Yesterday we talked about how fast foods lead to inflammation in the body equivalent to the inflammation found in your body tissues during illness. There is also research that indicates that processed foods like pre-made frozen dinners, chips, sodas, cookies, crackers and fast foods also leads to high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. We all know that junk foods contain a lot of sugar, unhealthy fats and high fructose corn syrup and can eventually make us fat. Even before you get fat, eating a lot of processed foods leads to the start of high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetic symptoms.
One reason for the relationship between junk food, high blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes (not to mention cancers and obesity) is because the processing of the foods removes a lot of the natural nutrients originally in the food. A very important nutrient that we have addressed before and Americans are increasingly becoming deficient in is magnesium. Magnesium deficiency has been related to the inflammation that is starts the high blood pressure problems and compounds the insulin resistance in diabetics. Initially, you might find that you tend to have lower than normal blood pressure if you eat a highly refined diet and during this time the blood pressure is kept under control due to the initial inflammation response initiated by the immune system. Eventually, the inflammation will lead to oxidative stress which then leads to changes in the arteries like less flexibility and build up of plaque. A couple of weeks ago we also spoke about how magnesium deficiency leads to heart attacks and osteoporosis. Calcium supplementation without the balance of high quality magnesium will lead to an increase risk of both heart disease and osteoporosis. Now we are starting to see the cost to our health if we continue to consume highly refined foods.
High-fructose corn syrup and other processed high-fructose products also leads to type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. It too starts with low blood sugar events as a normal insulin reaction to extremely high infusions of sugar into the blood. Eventually, the cells become less sensitive to the high sugar diet and become insulin resistant. Also the pancreas' ability to produce insulin also starts to diminish. Metabolic syndrome is a group of symptoms including blood sugar problems (high and low), hypertension, cholesterol and triglyceride problems. This syndrome is partially due to the inflammation that we had previously mentioned. It is also due to nutrient deficiencies (vitamin, mineral and amino acids) and due to the production of reactive oxygen species (aka oxidative stress) resulting from the immune response. Triglycerides go up and vitamin E (an anti-oxidant) goes down and overall control of fat in the blood stream decreases.
Despite how complex this all sounds it is relatively easy to remedy. Magnesium deficiency can be remedied by increasing magnesium rich foods in your diet. Keeping your kidneys healthy will also ensure that you don't lose a lot of valuable minerals through your kidneys like magnesium and potassium. Here in an easy 3 step plan to get you on the road to preventing diabetes and high blood pressure in the future:
- Eliminate high fructose corn syrup from your diet.
- Increase the intake of various (different vegetables will give you different nutrients) dark leafy greens (kale, collards, swiss chard, dandelion greens, beet greens, turnip greens, broccoli, arugula etc.) Increase whole grains in your diet such as whole wheat, oats, millet, amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, spelt, brown rice etc.
- Reduce the intake of highly processed foods. This includes fast foods and foods with many ingredients that you cannot pronounce or need a dictionary to define. Preservatives, nitrites, artificial colors and flavors also help you identify "highly" processed foods.
Just a reminder that fruits or natural fruit juice which contains fructose is tremendously different from high-fructose products derived from corn. Don't get confused on this point. I'm not telling you to stop fruit or fruit juice, just high-fructose products. A really good fruit to eat are blueberries due to their high anti-oxidant value. Any fruit that has vibrant colors will give you plenty of nutrient and support for your health. After all, the old adage "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" still hold true, just make it an organic apple and eat it with peel. Most of the nutrients are in the apple peel. Here's to your continuing good health!
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