Would you be surprised to know that eating a high-fat meal and/or high-sugar meal causes your arteries to not work in a normal manner? Let’s say we start the day with either coffee with cream/sugar and donuts, or same coffee/sugar with eggs and toast with butter/jam. And then for lunch or supper, we eat meals with high-fat meat, bread and butter, a baked potato with sour cream and butter along with an alcoholic drink (or even ice tea with sugar). Then we finish the meal with a nice dessert.

Each of these meals can cause your arteries not to function properly by the end of the meal which could last for several hours!¹ If you tend to eat this way, most of the day your arteries are constricted and not dilating normally in response to routine activities. The result, at the very least, is high blood pressure. This problem can be eliminated simply by cutting out the excess saturated fat and sugar, and adding probiotics or cultured foods high in bifidobacteria, in addition to eating plenty of vegetables throughout the day.

The above illustration of the diet-artery connection illustrates just one of the many ways to create a problem known as endothelial dysfunction, a condition that occurs when the cells lining the arteries, veins, and lymphatics don’t work properly.² There are a multitude of ways to cause the vessels to not dilate or constrict normally, and to cause the lining to leak (let’s call it leaky vessel syndrome). Endothelial dysfunction is a precursor to atherosclerosis.³ Here is a short list of endothelial dysfunction triggers:

1. Smoking, polluted air,⁴ food, and water⁵ – All of these create excess free radicals which are a major cause of endothelial dysfunction.

2. High blood sugar and/or high insulin levels – High blood sugar results in glycosylation (think of it like a sticky sugar coating) of the insulin receptor substrate, which eventually leads to an inability of protein kinase B (Akt) to increase endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) enzyme activity, resulting in low nitric oxide (NO) and poor blood vessel function.⁶

3. Microbes (bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites), parts of microbes, and toxins made by microbes migrating from inside the intestinal lumen into the arterial, venous and lymphatic circulation – Microbes and their toxins activate white blood cells and they release bullets (anti-microbial peptides) named alpha-defensins that not only damage the microbes but the endothelial lining as well.

4. Stress – Stress increases cortisol, which can elevate blood sugar and insulin, again sugar coating receptors to result in low NO, and thus, endothelial dysfunction.

5 Aging – Aging decreases stem cells that help with repair processes, increases blood cortisol levels (see number 4), and decreases bifidobacteria levels in the colon. All of this leads to endothelial dysfunction.

6. Increased body fat, especially in abdomen – Even a modest gain of about 8 pounds (which can happen over a vacation) will cause endothelial dysfunction. “In normal-weight healthy young subjects, modest fat gain results in impaired endothelial function, even in the absence of changes in blood pressure. Endothelial function recovers after weight loss. Increased visceral (belly) rather than subcutaneous fat predicts endothelial dysfunction.”⁴

One of the mechanisms by which fat hurts the arteries is by releasing a cytokine known as resistin. Resistin has been shown to cause oxidative stress and decrease endothelial nitric oxide synthetase (eNOS) which is essential for nitric oxide (NO) production, itself essential for arterial health and function.

7. Physical inactivity – Merely by doing nothing, the process of ongoing free radical activity due to diet, stress and environment, will decrease nitric oxide (our natural vasodilator), superoxide dismutase (our own natural anti-oxidant) and citrate synthetase (the enzyme in our mitochondria involved energy production—essential to a healthy heart / blood vessel function). These natural sources of blood vessel protection return merely by walking briskly on a regular basis.⁵

8. Diabetes types 1 and 2 – Again, elevated blood sugar and either high or low insulin levels, as are seen in diabetes, will lead to endothelial dysfunction as described above.

9. Drugs which elevate or lower blood sugar and insulin – Many diabetic drugs can cause endothelial dysfunction by not maintaining steady levels of blood sugar and insulin. Insulin itself is one of the worst offenders.

10. Even children receiving second-hand smoke in a household with smokers, begin developing endothelial dysfunction at an early age.

References

1. Rudolph TK, et al., “Acute effects of various fast-food meals on vascular function and cardiovascular disease risk markers: The Hamburg Burger Trial.” Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Aug;86(2):334-40.
2. Endemann DH and Schiffrin EL, “Endothelial dysfunction.” J Am Soc Nephrol. 2004 Aug;15(8):1983-92.
3. Davignon J and Ganz P, Role of endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerosis.” Circulation. 2004 Jun 15;109(23 Suppl 1):III27-32.
4. Romero-Corral A, et al., “Modest visceral fat gain causes endothelial dysfunction in healthy humans.” J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010 Aug 17;56(8):662-6.
5. Suvorava T et al., “Physical activity causes endothelial dysfunction in healthy young mice.” J Am Coll Cardiol. 2004 Sep 15;44(6):1320-7.
6. Wautier JL and Schmidt AM, “Protein glycation: a firm link to endothelial dysfunction.” Circ Res. 2004 Aug 6;95(3):233-8.

Leonard Smith, M.D.
Dr. Leonard Smith is a prominent Board-Certified, general, gastrointestinal and vascular surgeon who had a successful private practice for 25 years. In addition to his active surgery practice, he also incorporated lifestyle, diet, supplementation, exercise, detoxification, and stress management into many of the therapies he would prescribe. Many of his patients with cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other serious illnesses did so well under his treatment regimes that he began to devote most of his career to foundational health care and preventive medicine.

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Renew You Challenge

Let’s start this week off right!

