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More Useful Information About Silent Inflammation
IS SILENT INFLAMMATION IN YOUR GENES?
CONTROLLING YOUR GENES
HOW EXCESS BODY FAT GENERATES SILENT INFLAMMATION
PRIMARY BIO-MARKERS FOR SILIENT INFLAMMATION

IS SILENT INFLAMMATION IN YOUR GENES?

Why is there such a growing epidemic of silent inflammation? Blame it on your genes. Evolution tends to favor those biological characteristics in a particular species that make them better equipped to pass their genes on to the next generation. These are the genes that give the next generation an unfair advantage over others. Over the last 150,000 years, evolution has been working hard to favor the lucky few of our ancestors who had a higher chance for survival after birth, a survival long enough to be able to procreate. In those days, lack of food was a real problem, not to mention the constant hazard of alien bacteria, parasites, fungi, and viruses.

Nature dealt with these hurdles in a number of ways. It favored those individuals who were more efficient at storing fat, which would enable them to survive during lean times. Body fat is vital for survival. It’s compact, high energy, and travels with you wherever you go. For example, it would take a 100-pound liver to store as much energy (in the form of carbohydrates) as 10 pounds of body fat. Who wouldn’t rather tote around the 10 pounds of body fat instead of the 100-pound liver? Insulin is the hormone that allows us to easily store away fat for a rainy day. Thus, our early ancestors needed to develop the genetic propensity for producing large amounts of insulin whenever they ate excess calories during the times of feasting. Our genes evolved to increase insulin in two ways: eating too many carbohydrates or eating too many calories.

Now fast-forward to present-day America. Most people are constantly feasting on unlimited amounts of inexpensive food that is rich in carbohydrates. But our DNA still lives in the Stone Age, even if we don’t. Our genes haven’t had time to adapt to the doughnut generation. So if we eat too much on a regular basis, our cells pump out more and more insulin. As a result, we sock away more and more fat, and voila! We now have an obesity epidemic on our hands and that means a corresponding epidemic of silent inflammation. The very genes that saved us tens of thousands of years ago are now our biggest liability.

The same is true of our ability to generate a strong inflammatory response. This was the only way to survive microbial or parasitic invasions. As recently as seventy years ago, we had very few weapons against infectious diseases except a strong inflammatory response to kill such organisms. All we could do was hope and pray that our immune system would protect us against these ravages. Picture the Norman Rockwell painting of the physician wringing his hands over the patient, hoping the fever would break. That’s the way medicine was practiced seventy years ago.

Those of us with overactive immune systems had a better chance of survival than those with weaker immune defenses. Thus, we’ve inherited a genetic predisposition for an intense inflammatory response from our ancestors who were the only ones to survive these constant microbial attacks. Today, we are faced with far fewer infectious disease threats. Vaccinations, clean water, and increased sanitation have banished many of these microbes. What’s more, we have a whole arsenal of drugs to take against microbial infections.

Unfortunately, we no longer need our genetic propensity for mounting an excessive inflammatory response. Yet, again, we are stuck with this propensity since our genes haven’t had time to evolve. This sets the stage for increased silent inflammation, which gets activated by our diet and lifestyle. Our dramatically increased intake of vegetable oils (rich in the building blocks for pro-inflammatory eicosanoids) and our decreased consumption of fish oil (rich in the building blocks for anti-inflammatory eicosanoids) is one dietary habit that has activated this inflammation. It’s like adding kerosene to the already burning fire of silent inflammation that’s fueled by the obesity epidemic.

While it’s true that you can’t replace your genes, you can change their expression by altering your diet and lifestyle. Reaching the Anti-Inflammation Zone will alter the functioning of these genes and reverse the course of silent inflammation throughout your lifetime.

CONTROLLING YOUR GENES

If the genes that increased our chances for survival also increase the likelihood of silent inflammation, then how did we get as far as we have? The answer lies with diet and lifestyle. For much of our time on earth, humans followed an anti-inflammatory diet that worked in concert with our pro-inflammatory genes. Ten thousand years ago, this was a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, lean protein, and long-chain omega-3 fats (primarily from fish) and was simultaneously poor in omega-6 fats. This Paleolithic diet had virtually no grains or starches. It was the diet of hunters and gatherers and acted as a way to manage our increased genetic propensity to generate inflammation and excess insulin. As a result, silent inflammation was kept under control.

