Fighting inflammation is a key process not only in performance, but in the overall health of an individual. In regards to athletic performance, inflammation will delay recovery time, hinder muscle function, and provoke injury. Inflammation is a cause as well as a result of many health issues, from joint pain to fatigue to even heart disease and cancer. This is why it is of utmost importance to do everything possible to keep inflammation at bay.
In this two-part series, I am going to discuss two of the most common dietary mistakes by which you can cause more inflammation and wreak havoc on your body. Not only are they very common, but they reinforce each other’s negative effects. Yet they are relatively easy to change. This article will discuss inflammation issue number one – the problems with hydrogenated (trans) fats. Part II will discuss inflammation issue number two, which perhaps is more controversial, that being the dangers of Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and how they may be causing you more inflammation. That’s no typo, they can actually increase, not decrease, your problems with your health and performance.
It is now common knowledge that you should “watch” your trans fats intake, but the problem here is that the danger is being downplayed. Trans fats are made when an oil, usually vegetable, soy, or cottonseed, is heated to a point along with a metal catalyst which changes its chemical structure. Extra hydrogen atoms are bubbled into hot oil to make it more stable for food preservation. Although very economical, it is not at all healthy. Trans fats do not exist in nature’s food oils. (Well, they do exist in very, very, small amounts naturally in dairy.) Saturated fats, which are chemically similar to hydrogenated fats do exist in nature. The difference is that the human body has developed through the centuries in an environment of saturated fats while processed hydrogenated fats and their unnatural “trans” form have only been introduced during the last century.
Trans fats look chemically similar to their natural fat counterparts, and this similarity confuses the body leading to very different outcomes. While the similar looking “cis fat”, such as flax oil or sesame oil will fight inflammation, a trans fat will cause and provoke inflammation.
Trans fats block receptors intended for cis fats, as well as inhibit important enzyme reactions from occurring. Interestingly, one of the ways many well known poisons work is also by blocking enzyme reactions. Call it a poison, or call it what you like, but the key is that this stuff really causes problems that even today are being underestimated by groups from doctors & nutritionists to the food industry. Just less than a decade ago, these groups were saying that trans fats were fine, citing their fabricated link to lowering cholesterol and heart disease. Recently they have realized that those findings are untrue, but rather than go from one extreme to the other and admit that they have no place in an individual’s diet, they state that moderation of the fats is fine. They realized their mistake, but are still reluctant to throw in the towel and state just how bad these fats are for you. Unfortunately they look at a balance between health and economics and it is just not economical to totally ban trans fats from foods.
Today people are being told to “limit” the amount of hydrogenated fats and that having some here and there in your PB & J sandwich or in the cookie snack is fine as long as you don’t go overboard. Although there is a wide gray area from limit to excess. But what people are not being told is that hydrogenated fats build up in your body as the half-life is a whopping 51 days! That means that 50% of the “little bit” of hydrogenated soy oil you ate in your cookie today is going to still be causing problems 51 days from now. 102 days from now, you will still be dealing with 25% of the trans fats. This stuff doesn’t just go away. You can see why eating a little bit here and there, even if it is just once or twice a week, can seriously affect you. After all, it’s still going to be breaking down over one year from the day you ate it. So moderation is not the key – elimination is!
Prostaglandins are fat-derived hormones that regulate and modify many body functions including inflammation. Hydrogenated fats block the ever so important anti-inflammatory effects of fats (found in flax and fish and nuts, seeds, veggies) from forming their respective anti-inflammatory prostaglandins. Hydrogenated (trans) fats do not block the production of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins formed diets high in refined vegetable oils typically combined with high refined carbohydrates. Therefore, combining any amount of hydrogenated fats with these pro-inflammatory fats leads to an inflammatory disaster as the pro-inflammatory fats are left unopposed by the anti-inflammatory fats.
Once inflammation is left out of control, one tends to turn to their ever favorite anti-inflammatory drug. These NSAIDs work by blocking both the pro-inflammatory as well as the anti-inflammatory prostaglandins. This is very important to understand – read it again – When you take one of these drugs you block the production of both the anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, as well as the pro-inflammatory prostaglandins. Inflammation is reduced because of the high level of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins. Therefore, it is understandable to see that a diet containing trans fats provokes the inflammation which NSAIDs reduce. The NSAIDs also reduce the anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, but usually due to the trans fat intake, these levels are already very low, regardless of an individual’s intake of certain healthy fats from flax, vegetables, or nuts & seeds.
Thus the double edged sword. After provoking inflammation by consuming even minute amounts of trans fats and trying to fight that inflammation with your favorite NSAID, further problems from the NSAID can arise. And these problems are more than the digestive problems you may have read about or heard from your local physician. Add to the list vitamin deficiencies, joint problems, and the fact that NSAIDs can cause more inflammation, which they many times do. That’s right, more inflammation, discussed in Part II of this article.
If you have a pain or discomfort that is relieved by a NSAID, from an aspirin to a “heavy hitter” drug available by prescription only, then consider yourself to have a fatty acid imbalance. Daily nagging symptoms, such as a headache, back pain, joint or muscle pain when running, and PMS, whose relief is sought from the swallowing of a pill, can many times be alleviated by adjusting the diet to provide the proper amounts of Omega 3 and 6 fats and ridding the diet of hydrogenated fats. Maybe you have tried this with no success. If so, think back and ask yourself if you really stopped eating all trans fats for at least a couple months. Probably not. Due to the long half-life, you can’t expect results from eliminating trans fats for a week or two. And you almost surely will not see results if you just cut back on the hydrogenated fats to once or twice a week. It needs to be 100% elimination. The common saying I hear is, “It’s in everything.” To which I reply, “No, it’s in everything YOU eat.” There are plenty of substitutions to your favorite trans fat containing cookie or bread.
Hi! I hear you on the hydrogenated fats, but I’m having trouble with the paragraph on the half-life arguement. I fully understand the chemical concept of a “half-life.” However, how much of these fats are actually still in the body 51/102/etc days after consumption? Wouldn’t quite a bit be excreted in one form or another?
Thanks!
It has to do more with how they affect phospholipid membranes – which are major components of cells.