3 ms·

Yes - there is lots and lots of research that suggests that inflammation is the cause of a whole host of "western" diseases. Sugar and fructose cause heart dis

Yes - there is lots and lots of research that suggests that inflammation is the cause of a whole host of "western" diseases. Sugar and fructose cause heart disease (not fat) by irritating the lining of the heart over and over and over again. Wheat causes inflammation because most people are allergic to it in some way. Constant insulin response that we have with all the sugar hidden (and not so hidden) in everything we eat causes swelling and fat storage. Even the fruits we have now have been bred to be much much sweeter than 60 years ago. Lets not even start on how fibre seems to protect against some of the terrible effects of fructose on the body (rapid conversion to fat - the body can't tolerate fructose in the blood) and how removing the fibre in the form of fruit juice or high fructose corn syrup is a disaster for your body. Probably taking aspirin is unnecessary if you were to avoid the main things which irritate and cause an immune response in your body. I can bet you that turmeric tea from the root is going to be as good as aspirin at protecting you from these diseases but the best plan is to avoid sugar, wheat and high GI carbohydrates.

jasallen 12y ago
Well, you are correct that fat has been incorrectly vilified. Most of the rest of what you say is logical leaps based on inconclusive data, which is just as bad as what the fat haters did years ago. Don't get me wrong, a lot of what you say is even a good best guess based on what we know right now, but so was fat hating at one time, and stating best guesses like proven fact is what gets us to the point of having entrenched, demonstrably incorrect policy. Let's just say "currently best available evidence..."
- andy_ppp 12y ago
  Yes I'd agree with everything you have said! Definitely not proven and loads of supposition. However I'd be willing to make a substantial bet that I'm correct. Wait until you hear my crackpot theory that chemotherapy is only as effective as the starvation and reduction in human growth hormone it causes ;-) The thing is though who is going to do a trial comparing controlled calorific intake (say < 600 calories per day for several days per week) with chemotherapy treatments - certainly not drug companies.
egb 12y ago
Most people are allergic to wheat? Can you please share some references on that? This is a good read about the reversal of the gluten sensitivity study, "Researchers Who Provided Key Evidence For Gluten Sensitivity Have Now Thoroughly Shown That It Doesn't Exist" http://www.businessinsider.com/gluten-sensitivity-and-study-replication-2014-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/gluten-sensitivity-and-study-...
- laughing-crow 12y ago
  While I agree that the "most people are allergic to wheat" thing needs a lot more support, I'd like to make the small note that 95% of articles did a really terrible job of understanding the important takeaway of that study. I think this one did better: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/05/22/314287321/sensitive-to-gluten-a-carb-in-wheat-may-be-the-real-culprit http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/05/22/314287321/sensit...
  - jobu 12y ago
    Thanks for linking that article. I had not heard of FODMAP before.
stevebot 12y ago
I am curious what studies have linked sugar and fructose to heart disease over fat + cholesterol.
- stevebot 12y ago
  I did find this Harvard study: http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Heart_Letter/2011/September/abundance-of-fructose-not-good-for-the-liver-heart http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Heart_Lett... However, it seems to be that it is the breakdown of high fructose (not the type found in fruit) which leads to the creation of fats that is not good for the heart.
- andy_ppp 12y ago
  1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20888548 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20888548 2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16391215 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16391215 3. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=202339 http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=202339 4. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=377969 http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=377969 5. http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.e8539 http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.e8539 6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16340654 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16340654 7 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23021013 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23021013 8. http://www.jissn.com/content/1/1/45 http://www.jissn.com/content/1/1/45 9. http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/2/1/25 http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/2/1/25 10. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/.../01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract http://ajcn.nutrition.org/.../01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract 11. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19364995 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19364995 12. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/67/5/828.short http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/67/5/828.short 13. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21735439 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21735439 14. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12535503 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12535503 15. http://www.metabolismjournal.com/.../S0026-0495.../abstract http://www.metabolismjournal.com/.../S0026-0495.../abstract 16. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00394-012-0418-1 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00394-012-0418-1 17. http://www.nature.com/.../jou.../v64/n6/abs/ejcn201045a.html http://www.nature.com/.../jou.../v64/n6/abs/ejcn201045a.html 18. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/1/34 http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/1/34 19. http://www.nutritionj.com/content/3/1/9 http://www.nutritionj.com/content/3/1/9 20. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11838888 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11838888 21. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20565999 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20565999
AJ007 12y ago
Rather than explain in detail I recommend people just try eating unprocessed food (with minimal grains) and see what happens. The lifestyle choices rub off on others. Weight loss is the most visible benefit, but measurable markers of blood cholesterol improve too. The easiest benchmark: you should never feel tired after eating.
- noobiedoobiedo 12y ago
  "you should never feel tired after eating." this is why I stopped eating as much meat and switched to mainly beans / rice.

