Hidden Cause of Inflammation

A new study has suggested that obese people live just as long as thinner people. At first, this might seem to imply that fat is harmless and that all the talk of obesity and disease was just a lot of hype.

But not so fast! Regular readers may recall that I have explained more than once that thin people can sometimes actually have even more inflammatory fat than people who look clearly overweight. What is important is where the fat is.

Most fat in the body is called subcutaneous fat, which means that it lies just under the skin. Studies suggest that this type of fat is relatively harmless. However, another type of fat exists within the abdominal cavity. This is called visceral fat — that is, it surrounds the intestines and internal organs.

It is this type of fat that is harmful to your health because it is associated with insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart disease, atherosclerosis, heart failure, cancer, and even Alzheimer’s disease. (For information on low to lose weight safely, read my special report “The Fat Cure: Health Secrets to Losing Weight Permanently."

The reason visceral fat is so harmful is that it releases chemicals (cytokines, adipokines, and chemokines) that produce a slow, smoldering inflammation throughout the body. This type of inflammation is associated with all of the diseases mentioned. For a detailed discussion on inflammation and its role in many diseases, see my newsletter "Inflammation: The Real Cause of Most Diseases."

You may also recall that people can have a great deal of visceral fat and still appear to be a normal weight. In fact, most studies on obesity measure the body mass index (BMI), which uses a formula based on your height and weight. The problem is that BMI cannot differentiate between subcutaneous and visceral fat. As a result, you can have a normal BMI and still have a very high level of visceral fat.

In another new study, reported in “Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience,” found a strong correlation between high levels of visceral fat and shrinkage of the brain (atrophy of the hippocampus), memory difficulties, and thinning of the brain’s cortex. Subcutaneous fat had no effect.

Curcumin, quercetin, ellagic acid, luteolin, natural vitamin E, tocotrienols, and DHA reduce inflammation. Concentrated blueberry and pomegranate extract significantly reduce inflammation's effect on the brain and protect from the effects of aging. In addition, taking 1,000 to 2,000 mg of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) oil a day can help reduce visceral fat. (For more information on vitamins and supplements, read my special report "Key Vitamins that Save Your Heart, Prevent Cancer and Keep You Living Long"will give you all the details.)