Now, if you look at PPAR and NF-kappa B at the cellular level, you can also see how they predispose us to obesity. Every human cell is run by DNA strands that carry blueprints for future growth. When the DNA mutates, it makes our cells less able to reproduce themselves rapidly and accurately, so our bodies age. What makes that DNA break down? Yes, inflammatory responses in your body that cause oxidation (remember that this is your body’s rusting process)—namely in the form of increasing NF-kappa B with inadequate PPAR levels to put out the inflammatory fires. How do we stop that mutation, that oxidation, and that inflammation? By eating foods with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties—foods that we’ll cover in the waist management plan on page 231. These foods are particularly useful for those who are aging and unable either to exercise or to manage stress efficiently.
This is one of the primary battles you want to win—to quiet your inflammation and decrease your fat storage through the regulation of these two chemicals and their allies. To quash those hooligans living in the NF-kappa B house, you need to increase the effects of the noble PPARs throughout your body.
Figure 4.4 Party’s Over Foods entering the liver can stimulate either proteins (NF-kappa B) that act like drunk frat boys and cause inflammation or soothing receptors (PPAR) that put out the fires. Even if you eat too much, if the PPARs are running the show, the negative effects are far less.
Weird Causes of Obesity
Most people assume that being overweight means one of two things: that you eat too much or move too little. But some research suggests that overeating and inactivity shouldn’t be the only things taking the blame for our moon-sized waist circumferences. Studies show that other explanations for obesity include things like-get this-what you stick under your armpits and the age of your mom when she gave birth. Here are some of the more unusual things theorized to be related to obesity:
Deodorants: Some deodorants contain chemicals that can disrupt your normal metabolism, making you more likely to gain weight. While we don’t recommend ditching the deodorant and scaring off elevator mates, you should avoid deodorants that contain the ingredient aluminum or sprays with polychlorobiphenols.
The temperature: Air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter may make you less cranky, but they also may make you fatter. If you’re in a cold room, for example, your body has to do more metabolic work to bring your temperature to normal (same for a warm room)-thus increasing your metabolism. You can increase your calorie-burning motors simply by lowering the temperature in your house during the winter or raising it in the summer.
Stopping smoking: We recommend cigarettes about as much as we recommend DIY vasectomies, but nicotine can be a powerful weapon in the fight against fat. See our take on nicotine on page 324. Your mom: Studies show that the older your mom was when she gave birth, the more likely you are to be fatter. While there’s nothing you can do to change your family history, having a mom who was older at the time of your birth means you need to be more vigilant about watching your waist.
Your mate: Studies show that fatter people tend to choose fat mates, and that increases the odds that you’ll produce an even fatter child. We’re not in the matchmaking business, but it’s worth noting that the best place to meet a mate isn’t at the burger joint.
The Stress Response: Putting It All Together
Today, we don’t experience droughts or famine, but we do have high levels of chronic stress, whether it comes in the form of workload, relationship troubles, or to-do lists that are longer than Route 66. And our bodies respond the same way as our ancestors’ bodies did. But the difference is that we have plenty of food at our disposal. Chronic stress triggers an ancient response of calorie accumulation and fat storage, so we end up continually upgrading the size of our omentum storage unit. Here’s where the cycle of fat spins out of control:
When you have chronic stress, your body increases its production of steroids and insulin, which…
Increases your appetite, which…
Increases the chance you’ll engage in hedonistic eating in the form of high-calorie sweets and fats, which…
Makes you store more fat, especially in the omentum, which…
Pumps more fat and inflammatory chemicals into the liver, which…
Creates a resistance to insulin, which…
Makes your pancreas secrete more insulin to compensate, which…
Makes you hungrier than a muzzled wolf, which…
Continues the cycle of eating because you’re stressed and being stressed because you’re eating.
Figure 4.5 Stress Mess The cycle of stress affects weight by increasing hormones above normal levels, resulting in hunger and fat deposition, which causes inflammation, which causes more stress, and off we go.
Is There Such a Thing as a Bad Food?
Fast-food franchise owners aren’t the only ones who may say that there’s no such thing as good or bad food-that it’s just the volume of food that you eat. There are plenty of dietitians, nutritionists, doctors, and food growers who believe the same thing. Our research leads us respectfully to disagree. Good, healthy foods satiate you, they decrease inflammation in your body, they decrease the tendency to yo-yo, they’re nutrient-dense, and they make you younger. Bad foods make you more hungry, increase inflammation in your body, make you feel sluggish, make it more likely you’ll yo-yo, have few nutrients, and make you older. After all, when you eat fries (no matter whether it’s two fries or two bags), you’re taking in calories that taste good, but have as much nutrient value as plywood. In our words, bad foods add to your waste; good foods make waist management easier because they help keep you satisfied so that you never feel like gorging on nutrient-low and calorie-high foods. We call those good foods the YOU-th-FULL foods.
Interestingly, the more fat you store in your omentum, the more it reduces the effect of stress on your brain—it’s your body’s way of comforting you, assuring you that you’ll be prepared during times of famine. It’s why your omentum fat—the fat around your belly—isn’t just an indicator of the size of your waist, it’s also your own personal gauge of the size of your stress.
YOU TIPS!
Let Food Fight the Fight. Your best weapon against fat isn’t a Tae-Bo video or a self-serve liposuction vacuum. It’s food. Good food. Inflammation-reducing food. To reduce obesity-causing inflammation, you need to eat foods with nutrients that can do just that-either by having direct anti-inflammatory or antioxidant properties, or by stimulating the do-good PPARs or inhibiting the party-throwing pledges in the NF-kappa B frat house. Antioxidants are often what gives a specific food its flavor, smell, and color. So eating more anti-inflammatory foods means eating more flavorful and brightly colored foods. (The foods you eat ought to be tasteful; you can magnify a flavor by doubling up on it with two different food sources. For example, add sun-dried tomato bits to tomato sauce, or eat dried apples with applesauce to bring out the flavor.)
Following is a list of nutrients that seem to have antioxidant and/or anti-inflammatory effects, and our recommended doses. While they may not help you lose a ton of weight, they’re known or thought to have anti-inflammatory effects, which will help you live healthier no matter what your weight.