In an earlier post, we wrote that today’s biochemistry defines disease as failure to heal. This biochemistry further shows that failure to heal is caused by the modern American diet. What is wrong with this diet? Too much sugar, starch, and vegetable fats and oils, and not enough protein, and fats and oils derived from animals and fish.
In brief, this is what the biochemistry tells us; The average American diet as described above distorts the body’s automatic control system and causes chronic low-level inflammation that is now accepted as the underlying cause of heart disease, stroke, cancers, Alzheimer’s disease, and the host other chronic diseases that plague our country.
Biochemically speaking, chronic inflammation inhibits the body’s ability to biosynthesize anti-inflammatory, pro-healing messenger biochemicals. These messenger biochemicals totally control the healing processes. Healing is not automatic.
For example, an important biochemical (lipid mediator) that maintains healthy eyes, brain, and nerve tissues is called a neuro-protectin. The body requires dietary DHA, a component of fish oil to biosynthesize the neuro-protectins. Importantly this biosynthesis cannot go forward when the diet is rich in sugar and starch.
Other important ant-inflammatory lipid mediators are biosynthesized from EPA, another component of fish oil, and arachidonic acid, a component of meat.
When suffering chronic inflammation, the body cannot heal itself. Hence, in the process of trying to survive, it forms scar tissue. We know what scar tissue looks like in skin. However, all scar tissue is not the same. In blood vessels, it is artery-clogging atherosclerosis. In brain, it is the odd tissue seen in Alzheimer’s disease. In the mouth it is inflammatory gum disease. In arthritic joints its boney deformities.
In summary, good health depends on a diet that restricts sugar and starch, and includes ample amounts of fish oil, animal protein, and animal fats.
For readers that want to look at the biochemistry involved here, we suggest going to PubMed and reading some of the 2008 papers by CN Serhan, etal.