Are You Eating the Right Signals?

Chronic disease is at an all-time high. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Almanac of Chronic Disease, conditions, illnesses, and ailments that make us sick for long periods of time are considered chronic diseases; usually, they never go away. These illnesses include cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, obesity, autoimmune disease, and more. While traditional medicine seeks to alleviate their effects, the number of people suffering with chronic disease continues to rise. These ailments now afflict 50% of all Americans, and more than 75% of health-care costs are spent to manage them. However, the monetary cost pales in comparison to the physical and emotional suffering by the afflicted, as well as by the loved ones who provide care and support. 

While trying to navigate your health issues, you may have been told, "It runs in your family," or "You've been dealt a bad hand," or "It's 'just because.'" Traditionally, long-term chronic illnesses have been blamed on inherited genes, and considered to be an inevitable part of aging. Contrary to this opinion, current research is showing that there are no "chronic-disease" genes.   

You inherit genes from both parents, but inherited genes don't dictate your health. How those genes interact with your body's internal environment dictates whether you maintain good health or develop disease. Simply put, the genes within your DNA receive signals from the environment, which translate into instructions for the cells to create healthful function or disease. Here's an example of cell signaling and the response. You are exposed to unwanted bacteria that the body recognizes as invaders. The bacteria come into contact with the surface of a white blood cell (immune system). This contact causes a signal to be sent from the surface of the cell to the genes within, with the instruction to produce bacteria-killing compounds needed to wipe out the invaders. This process is called inflammation. 

Under normal circumstances, the inflammatory response created by the immune system is needed to fight foreign invaders and heal injuries. Inflammation is a sign that the immune system is actively fighting infection and/or mending cells and tissues after an injury. This type of immune response should be short-lived. However, the body runs into trouble when the immune system runs out of control, creating chronic inflammation. Unmanaged, this type of inflammation can result in cancer, atherosclerosis and coronary-artery disease, autoimmune disease, and obesity, arthritis, diabetes—in other words, chronic disease.

Food Is Information

How does food relate to all of this? In a nutshell, food is information. Food is not only great-tasting calories we eat to produce energy; it also provides the body with vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (plant chemicals) that control intricate cellular machinery. Once digested, the nutrients from foods act as signals, similar to the bacteria that turned on the white blood cell. Here's an example: When eating cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts, a compound is released from these plant-based foods called Indol-3-Carbinol (I‑3‑C). Once it's in the liver, I‑3‑C signals the liver cells to produce detoxifying enzymes to rid the body of harmful chemicals. 

The scientific community is now showing that the major driver behind the development of chronic health issues and disease is the over-consumption of processed, high-calorie, nutrient-naked foods—aka, an inflammatory diet. Unlike the unprocessed whole foods that made up our ancestral diet, the processed, toxic, Standard American Diet (SAD—truly, it is) sends the wrong signals to our genes, giving them instructions to create inflammation and disease. The longer you eat inflammatory processed foods, the more frequently you will send signals that create inflammation, setting the stage for the development of chronic disease. 

Let me ask you this: Are you eating the wrong information? The foods that cause inflammation and chronic illness come from white, refined sugar, dairy, refined grains, artificial sweeteners, additives, synthetic salts, partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, and processed meats loaded with nitrites—the typical Western diet. The first step to rebuilding yourself after a disease or to prevent disease is the elimination of improper food signals from a toxic processed-food diet. 

Instead, eat a variety of nutrient-dense and tasty whole foods that will communicate with your genes to create normal function, while at the same time shutting off genes that set the stage for disease. These foods include healthful proteins, fats, and green and rainbow-colored plant-based foods. Eating those foods will enable you to enjoy the fruits of your efforts with more energy, vibrancy, and health.

References

• 2009 Almanac of Chronic Disease
• National Center for Chronic Disease Control and Prevention. Chronic diseases the power to prevent, the call to control. 2009