6 reasons everyday “healthy” food is causing chronic inflammation and diseases as severe as cancer.

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Dr. G

“While today’s modern diet may provide beneficial protection from micro and macronutrient deficiencies, our overabundance of calories and the macronutrients that compose our diet may all lead to increased inflammation, reduced control of infection, increased rates of cancer, and increased risk for allergic and auto inflammatory (autoimmune) disease.” – Nutr J. 2014 June 17, 13:61

 

Chronic states of inflammation are so prevalent in todays modern industrialized food culture, that the effects of chronic inflammation are being realized with dramatic increases in the incidence of autoimmune diseases and even cancer.

1/5 of the American population believes, based on their symptoms and experience, they have one or more food sensitivities or allergy.  Food sensitivities and food allergies differ in that the food allergy is an immediate response, like a tickling in back of throat, closed airway, skin reaction, watery eyes or nose, among others.  A food sensitivity is more of a delayed response, such as “I had some cheese on Sunday and I experienced a migraine on Wednesday, or mucus congestion, skin reaction, bran fog, pain, depression etc. Food sensitivities are more difficult to identify.  Food allergies are more obvious.  

The food allergy is what’s called an IgE (Immunoglobulin E) immediate response.  Delayed food sensitivities are more of an IgA and or IgG response.  The different immunoglobulin’s, G, A, M & E, are analogous to different branches of the military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines) they have different functions in different parts of the body.  They are produced, or should be produced in response to what the body perceives as a threat, like a flu virus, or dangerous bacteria.  

When we have antibodies produced in the presence of common everyday foods, it creates a state of inflammation in the gut where the food is processed, resulting in a “flu” like response to the food.  We can become sensitive to any protein, such as our own proteins (self tissue) resulting in an autoimmune response or pollen from trees and plants or mold in the home, resulting in environmental allergies, or food proteins resulting in food sensitivities.  

It seems pretty obvious that these sensitivities, allergies and auto-immunities are more and more common and that is not in dispute.  The question we have is why.  There are several reasons why and their additive effect is more likely the problem than just one.  

1. Essential fatty acid balance:

• Essential fatty acids are considered fatty acids we cannot produce and therefore need to get from our diet.  They are considered the Omega family of fats.  Omega 3 and Omega 6.  
  • Omega 3’s are in the form we use when we eat the meat of animals that are eating their innately appropriate diet.  Such animals are usually wild, wild game, wild fish etc.  If they are farmed animals that are fed their innately appropriate diet their entire lives, then they too will have an appropriate balance of omega 3 fat.   Animals that come to mind are pastured poultry and grass fed/finished beef.  Omega 3’s are often supplemented with fish oil, krill oil, etc. (there are also plant source omega 3’s but they must be converted to the animal form in our bodies and that can be very inefficient and even non existent in many cases.
  • Omega 6 fatty acids are plant derived (nuts, seeds, vegetables).  Omega 6 can be supplemented with evening primrose oil borage oil etc.  

Animals fed a “farm diet” that is not appropriate to that animals genetics will over produce omega 6 and under produce omega 3.  For example, corn or grain fed beef or soy fed chicken affecting poultry and eggs.  In this case the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 becomes abnormal and we will experience inflammation (excessive immune response).   

2. Loss of oral tolerance & Cross-reactivity:

• Oral tolerance is when the immune system sees a protein that it is not supposed to attack.  Examples are proteins in cells that make up your own tissues.  For example your immune system should not mount an attack against your thyroid cells, skin cells, organ cells or nervous stem cells.   At the same time your immune system should not mount an attack against foreign protein that are part of our food supply, like wheat, eggs, dairy, etc.  

• Food to food:  The immune system can see a protein (peptide) sequence from a large undigested protein like gliadin (gluten) from wheat or casein from dairy, and mistake that for an identical peptide sequence found in either another food (egg, soy, potato, etc.)
• Food to self tissue: The immune system can see a protein (peptide) sequence from a large undigested protein like gliadin (gluten) from wheat or casein from dairy, and mistake that for an identical peptide sequence found in any tissue in your body, thyroid, brain, cerebellum, skin, etc.  Resulting in the likelihood of developing an autoimmune disease (Hashimoto’s, MS, lupus, eczema, etc.)

For reasons I will state below, we have a problem with cross reactivity and loss of oral tolerance in the modern industrialized state.  The USA, Canada, Europe and now many of the Asian Pacific nations who are living and eating more like us.

3. Raw vs. Cooked:

• Laboratories that test for IgG delayed type food sensitivities usually test for a purified version of the raw form of the protein.  For example, a test that looks at sensitivities to egg protein will do so only with a laboratory sample of the “raw” protein.  We know that the shape and configuration of proteins is what the immune system reacts to.  The act of heating and cooking food alters those characteristics.  Dr. Aristo Vojdani, a world-renowned immunologist, has shown that people, who test negative for food sensitivity to the raw food, may show severe food sensitivity to the cooked version.  This reveals the fact that false negatives are very likely in most labs. False negatives can be devastating to someone’s health.

4. Food combining:

• The immune system may be non reactive to an individual protein, however if the protein is in combination with other proteins at the same time, the reaction could be severe.   Some food proteins were never meant to be combined.  Only in todays modern industrialized food supply do we combine food with gums.  Protein combinations enter our system that our immune system does not recognize as normal.  

5. Digestion:

• “Drink your food”.  Solid food should get to your stomach in a liquid form.  Chewing and taking your time with your meal is optimal.  30-40 chews per mouthful.  The act of chewing repeatedly, will release digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid to prepare for the arrival of the food that is on its way.  We as Americans are constantly eating on the run, in our cars, at our workstation, and we tend to quickly swallow the food making it very difficult to completely break down the food proteins. When food proteins enter the small intestines undigested, they are very immune-reactive.  If those same proteins (lets say from the food you are sensitive to, such as egg, wheat or dairy are broken down into their individual peptides, there may never have to be an immune response.  

6. Food additives, GMO’s and fossil fuel driven food supply:

•  Proteins from food coloring has been shown to bind to the components of food proteins which will then block the ability of out digestive enzymes to break the food protein down into digested peptide components, resulting in the presence of a protein complex that is very likely to result in an immune response.  The dramatic increase in genetically modified foods is the result of very noble international efforts to eliminate famine and “feed the poor”.  This has resulted in unintended consequences, the over abundance of calories from macronutrients from grains and legumes like wheat, corn, rice and soy.  The increased yield is driven purely by the fossil fuel industry.  Fossil fuel driven farming it the only way to produce that much affordable calories to feed the masses.  This has resulted in a source of calories that dramatically alters our blood sugar responses and results in inflammatory states and all types of hormone disruption.  

If you were to do the “proper” testing and discover all of the foods you were sensitive to and remove them, along with removing environmental toxins and triggers, research tells us that after 6 months of being very strict, you would get a maximum of 75% restoration of gut function and reduced inflammation.  That is not enough.  

On the other hand if you were to add to the equation specific nutrients and nutra-ceuticals that have been shown to address:

• Immune regulation
• Detoxification pathways
• Intestinal lining repair processes
• Hormone balance

In a pattern specific to your history, exam findings and test results; it has been shown you could have up to 100% resolution and repair in as little as 12 weeks in some cases and 6 months in others.  Either way, you could experience dramatic symptoms relief in just a few weeks letting you know you are headed in the right direction.  

Determining the right path forward requires proper testing which usually includes a comprehensive wellness blood test and one or more predictive antibody tests performed by laboratories with reproducible results (due to split testing of all samples), protein samples that have been purified in the raw and cooked fashion in which they enter our bodies.

Thanks for reading!