Weekly challenge (I mean opportunity!) to help set you off on the right foot and in the right direction for bringing health to your week. You could even add it to your calendar.  Join us! 

Eating processed and red meat regularly may increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health recently analyzed data from studies involving a total of over 440,000 people over 10 years. Over six percent, or about 28,000, of those people developed type 2 diabetes during the ten-year time span. After taking into consideration other factors like weight, physical activity level, smoking and family history diabetes, researchers discovered the following dietary links to diabetes:

Eating two ounces of processed meat per day (hot dog, bacon, salami or bologna) increased the risk of diabetes by 50%.

Eating four ounces of unprocessed red meat per day (hamburger, steak, pork or lamb) was associated with a 20% increased risk of diabetes.

And the good news…

Substituting nuts, whole grains and low-fat dairy (like yogurt) for these meats decreased the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 16 to 35%.

The researchers attribute the high amount of salt, nitrites and nitrates in processed meats as possible reasons for the increased risk; and high amounts of iron may be the culprit in red meats. Further, people eating high amounts of processed and red meats may not be eating enough nuts, beans and fish, stated Vivian Fonesca of the American Diabetes Association, in response to these studies.

This week, take a look at your meat intake. If you are eating processed meats try to cut back and replace these with healthier foods. One alternative might be nitrate- and nitrite-free meats like bacon and lunchmeats.  These options still pack a lot of salt, however, so don’t be too liberal with this substitution. Opt for nuts and whole grains instead. As for red meats, cut them back as much as possible. Higher red meat consumption is also associated with colon cancer risk, so it’s best to minimize this food. Further, meats like beef and pork require high-input agriculture. That means they require a lot more water and cropland to produce, especially when compared to a more plant-based diet.

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If the harmful health effects of smoking aren’t enough to get you (or someone you know) to kick the habit, how about what it will do to your looks over time?

This link to the WebMD slideshow “Surprising Ways Smoking Affects Your Looks and Life” might make you think twice about lighting up.

The need for nicotine in cigarettes is a physical addiction, involving chemical changes in the brain that encourage nicotine craving. When quitting, it can be helpful to detox the body with nutrients that help reduce the desire to smoke, reduce stress, and promote respiratory health. Look for a three-part smoker’s cleanse that can help you through this difficult (yet REWARDING) process. Quitting today is the best thing you can do for those you care about, and yourself.

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Colorectal (bowel) cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. The lifetime risk in men for developing colorectal cancer is one in 19. In women it’s one in 20. Those are some scary stats when you think about it!

A few lifestyle factors are known to be protective against bowel cancer. A recent study looked at five of these factors in a group of over 55,487 adults aged 50 to 64 for nearly a decade. Over this period, 678 people out of the study group were diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

What the researchers found was encouraging. If participants had followed just one of the recommendations below, 13 percent of the bowel cancer cases could have been prevented. If all participants had followed all five recommendations, then almost one quarter of bowel cancer cases could have been avoided.

This week, think about the following lifestyle recommendations and how they may help save your colon (and your life!):

- At least 30 minutes of daily physical activity
- No more than seven alcoholic drinks per week for women, and 14 for men
- Not smoking
- Maintaining waist circumference below 34 ½ inches for women and 40 inches for men
- Consuming a healthy diet

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A study that looked at dental plaque samples from smokers? Yuck! But it just might surprise you to hear what scientists from Ohio State University and Newcastle University (UK) discovered after following several people with chronic gum disease after they quit smoking.

Knowing that tobacco use causes harmful bacteria to thrive in the mouth (which can eventually lead to gum disease), researchers wondered if quitting smoking could have the reverse effect. Could the numbers of bad bacteria be lowered? Could the beneficial bacteria be replenished?

During the year-long study, half of the more than 20 participants quit for good, but half started smoking again, and guess what the results showed? Yup, you guessed it—quitting smoking (along with non-surgical therapy and counseling) not only resulted in fewer bad bacteria but an increase in healthy, disease-fighting bacteria.

I don’t know about you, but I think this is pretty cool. In fact, it’s one of the first studies to prove that it’s possible to restore a healthy oral bacteria balance after quitting smoking. Just one more reason to kick the habit!

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As if smoking isn’t bad enough for your health, researchers recently discovered that cigarettes are “widely contaminated” with hundreds of species of infectious bacteria… yuck! Not only that, but they think those bacteria are somehow able to survive the smoking process, which means it’s not just smokers who are affected, but people exposed to secondhand smoke may be at risk too.

Talk about an eye-opener! When I heard the story I can’t say I was shocked, but it was interesting to learn that even though scientists knew they were going to find bacteria in cigarettes, even they were surprised that most of those bacteria are infectious to humans—like clostridium, klebsiella, and pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can cause damage the lungs, urinary tract and kidneys… holy smokes!

More research is planned to find out just how these bacteria affect human health, so it will be interesting to see what they learn. And in the meantime, do you really need any more reason to quit smoking???

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‘Renew You’ Challenge – We all have bad habits…you know, those little things we do every day that we know we shouldn’t do, but sometimes we just can’t help ourselves? So what’s yours? Smoking? Dairy foods? A nightly dessert indulgence?

This week, the Renew You Challenge is to cut out something from your life that is getting in the way of your health. Take a moment to think about it, and choose something that you know you can cut out. Then, envision how much better you’ll feel once you’ve accomplished your goal, and pretty soon you’ll be reaping the benefits of a healthier, happier YOU…. so what are you waiting for? Cut it out!

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