With the advent of agriculture, things started to change, but it has only been in the last two generations that our diet has gotten completely out of harmony with our genes. Of course, we can’t go back to the hunter/gatherer caveman days. Who’d want to give up supermarkets? But we can alter our current eating habits to better reflect the anti-inflammatory actions of a Paleolithic diet. This diet was able to keep the immune system at full alert without causing chronic silent inflammation. It’s the diet we should all be following now if we truly want to keep silent inflammation under control and reach a state of wellness.

As long as our diet can counterbalance our response to increased insulin and inflammation honed by evolution, then life is good. It’s only when things get out of balance that chronic silent inflammation begins to emerge. The modern-day version of this Paleolithic diet is the Zone Diet. This is the key to returning to a state of wellness and staying there for a lifetime. In the Anti-Inflammation Zone, silent inflammation is no longer elevated, as you are in a new physiological state in which your inflammatory genes are balanced by an anti-inflammatory diet to keep silent inflammation under control. This is the molecular definition of wellness.

Reaching the Anti-Inflammation Zone also incorporates a host of new strategies against silent inflammation in addition to the Zone Diet. Certain anti-inflammation foods like extra-virgin olive oil, wine, sesame oil, turmeric, and ginger are featured prominently in the recipes to fight against silent inflammation. A comprehensive (but simple-to-follow) exercise plan is needed to help keep insulin levels in check. Cortisol reduction strategies such as meditation will boost these hormonal benefits even further.

Think of these lifestyle changes as if they are “drugs” that you have to take on a daily basis to control silent inflammation. The power of reaching the Anti-Inflammation Zone is maintaining hormones the you can control (eicosanoids, insulin, and cortisol) in their appropriate zones (not too high and not too low) so that you can live a longer and healthier life—in essence, maintain a state of wellness. Or you can choose to do nothing—but then you’ll have to face the ravages of aging, a consequence of increasing levels of silent inflammation. The choice is yours.

HOW EXCESS BODY FAT GENERATES SILENT INFLAMMATION

It used to be that fat cells were considered simply to be inert storage sites for excess fat. Unfortunately, research now suggests that fat cells are not as innocent as they seem. They are, in fact, very powerful generators of silent inflammation. This is the smoking gun that links excess body fat to a host of diseases, such as heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Fat cells (especially those located in the abdominal region) tend to sequester arachidonic acid (AA), the building block for all pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. This is a protective mechanism to prevent the buildup of potentially high AA levels in your other cells. It’s kind of like “out of sight, out of mind” at the molecular level. But as AA keeps piling up in your fat cells, eventually it will start the local production of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. These locally produced inflammatory eicosanoids generate the production of more pro-inflammatory cytokines in the fat cells, such as interleukin-6(IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Unlike pro-inflammatory eicosanoids, which cannot enter the bloodstream, the cytokines produced by them can leave the fatty tissue and circulate in the bloodstream, causing a cascade of additional inflammatory responses throughout your body.

The bottom line: the fatter you are, the more inflammation you are generating around the clock. This is why losing excess body fat if your frontline defense in your lifelong struggle against silent inflammation.

Primary Bio-Markers for Silent Inflammation

Subjective Markers

Since there is no pain associated with silent inflammation, how do you know if you have high levels of it? If you are overweight or have been diagnosed with a chronic condition (type 2 diabetes, heart disease, etc), then more than likely you Silent Inflammation and have had it for some time.

You can’t determine if high levels of silent inflammation people have in their blood by simply looking at them, anymore than you tell someone’s cholesterol levels by looking at them. But here is a simple subjective way to suggest that you may have high levels of systemic silent inflammation. Keep in mind that no single parameter will tell you, but if you answer yes to more than three of these questions, it is quite likely that you probably have high levels of silent inflammation. Here are the questions you want to ask yourself.

  • Am I overweight?
  • Am I taking birth control pills?
  • Am I groggy upon waking?
  • Am I sleep deprived?
  • Am I constantly fatigued?
  • Am I constantly craving carbohydrates?
  • Do I have brittle fingernails?

It is likely that the vast majority of Americans will probably answer yes to at least three of the above. In other words, many suffer from Silent Inflammation, and it’s getting worse.

Blood Tests

The final confirmatory test for measuring Silent Inflammation requires a fatty acid analysis of the blood, in particular, the levels of the essential fatty precursors of “good” and “bad” eicosanoids. The true marker of Silent Inflammation is the AA/EPA ratio that measures the balance of “good” and “bad” eicosanoids. If the AA/EPA ratio greater than 10, then you have Silent Inflammation regardless of how good you look in swimsuit. A good AA/EPA ratio is 3, and the ideal ratio is about 1.5.


