Inflammation: How to cool the fire inside you that's making you fat and diseased...

Posted on April 12th, 2007

Categories: Weight Loss | Inflammation | Food Choices

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How can you, in a week or less, get dramatic relief from all the symptoms you thought you had to live with the rest of your life?

I'll get to that in just a minute...

Last week, I showed you how addressing the toxins that make us sick and fat can help create long-term health, vitality, and weight loss.

Today, I'm going to tell you about the second hidden culprit that's linked to everything from obesity to all the chronic diseases of aging.

And I'll give you the key to solving this problem -- and unlocking good health.

Over the years, I've helped patient after patient achieve good health and automatic weight loss.

But what I've asked patients to do is so simple that anyone can do it -- and get the same great results.

Now, I've created a simple 1-week plan for everyone.

In this week's blog, I'm going to tell you about something you've heard me talk about before.

But it's so important that I want to emphasize it again and show you how it's a hidden cause of poor health.

==> I'm talking about inflammation.

You're probably familiar with the pain, swelling, redness, and heat that classically signify inflammation. It's something just about every one out there has experienced.

Inflammation is part of the body's natural defense system.

When your body senses foreign invaders, a specific cascade of events is set off in which your white blood cells and some special chemicals called cytokines mobilize to protect you.

This normal type of inflammation is a good thing. It helps your body protect and heal itself.

However, when your immune system shifts out of balance, inflammation can run rampant -- causing a chronic, smoldering fire inside your body that contributes to disease and weight gain.

The causes of this type of inflammation are all around you.

The sugar you eat, high doses of the wrong oils and fats in your diet, hidden food allergens, lack of exercise, chronic stress, and hidden infections all trigger a raging, unseen inflammation deep in your cells and tissues.

And this inflammation leads to every one of the major chronic diseases of aging -- heart disease, cancer, diabetes, dementia, and more.

It's also by far the major contributor to obesity.

Being fat is being inflamed -- period!

It's simple.

If you don't address inflammation by eliminating hidden food allergens or sensitivities and by eating an anti-inflammatory diet, you will never succeed at effective and permanent weight loss.

==> Hidden sensitivities and allergies to food you eat every day are making you sick and fat.

When most people think of food allergies, they usually imagine someone eating a peanut and ending up in the emergency room with a swollen tongue, hives, and not being able to breathe.

That's what is called an immediate allergy (also known as an IgE hypersensitivity reaction). This is very serious but not common.

But there is a different type of reaction to foods that is much less dramatic and deadly -- but still very troublesome.

It is called a delayed allergy (or IgG delayed hypersensitivity reaction).

This reaction is much more common and creates a lot of suffering for millions of people.

It's mostly ignored by conventional medicine, yet it plays a HUGE role in many chronic illnesses and weight problems.

This type of delayed allergic reaction can cause symptoms anywhere from a few hours to a few days after ingestion.

It also causes a wide range of problems like weight gain, fluid retention, fatigue, brain fog, irritable bowel syndrome, mood problems, headaches, sinus and nasal congestion, joint pains, acne, eczema, and more.

If you hear someone say dismissively, "Oh, you just lost water weight," they're right (at first), because eating foods you are allergic to causes inflammation, which leads to swelling and fluid retention.

Getting rid of this fluid by reducing inflammation is a GOOD thing, not a bad thing.

It is what will allow your body to start the healing process so you can achieve permanent weight loss and optimal health.

Consuming a low-allergy diet for just 1 week will help you eliminate the excess swelling and fluid that accumulates in your tissues from food-induced chronic inflammation.

Despite criticisms you may have heard about losing ONLY water weight, this is essential for you body to begin to heal and detoxify.

And the side effect is that you lose significant weight -- quickly and safely.

Let me explain a little more.

In my practice, treating food allergies and improving nutrition in general is the single most powerful tool I have to treat, reverse, and even cure hundreds of diseases that conventional medicine fails at miserably.

These include allergies, arthritis, autoimmune diseases, fatigue, sinus problems, hormonal disorders, obesity, high blood pressure, cholesterol, digestive diseases like irritable bowel syndrome, reflux, and colitis, and even mood disorders like depression and anxiety -- just to name a few.

You see, we are seeing an epidemic of inflammatory diseases.

