Since fat tissue (especially abdominal fat) expresses inflammatory cytokines, obesity can be a major cause of low-grade, systemic inflammation. Thus, it is important that total energy intake is proportional to energy expenditure, to avoid the deposition of abdominal fat. Obesity-induced increases in inflammatory cytokines appear to be reversible with fat loss. In a dramatic example, weight loss in a group of 20 severely obese individuals reduced Inflammation bold tests by almost half!
Energy expenditure through exercise lowers multiple cytokines and pro-inflammatory molecules independently of weight loss. While muscle contraction initially results in a pro-inflammatory state, it paradoxically lowers systemic inflammation. This effect has been observed in dozens of human trials of exercise training in both healthy and unhealthy individuals across many age groups.
Amongst the most anti-inflammatory nutrients are magnesium, beta-carotene, turmeric (curcumin), genistein, and tea.
The most pro-inflammatory nutrients include carbohydrates, total- and saturated fat, and cholesterol.
The more omega-3 fat you eat; the less omega-6 will be available to the tissues to produce inflammation. Omega-6 is pro-inflammatory, while omega-3 is neutral. A diet containing a LOT of omega-3 and NOT MUCH omega-6 will REDUCE INFLAMMATION.
The more omega-3 fat you eat; the less omega-6 will be available to the tissues to produce inflammation. Omega-6 is pro-inflammatory, while omega-3 is neutral. A diet containing a LOT of omega-3 and NOT MUCH omega-6 will REDUCE INFLAMMATION. This is because humans have problems converting omega-3 (n-3) fats from plant sources, (such as flax seeds, walnuts, hempseed, canola oil, soybeans, soybean oil, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seed oil, linseeds, walnuts, and walnut oil) to the longer chain derivatives EPA and DHA.
Since EPA and DHA (especially DHA) are responsible for the benefits omega-3 fats provide, and since EPA and DHA are only available in significant amounts in seafood, it follows that we should be consuming seafood on a regular basis. But how much is enough? The question of how much omega-3 to eat depends in large part on how much omega-6 we eat. Over the course of human evolution, there has been a dramatic change in the RATIO of omega-6 and omega-3 fats consumed in the diet. This change, perhaps more than any other dietary factor, has contributed to the epidemic of modern disease-inflammation.
Throughout 4-5 million years of hominid evolution, diets were abundant in seafood and other sources of omega-3 long chain fatty acids (EPA & DHA), but relatively low in omega-6 seed oils. Anthropological research suggests that our hunter-gatherer ancestors consumed omega-6 and omega-3 fats in a ratio of roughly 1:1. It also indicates that both ancient and modern hunter-gatherers were free of the modern inflammatory diseases, like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes that are the primary causes of death and morbidity today. At the onset of the industrial revolution (about 140 years ago), there was a marked shift in the ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids in the diet. Consumption of n-6 fats increased at the expense of n-3 fats. This change was due to both the advent of the modern vegetable oil industry and the increased use of cereal grains as feed for domestic livestock (which in turn altered the fatty acid profile of meat that humans consumed).
Vegetable oil consumption rose dramatically between the beginning and end of the 20th century, and this had an entirely predictable effect on the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats in the American diet. Today, estimates of the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 range from an average of 10:1 to 20:1 with a ratio as high as 25:1 in some individuals. Studies reveal that our average intake of n-6 fatty acids is between 10 and 25 times higher than evolutionary norms. The consequences of this dramatic shift cannot be overestimated as in the U.S. the average person's tissue concentration of highly unsaturated omega 6 fat is 75%. This creates a very inflammatory environment and goes a long way towards explaining why 4 in 10 people who die in the U.S. each year die of heart disease. The RATIO of omega-6 to omega-3 matters, but so does the total amount of each. Omega-6 COMPETES with omega-3 and vice versa.