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Dr. Barry Sears, PhD.Dr. Barry Sears is a leading authority on the dietary control of hormonal response. A former research scientist at the Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Sears has dedicated his research efforts over the past 30 years to the study of lipids. He holds 13 U.S. Patents in the areas of intravenous drug delivery systems and hormonal regulation for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

A turning point in his research occurred in 1982. That year, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded for discoveries of the role that specialized hormones, known as eicosanoids, play in the development of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, auto-immune diseases, and cancer. Since eicosanoids are only generated from dietary fat, Dr. Sears reasoned that one could apply intravenous drug delivery principles to nutrition in order to control these exceptionally powerful hormonal responses with laser-like precision. In essence, his approach treats food as if it were a drug.

This area of his research led to various patents in the area of hormonal control by essentially using food as an oral drug delivery system to modulate eicosanoids especially for cardiovascular, diabetic, and neurological patients.

The impact of Dr. Sears’ revolutionary work in the dietary control of hormonal response began with the publication of his landmark book, The Zone. Since its publication in June 1995, The Zone has sold more than 2,000,000 hardcover copies, and became a #1 best seller on the New York Times book list. In addition, The Zone has been translated into 22 languages indicating a worldwide response to Dr. Sears’ research. His second book, Mastering the Zone, published in 1997, also became a New York Times bestseller with hardcover sales in excess of 500,000 copies to date. His third book, Zone Perfect Meals in Minutes, published in 1997, quickly became one of the best-selling cookbooks of 1997 and an another New York Times bestseller. The Anti-Aging Zone was published in 1999 and provides the molecular insights into how the Zone Diet can reverse the aging process. The Omega Rx Zone, published in 2002, explores the molecular foundation of chronic disease and how high-dose fish oil can dramatically reverse it. His latest book The Anti-Inflammation Zone discusses how to combat silent inflammation in order to reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and many other inflammatory conditions—and how to reverse these conditions if they are already present. To date more than 5 million hardcover copies of his Zone books have been sold in the United States.

His research has elevated food from more than simply a source of calories to being recognized as an exceptionally powerful drug. Because of his revolutionary research, Dr. Sears has been a frequent guest on many national programs such as 20/20, Today, Good Morning America, CBS Morning News, CNN, and MSNBC.

Dr. Sears continues his ongoing research as President of Zone Labs, a biotechnology company in Danvers, MA as well as the President of the non-profit Inflammation Research Foundation in Marblehead, MA. In addition to continuing research on the hormonal effects of food, Dr. Sears has expanded his research in developing innovative dietary approaches to treating cancer and neurological conditions, as well as his on-going work in treating cardiovascular diease and type 2 diabetes.

I have been taking the Fish Oil for over 3 years now. I am 44 playing hockey and working out. The Fish oil helps with the pain that I get from playing hockey. It greatly enhances my performance on the ice and while working out. I have noticed a big difference in my energy, attentiveness and memory. If I miss a day for whatever reason, I notice a huge difference and it feels like something is missing. Anyway that is my short little story and it comes from the heart.

– Carter B.

 

I am a nutritionist and Ph.D. doctor of health and nutrition. For Dr. Sears to figure out balancing fat, carbs and protein, is really beyond brilliant. It is a milestone in diet history. I go over people's diet/emotional journals. Mostly all the time, we discover that the fatigue, irritability, unstable emotions were due to the imbalance in their diet. Using the Zone to balance them out, helps control weight, roller coaster emotions and gives them energy. Dr. Sears is so right when he says food is medicine. He has figured out the most powerful drug combination going, called The Zone.
Best and healthy wishes,

– Elaine W., Ph.D., N.C., M.A.

 

I have a very exhausting job as a flight attendant. I read the "Omega Rx Zone" about 4 years ago and started taking the fish oil. I am 47 and have been flying for 22 years. I am very active, I run and lift weights. But combining lack of regular sleep, a physically demanding job, and irregular eating patterns this job takes a toll on the body. Since taking the fish oil, I have noticed that I do not get exhausted. I get tired, but not exhausted. I stopped taking it for a couple of months and then started taking another company's fish oil. I started getting exhausted again. I came back to Zone Labs and will continue with the fish oil for the rest of my life. I believe in the product and it makes a huge difference in my life. It makes a difference with my running as well. I also bring the bars and shakes with me on the road. It is almost impossible to eat the way I should at work. I haven't found the right secret. At least I have my Zone fish oil, bars, and shakes.