In fact nearly every modern disease -- everything from autoimmune diseases, heart disease, and cancer to obesity, diabetes, and dementia -- is caused by inflammation!

These chronic diseases affect 125 million Americans. That means in the average family of three, at least one person has a chronic disease caused by inflammation.

In my practice, helping people treat food allergies and food sensitivities is one of the most helpful things I do.

So what have I found after years of testing people for IgG allergies and teaching them how to use elimination diets to help recover from their chronic symptoms and illnesses?

While everyone is different, there are some foods that irritate the immune system more than others.

They are gluten (wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt, kamut), dairy (milk, cheese, butter, yogurt), corn, eggs, soy, nuts, nightshades (tomatoes, bell peppers1, potatoes, eggplant), citrus, and yeast (baker's yeast, brewer's yeast, and fermented products).

These foods can also cause acute allergic reactions. But those are rare, generally affecting less than 1 percent of the population. When they occur they are serious, permanent, and need to be treated seriously.

But for more than 50 percent of us, there are some foods that just don't agree with us and prevent vibrant, good health.

==> How Do You Know If You Are Allergic or Sensitive to Foods?

There are two ways to find out if you are reacting to foods.

One is a blood test for IgG antibodies to foods. This is useful and can pinpoint trouble areas, but it is not 100 percent accurate.

The second is a simple and well-accepted treatment called elimination/ provocation.

This means you get rid of the top trouble foods for 1 to 4 weeks, then reintroduce them one at a time and see what happens.

Eliminating foods that cause allergic reactions or sensitivities is the basis for the remarkable results people have -- like losing weight, feeling better, and getting rid of chronic symptoms -- when they follow the detox phase of "UltraMetabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss."

This program is based on a simple elimination diet: getting rid of gluten, dairy, eggs, and yeast products.

What happens?

Very quickly -- in a week or less -- people notice dramatic relief from all the symptoms they thought they had to live with the rest of their lives!

==> Why Do You Become Sensitive or Allergic to Foods?

Simply put, your diet, the way you live, and the medications you take are to blame.

These things injure your gut.

They change the bacteria and damage the gut's lining, which is the critical barrier that keeps your immune system from having to deal with all the garbage, toxins, and allergens inside your intestinal tract.

This damage is called a leaky gut.

And so the food particles "leak" across the damaged barrier and your immune system (60 percent of which is right under that lining) starts to attack these partially digested food particles.

That's when you develop IgG food intolerances or allergies.

Let me recap.

When your gut is leaky, partially digested foods get exposed to your immune system, which then creates an abnormal response to something pretty normal -- food.

That creates weight gain and so many chronic health problems.

==> Finding and Fixing Delayed Food Allergies and Sensitivities

Just because you have a food allergy or intolerance doesn't mean you have to suffer with it.

In fact, there's a lot you can do to deal with the problem, rebalance your system, and eliminate chronic symptoms.

Next week, I'm going to explain how to identify food allergies and give you the tools you need to begin to heal your gut and repair your digestive and immune systems.

When you do these things, you'll be more resilient and able to tolerate a wider range of foods.

The plan is designed to get you started on the road to finding and healing this common obstacle to health and weight loss.

Just think about giving yourself the gift of a weeklong vacation for your body and soul.

You might be surprised by what's on the other side.

You'll be following the same simple program that I use with my own patients to eliminate food allergies.

In my next blog, I'll give you more details of this 1-week plan to detoxify and cool off inflammation.

I think you'll find that the results are remarkable.

But I don't want you to just believe what I am saying -- I want you to prove it to yourself!

Now I'd like to hear from you...

Have you noticed how certain foods affect your health and weight?

What have you done to identify and eliminate these foods?

When you eliminate problematic foods from your diet, how does your body respond?

Please let me know your thoughts by clicking on the Add a Comment button below and posting a comment.

To your good health,

Mark Hyman, M.D.

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re: Inflammation: How to cool the fire inside you that's makin

I found out a couple of years ago I have gluten intolerance. It's made a huge difference in my life since I stopped eating gluten and when I accidentally eat it, I definitely can tell. I seem to have a problem with garlic and onion as well. I'm sure there are other products and I should probably do the elimination diet.

by Anonymous at 06:24 AM on 04/12/07

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Inflammation: How to cool the fire inside you that's making you fat and diseased...

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