Dr. Dwight Lundell, M.D., past Chief of Staff and Chief of Surgery at Banner Heart Hospital, Mesa, AZ, and author of The Cure for Heart Disease and The Great Cholesterol Lie, has recently written an interesting article on the theory that inflammation in the artery wall is the real cause of heart disease. Further, this concept will slowly shift in how heart disease and other chronic ailments will be treated.
Statistics from the American Heart Association show that 75 million Americans currently suffer from heart disease, 20 million have diabetes, and 57 million have pre-diabetes. These disorders are affecting younger and younger people in greater numbers every year.
Simply stated, Dr. Lundell believes that without inflammation being present in the body, there is no way that cholesterol would accumulate in the wall of the blood vessel and cause heart disease and strokes. Without inflammation, cholesterol would move freely throughout the body as nature intended. It is inflammation that causes cholesterol to become trapped.
What are the biggest culprits of chronic inflammation? Quite simply, they are the overload of simple, highly process carbohydrates (sugar, flour, and all the products made from them) and the excess consumption of omega-6 vegetable oils like soybean, corn, and sunflower that are found in many processed foods.
What does the overload of highly process carbohydrates have to do with inflammation? These foods are loaded with sugars and simple carbohydrates. Your blood sugar will rise rapidly causing the production of more insulin and glucose converting to stored fat. Extra sugar molecules attach to a variety of proteins that in turn injure the blood vessel wall. This repeated injury to the blood vessel wall sets off inflammation. When you spike your blood sugar level several times a day, every day, it is exactly like taking sandpaper to the inside of your delicate blood vessels.
There is but one answer to quieting inflammation, and that is returning to foods closer to their natural state. Choose whole foods your grandmother served and not those your mom turned to as grocery store aisles filled with manufactured foods. Build muscle by eating more protein, buy fresh unprocessed food and colorful fruits and vegetables, and use olive oil or butter made from grass-fed beef. By eliminating inflammatory foods and adding essential nutrients, you will reverse years of damage in your arteries and throughout your body from consuming the typical American diet.