– Kathryn S.

 

I have been in the Zone, for about 1 month now. I wanted to share with you how wonderful I think this program is. I have been a personal trainer for almost 10 years and actively compete in numerous athletic activities. The Zone program has helped me to achieve a better awareness of my nutritional needs and the results I have seen are amazing! I have lost nearly 13 lbs since I have been in the Zone. I feel more mentally alert, more focused at work, have greater intensity during my training, have made significant strength gains, and just feel better over all. With that said, I would like to thank you for helping me in my quest for "super-health"!
Thank you!

– Rob Y.

 

I read 'The Zone' and as exactly as I could followed the advice for diet. I noted weight loss progress. Over six months, I lost 33 pounds. One year has passed since then. I have maintained the new weight, guided always by Zone concepts. The Zone is powerful - I have found it fantastic and I am very grateful to Dr Sears.

– Lyn S.

 

Before I stumbled across the Zone I was weighing close to two hundred pounds and I was depressed. I used to be a gymnast as a young man. I would think, "look at me now," when I looked in a mirror. The day I found 'The Zone' book, I was intrigued and as I read it the science made sense and so, I began to follow the "treatment". I began to lose weight and I was feeling way more energetic. I am forty two years old, I am very active and my weight is down to 162 lbs, 38 pounds lost on the Zone. I cycle, walk, jog, swim and I can now perform some of the more simple gymnastic skills I did twenty years ago...I literally feel like I have turned back the clock.
Thank you!

– Jack J.

 

I have been on the Zone diet for 7 years. I did not go on the diet to lose weight necessarily; but fairly quickly I lost 25 pounds, going from 190 to 165; from a 36-inch waist to a 32-inch waist. I primarily did the Zone to live healthier. My health is excellent now. I just turned 62 years old. My Zone is my eating lifestyle now; I seldom stray; and I do not miss anything. It is The Good Life.

– Curtis Y.

 

My wife's doctor told her to read "Enter the Zone" and to do the diet, so I told her I would do it with her. After only one week on the plan we went on a strenuous hike (the first of the year), and when we stopped at our favorite coffee shop on the way home I was able to get out of the car and stand upright and walk into the place without pain or stiffness. The Zone had eliminated all the inflammation that had always forced me to stumble all humped over into the coffee shop any time we skied or hiked all day.
Thank you, Doctor Sears.

– Larry C.

 

I used to have a lot of knee pain when I walked or ran. I have been taking Omega Rx for almost a year now, and rarely have any pain. I believe it is the anti-inflammation action of the oil. I feel smarter as well. Thanks for developing such a superior oil!

– Joe W.

 

Prior to following the Zone Diet, my body fat was around 15% and my weight around 153 pounds. No matter what I did, my weight and body fat did not change much. I regularly cycled 20-30 hours per week logging well over 400 miles. That had little impact on body fat or weight. Diet also seemed to have little impact on body fat or weight. Within a couple of months of following the zone diet, my weight dropped rather quickly to 142 pounds and body fat to about 8%. I still regularly cycle up to 20 hours per week (during the summer). I have also started strength training. I eat about 16 blocks per day. I take 3.6 grams of fish oil per day, along with Vitamin E, Alpha Lipoic Acid, CoQ10, and B & C vitamins. I also take GLA, which in my opinion, has significantly reduced fatigue and improved recovery times after exercise.

– Jeremy S.

All polyphenols have antioxidant properties than can be measured by their Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity (ORAC), but not all polyphenols have anti-inflammatory properties. The polyphenols in Dr. Sears’ Zone Polyphenol Plus have been carefully chosen to have both.

Polyphenols are the phytochemicals that not only give fruits and vegetables their color, but also help regulate inflammation. In addition, polyphenols also activate the key enzyme (AMP kinase) that helps restore cellular ATP levels. Polyphenols also help regulate the activation of inducible inflammatory proteins (such as COX-2 and inflammatory cytokines).

There are more than 4,000 known polyphenols, and the richest sources are fruits and vegetables. In general, the more color a fruit or vegetable has, the richer the polyphenol content.

Why OmegaRx From Zone Labs?