jasallen 12y ago

Well, you are correct that fat has been incorrectly vilified. Most of the rest of what you say is logical leaps based on inconclusive data, which is just as bad as what the fat haters did years ago. Don't get me wrong, a lot of what you say is even a good best guess based on what we know right now, but so was fat hating at one time, and stating best guesses like proven fact is what gets us to the point of having entrenched, demonstrably incorrect policy. Let's just say "currently best available evidence..."

andy_ppp 12y ago
Yes I'd agree with everything you have said! Definitely not proven and loads of supposition. However I'd be willing to make a substantial bet that I'm correct. Wait until you hear my crackpot theory that chemotherapy is only as effective as the starvation and reduction in human growth hormone it causes ;-) The thing is though who is going to do a trial comparing controlled calorific intake (say < 600 calories per day for several days per week) with chemotherapy treatments - certainly not drug companies.

egb 12y ago

Most people are allergic to wheat? Can you please share some references on that? This is a good read about the reversal of the gluten sensitivity study, "Researchers Who Provided Key Evidence For Gluten Sensitivity Have Now Thoroughly Shown That It Doesn't Exist" http://www.businessinsider.com/gluten-sensitivity-and-study-replication-2014-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/gluten-sensitivity-and-study-...

laughing-crow 12y ago
While I agree that the "most people are allergic to wheat" thing needs a lot more support, I'd like to make the small note that 95% of articles did a really terrible job of understanding the important takeaway of that study. I think this one did better: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/05/22/314287321/sensitive-to-gluten-a-carb-in-wheat-may-be-the-real-culprit http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/05/22/314287321/sensit...
- jobu 12y ago
  Thanks for linking that article. I had not heard of FODMAP before.

stevebot 12y ago

I am curious what studies have linked sugar and fructose to heart disease over fat + cholesterol.

stevebot 12y ago
I did find this Harvard study: http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Heart_Letter/2011/September/abundance-of-fructose-not-good-for-the-liver-heart http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Heart_Lett... However, it seems to be that it is the breakdown of high fructose (not the type found in fruit) which leads to the creation of fats that is not good for the heart.
andy_ppp 12y ago
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20888548 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20888548 2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16391215 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16391215 3. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=202339 http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=202339 4. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=377969 http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=377969 5. http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.e8539 http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.e8539 6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16340654 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16340654 7 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23021013 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23021013 8. http://www.jissn.com/content/1/1/45 http://www.jissn.com/content/1/1/45 9. http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/2/1/25 http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/2/1/25 10. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/.../01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract http://ajcn.nutrition.org/.../01/13/ajcn.2009.27725.abstract 11. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19364995 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19364995 12. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/67/5/828.short http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/67/5/828.short 13. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21735439 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21735439 14. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12535503 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12535503 15. http://www.metabolismjournal.com/.../S0026-0495.../abstract http://www.metabolismjournal.com/.../S0026-0495.../abstract 16. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00394-012-0418-1 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00394-012-0418-1 17. http://www.nature.com/.../jou.../v64/n6/abs/ejcn201045a.html http://www.nature.com/.../jou.../v64/n6/abs/ejcn201045a.html 18. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/1/34 http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/1/34 19. http://www.nutritionj.com/content/3/1/9 http://www.nutritionj.com/content/3/1/9 20. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11838888 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11838888 21. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20565999 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20565999

AJ007 12y ago

Rather than explain in detail I recommend people just try eating unprocessed food (with minimal grains) and see what happens. The lifestyle choices rub off on others. Weight loss is the most visible benefit, but measurable markers of blood cholesterol improve too. The easiest benchmark: you should never feel tired after eating.

noobiedoobiedo 12y ago
"you should never feel tired after eating." this is why I stopped eating as much meat and switched to mainly beans / rice.