For your Health Information: Fructose
is metabolized by our livers.
• Glucose
from sugar and starches is metabolized in our cells.
Why
does this matter?
Consuming
cane sugar or HFCS causes your liver to work very hard to process.
Fructose
is metabolized by our livers.
• Glucose
from sugar and starches is metabolized in our cells.
Why
does this matter?
Consuming
cane sugar or HFCS causes your liver to work very hard to process the
fructose. If that sugar comes in a liquid
form like soda or fruit juice, the fructose hits your system
instantly and causes your liver to go into overdrive in an attempt to
process it. And the fructose in High Fructose Corn Syrup hits your
liver even faster than regular cane sugar because the fructose is not
bound to the glucose in it. So your liver gets a massive shot of
fructose faster!
When
fructose is ingested quickly in larger quantities, the liver converts
it to fat. The fat becomes a substance called triglycerides, a key
contributor to heart disease. Some of these triglycerides float
around in your bloodstream and get stored as fat on your body.
However,
excess fat is also stored in the liver. Ever hear of ‘fatty liver
disease’? When the liver starts storing excess amounts of fat. Insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome follow, and not far behind
then, is type 2 diabetes.
The
result—accelerated aging, chronic disease and sometimes, eventually
death, all from excess sugar.
Fats
Can Speed Up or Slow Down the Aging Process
The
DNA in our cells is coded with a life span. At the ends of each
chromosome lies something called a ‘telomere’. Telomeres protect
chromosomes and prevent them from fusing into rings or binding with
other DNA. Think of telomeres as being kind of like the little hard
plastic ends on the ends of shoelaces. They keep the laces from
coming undone. Telomeres do a similar thing with your chromosomes.
When
a cell divides, as they do thousands of times every day, strands of
DNA get snipped to in the process. The places that are snipped are
the telomeres. These telomeres get shorter and shorter with each cell
division. Eventually the telomere gets too short, and the DNA becomes
damaged, putting a halt to the cell’s ability to reproduce. This is
when the cell dies, and where aging occurs.
Telomere
length is an important marker of true biological age that accurately
predicts illness and lifespan in many areas of health. The rate at
which this happens varies greatly among individual people and cells.
This is why some people may look and act older and may be more
susceptible to age related disease than others.
How
does this affect aging in our bodies? Scientists can actually
determine a cell's age and can estimate how many more times it may
replicate by studying the length of the telomeres in a person.
Telomeres may be one of the keys to aging.
Omega
3 Fats vs. Omega 6 Fats, It’s All About the Ratio
Recent
scientific research shows omega 3 fats can actually slow down the
rate at which telomeres on chromosomes shorten. The latest study
conducted by scientists at Ohio State University (2012); on omega 3’s
and their effect on telomeres appeared in the Journal of the American
Medical Association (JAMA).
The
study showed that those that had the highest levels of omega 3 fatty
acids also had the slowest rates of telomere shortening over 5 years.
And the patients with the lowest levels of omega 3’s had fastest
rate of telomere shortening.
What’s
more, taking omega 3 supplements actually lengthened
the
telomeres in the participants’ DNA.
In
other words, those with the highest levels of omega 3 fats aged much
more slowly. Supplementing with omega 3 fatty acids also was also
found to reduce the oxidative stress from free radicals—which is
another reason for accelerated aging. And omega 3 fatty acids also
lowered inflammation in this same study group.
As
you already know, inflammation and oxidation are key to the
beginnings of many chronic health conditions and is thought to be one
of the reasons for advanced aging. Obviously anything that reduces
inflammation has anti-aging benefits as well.
Omega
3 fatty acids have a very long list of health benefits including:
preventing heart disease, protecting the immune system, helping
weight loss, keeping skin smooth and preventing wrinkles, improving
mental health, preventing cancer, and fighting overall inflammation.
By
contrast, another study showed that the TYPE of fat eaten can shorten
telomeres and accelerate aging. One of the worst types of fat appears
to be omega-6 fats, not saturated fat, as the medical community would
have us believe. The study also showed that the amount of food eaten
also had a significant effect on telomeres. Those
who ate the most food had shorter telomeres.
Omega-6
fatty acids have taken over processed foods. Omega-6 fatty acids come
primarily from grains and processed vegetable oils. Meat, chicken and
farmed fish are raised on grain, making these foods high in omega 6
fatty acids as well.
Omega-6
fats are one type of polyunsaturated fats, which are the most
reactive type of fats to heat and light. This leaves them more prone
to oxidation and free radical production. Omega-6 fats then become
highly inflammatory in our bodies because of this.
Omega
6 fats are in potato chips, corn chips, french fries, bottled salad
dressings, corn oil, soy oil, and other vegetable oils. Most anything
you purchase pre-made from the grocery store has this type of fat in
it. Our
primal ancestors ate a diet much higher in omega 3 fats from wild
caught fish, grass fed meat and dairy, and wild game. The omega 6 to
omega 3 ratio many years ago was around 2 to 1. Today a typical
modern diet in America or other westernized countries has about 20
times more omega 6 fats than omega 3 fats.
This
unnatural balance of essential fatty acids causes excess inflammation
and negative health effects. According to this study, eating
excessive amounts of omega 6 fats appears to be one of the fastest
ways to accelerate aging.
Eating
more foods containing omega 3 fats will help fight aging internally
and externally.
Studies
also show proof that the types of fat you eat can actually determine
whether you have more wrinkly, saggy skin or softer smoother
skin—even as you get older. While some wrinkles seem to be an
inevitable sign of aging, and accumulated sun damage, diet may be a
key as to whether your skin will stay softer and smoother or look
wrinkled and dry as you age. A
diet higher in omega 6 fats causes worse sunburns, and contributes to
more skin damage from the sun (wrinkling) and is more likely to lead
to skin cancer as well.
In
a recent British study of over 2100 female twins, scientist looked at
telomeres, which are the part of DNA that shortens with aging. (Twins
have very similar DNA, so differences were easily noted within the
experiment.) One group of the twins was taking vitamin and mineral
supplements and the other was not. At the end of the test period, the
telomeres of each group were measured.
Telomeres
are the lengths of genetic material that cap the free ends of DNA in
a cell, and are one of the most reliable measures of aging. As a
person ages, the telomeres shorten and the DNA becomes more unstable
until eventually the cell dies. While telomeres are all the same
length at birth, lifestyle factors such as diet, nutrition, exercise,
and other environmental factors will speed up or slow down the length
of time it takes for these to deteriorate. I hope this has been of help to some of you. There is a lot of good information out there and this is just the tip of the iceberg so to speak. 'Nomaste' Peace be with you all in Love and Light!