Certified Purity and Proven Potency

Zone Labs’ Ultra Refined Omega-3 Concentrates are three times fresher and contain less than 1/10th the mercury than what is allowed by the Norwegian Medicinal Standard and European Pharmacopoeia Standard

Zone Labs adheres to the International Fish Oil Standard (IFOS), an independent third party validated laboratory quality standard that is more rigid than any other global standard for purity.

  • No company in the worlds runs more tests with IFOS than Zone Labs
  • Zone Labs receives a 5 out of 5 star IFOS rating for every batch it tests
Standard IFOS Standard for a 5-Star Ranking Council for Responsible Nutrition European Pharmacopeia Norwegian Medicinal Standards
Peroxide < 3.75 meg/kg 5 meg/kg 10 meg/kg 10 meg/kg
Totox Levels < 20 meg/kg 26 meg/kg NA NA
Lead < 10 ppb 10 ppb 100 ppb 100 ppb
Mercury < 10 ppb 10 ppb 100 ppb 100 ppb
Dioxans and Furans < 1 ppt 2 ppt 2 ppt 2 ppt
PCBs < 45 ppb 90 ppb NA NA

 

 

 

 

 

"IFOS – THE TOP GLOBAL PURITY STANDARD FOR OMEGA-3 FROM FISH"

Zone Labs products show no detectable lead or mercury when tested down to 10ppb, which is 10 times below the Norwegian Medicinal Standard and European Pharmacopoeia Standard limits.

Zone Labs products are three times fresher than the minimum allowed by the Norwegian Medicinal Standard and European Pharmacopoeia Standards (based on average peroxide values).

 

Zone Labs starts with only wild, small fish from pristine Chilean waters and ends with proprietary validation and testing processes to achieve an IFOS certified 5 star rating.

8-Step Manufacturing Process - Quality Assured

Testing to specification all raw materials, bulk products, packaging material and finished products – always using stringent internal standards and in-process testing.

  1. Extraction of fish oil
  2. Winterization – remove limited amounts of saturated fats
  3. Absorption – remove heavy metals
  4. Preliminary Molecular Distillation – refining “touch up” to reduce contaminants
  5. Oil conversion to ethyl esters
  6. Ethyl ester thermal fractionation – remove additional saturated fats
  7. True Molecular Distillation – final refining to remove pcb’s and long-chain monoenes
  8. Rigid Processes – proprietary validation, inspection and encapsulation methods. Independent lab verification of IFOS requirements and certified 5 star rating

 

Clean Sources

No farmed fish. No large fish. Pristine waters.

Zone Labs starts with wild sardines & anchovies fished from cold, pristine waters off of South America where there are less environmental impurities.

 

A recommended serving of Zone Labs Ultra-Refined Concentrates delivers 8 times more omega-3’s than a typical retail fish oil supplement.

Most fish oil supplements have 30% or less of the healthy omega-3s EPA and DHA, with the remaining 70% of the capsule containing unbeneficial, lesser refined fatty acids that contribute to their bad taste and gastric side effects.

 

Getting a clinically valid dose of omega-3’s is easy with Zone Labs’ Ultra-Refined Omega-3 Concentrates.

Typical Retail Dose = 300mg omega-3

Standard Zone Dose = 2400mg omega-3

 

A serving of canned tuna has 12 times less omega-3’s than
Zone Labs Ultra-Refined Omega-3 Concentrates

Commonly consumed fish and shellfish in the United States

Mercury Source: Food and Drug Administration, FDA 1900-2004, “National Marine Fisheries Service Survey of Trace Elements in the Fishery Resource". Omega-3 Level Source: American Heart Association Website.

  Mercury level
in parts per million (ppm)
Omega-3 fatty acids
(milligrams per 3-oz. serving)
Zone Omega-3 Products < 0.01 2400 (standard 4 capsule serving
Salmon (fresh, frozen) 0.014 1200
Flounder or sole 0.050 480
Pollock 0.041 450
Crab 0.060 400
Scallops 0.050 290
Shrimp ND* 290
Catfish 0.050 270
Clams ND* 250
Cod 0.095 210
Canned Tuna (light) 0.120 200
* ND: Mercury concentration below detection limit.

 

OmegaRx®

Zone Labs’ leading product. OmegaRx delivers all of the benefits of Zone Labs’ ultra-refined omega-3 concentrates.

Advantages

  • Delivers clinically proven health benefits from the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA*
  • Promotes a healthy heart, healthy brain, healthy immune system, healthy circulatory system, healthy joints, healthy moods, healthy triglyceride levels and a healthy pregnancy*
  • Combats silent inflammation

 

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

 

 

 

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