joint pain, and blood clotting (strokes). PG2 is the prostaglandin most associated with increased inflammation. PG2 comes from AA and Omega 6 foods.

2. Thromboxanes (TX) are produced by blood cells known as platelets. TX increase blood clotting, blood vessel and bronchiole constriction. TX contribute to strokes, heart attacks, as well as pulmonary disorders including asthma, bronchitis, and chronic pulmonary obstructive disorder (COPD). TX comes from AA and Omega 6 foods.

3. Leukotrienes (LT) are produced from immune system cells. LT stimulate the immune system to release interleukins (IL), interferon (IFN), and other chemicals involved in anaphylactic reactions. LT plays a major role in allergic (hayfever, asthma, and various autoimmune disorders. LT comes from AA and Omega 6 foods.

The average arachidonic acid ratio to Omega 3 fatty acids of Americans is approximately 11:1. In patients with inflammatory conditions and neurological disorders, the AA/Omega 3 ratio is 20:1 or more. An AA/Omega 3 ratio of 1.5:1 is considered ideal. This is the ratio found in Japanese populations, which have the highest life expectancy and the lowest rate of cardiovascular disease. Since most Americans are carrying around at least 10�?0 pounds of excess fat, it is no wonder that arthritis and other inflammatory diseases are out of control in our country. The average adult weighs 150 pounds; 30% of this is fat. This means that on average a person is carrying around 45 pounds of inflammatory imbalanced fatty acids!

Reduce or eliminate the foods that cause inflammation. You can help prevent or reverse inflammation and the diseases associated with it by avoiding the following foods:

All grains and grain products, including whole wheat bread, white bread (all breads), pasta, pizza dough, cereal, pretzels, crackers, bagels, pastries, wheat thins, scones, and all flour goods.

Partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats) found in margarine, deep fried foods, and most prepackaged junk foods.

Sodas, dairy (unless grass-fed cattle), soy, and sugar.

Corn oil, safflower oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, peanuts, soybean oil, sunflower oil, and the foods made with these oils including corn chips, potato chips, mayonnaise, tartar sauce, some salad dressings, and an assortment of prepackaged foods.

Meat and eggs from grain-fed livestock.This includes cheese, cream, milk, ice-cream, eggs, meat (chicken, and beef).

I recently had the opportunity to be speaking on treating and beating fibromyalgia at a doctors conference in Orlando, Florida. There were about a dozen speakers and over 3,000 attendees at this conference. I was excited to hear a leading researcher speak on ways to treat inflammatory diseases, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid, herniated disc syndrome, and fibromyalgia. I thought lumping fibromyalgia in with these topics was a bit odd since fibromyalgia doesn’t originate from inflammatory processes like these other diseases. However, I was anxious to hear what this highly regarded researcher had to say.

His lecture was very informative until he got to fibromyalgia. He began by saying that fibromyalgia could be treated just like these others illnesses–through changes in diet (largely what we’ll discuss in this newsletter) and nutritional supplements to reduce inflammation. He went on to say that we (doctors) didn’t need to use 5HTP, SAMe or high doses of magnesium, etc. All we had to do was change our fibromyalgia patients diets add some antioxidants and that, along with "some luck," was all there was for fibromyalgia.

Well, I didn’t won’t to be rude, but I knew I had to say something. Here were 400-500 doctors listening to this presentation who were about to leave without knowing that this doctor, like a lot of doctors, just didn't know what he was talking about. Sure, a healthy diet is important, very important, but it won’t correct fibromyalgia. So I raised my hand and asked if he treated fibromyalgia patients? No, he didn’t. Not since he was teaching and writing and doing research full time. I see, I said. I shared with him that in my experience, which involved over 10 years and 4 books on treating fibromyalgia, dietary changes alone were ineffective. I went on to highlight the research studies and biochemistry involved with low serotonin, norepinephrine, 5HTP, magnesium, adrenal glandulars, and SAMe. I also summarized the problem of HPA-axis dyfunction (dysautonomia and bankrupted stress-coping chemicals) and how low adrenal and thyroid hormones were involved in fatigue, pain and mood disorders.

Now all the doctors in the room were nodding their heads. They knew from working with fibromyalgia patients that dietary changes alone didn’t work. They also knew that what I was saying made a lot of sense. The professor just kept asking if there was research to support all this. I was happy to direct the professor and doctors to a supplement manufacturer display booth selling my books. I heard they sold out in a couple of hours.

I read some two dozen research journals a month. I appreciate the hard work that goes into them but most researchers don’t know anything about real live patients. Research is great, but a physician with experience is ALWAYS your best bet.

Ok, having shared this, I would like to outline how diet does in fact affect our health.

Dietary changes alone won’t reverse fibromyalgia, but when combined with optimal neutraceutical therapy, the results can be impressive.

I know the list above can seem a bit overwhelming. Here are some guidelines.

First prioritize. Try to eliminate all chips (prepackaged snack foods), sodas, sugar, breads, and pasta from your daily diet. Losing weight is an an added benefit to reducing pro-inflammatory chemicals. Rice is fine. We’ve all been conditioned to eat bread at each meal; cereal or bagel for breakfast, sandwhich for lunch, pasta for dinner. Cutting bread can be hard, but the rewards are worth it. There are several options for avoiding sodas including tea, juice, and my favorite, water.

Avoid partially hydrogenated foods like the plague. A 2% increase in trans-fatty acid intake increases the risk of developing diabetes by 39 percent.

Try to eat DHA eggs, grass fed beef, wild game, or free-range chickens when possible. I know this can be hard to do. You won't be able to be 100% compliant here, so do your best. Ask your grocer if they carry grass-fed livestock like Laura’s Lean Beef, which can be found in many high end grocery and health food stores. Go online and see if you can find farms or vendors in your area, eatwild.com is a good starting resource.

I know this diet will not be easy. But only you can decide how much pain and poor health you’re willing to suffer. To prevent or reverse inflammatory diseases you must find the right balance for you. You can accelerate the process of deflaming by adding nutritional supplements, especially Omega 3 fish oils. It generally takes one to three months before you change your inflammatory chemicals to anti-inflammatory chemicals.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDS) including the newer COX2 blocking drugs (Celebrex, Vioxx and Bextra) attempt to block eicosanoids after AA has already been formed. It has been shown that COX2 inhibiting NSAIDS reduce inflammation. However, as you probably know from the removal of Vioxx and Bextra (and I predict Celebrex will soon follow) from the market, these drugs increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Dr. David Eddy of the FDA testified before congress that these drugs were the cause of 27,000 deaths. Fortunately there are several natural alternatives to potentially dangerous drugs; NSAIDS, cortisone, and pain medications.

From the October newsletter    http://store.drmurphreestore.com/trandbefiand.html