You on a diet - more information

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Well here's some more info for everyone. Belly Bully The omentum greedily bullies surrounding structures out of the way. The squished diaphragm and lungs make breathing difficult, and the squashed kidney and its blood supply secrete hormones to raise the blood pressure in an effort to fight back. Moving Through The artery has three layers-the inner to help blood move through the artery (intima), the outer (adventitia) to protect it from the outside, plus a middle, muscular layer (media). Damage to the inner layer hurts the tile-like layer of cells, injuring the delicate media layer. Clog Jam Low-quality (LDL) cholesterol stimulates white blood cells to attack, and the combatants are soaked up into the artery walls. The resulting toxic terrain creates rough patches, which are

sealed off with platelets and blood clots that ultimately close off the artery completely and cause a blood-flow traffic jam-a heart attack. Super HDL: The Future of Cholesterol Drugs In a northern Italian village on Lake Garda, the villagers have low levels of HDL. Science would tell us that, without high levels of the protective cholesterol- carrying protein, they should all be dying of coronary artery disease. But they aren't. It turns out that these villagers have supercharged, Drano-like HDL (called apo-1a-Milano) to clear away the gunk from their arteries and allow blood to flow smoothly. This case study points to the next wave of cholesterol drugs: drugs that enhance HDL action to clear the bad LDL away, rather than those that work by lowering the LDL levels in the first place. Pressure Situation With hypertension, the

arteries squeeze down so tightly that the heart struggles to keep the blood moving forward. To compensate, the heart gets too thick, like a muscle-bound weight lifter. If becomes so stiff that it loses flexibility and can't relax. If it can't relax, blood has trouble traveling through the arteries, and the resulting high blood pressure damages the arteries. d Away Resistance to the normal effects of insulin makes cells resistant to taking in glucose (sugar). This forces excess glucose to stay in the blood vessels, where it acts like debris to damage the Teflon-like surface of our inner roads. Cholesterol trucks bounce around and spill junk that ruins our blood highways. Bottle Neck Fat in the throat contributes to sleep apnea. In this condition, the airway is cut off during sleep, and breathing can stop for up to

ten seconds at a time throughout the night. Factoids Recent research shows that coffee doesn't cause hypertension- but caffeinated sugar and diet drinks do. The reason? It may be the corn syrup or caramel coloring that's responsible for the change. It's something to keep in mind when considering caffeine as a potential waist-control drug. Talk about being thick-skinned: One early sign of insulin resistance in a few people is the appearance of a brown, thick, velvety patch of skin behind your neck. This condition-called acanthosis nigricans-is an early sigh of metabolic dyndrome, which is associated with high blood pressure plus elevated levels of blood lipids and blood sugar. Monosodium glutamate (MSG), the additive found in many Chinese foods, may play a role in messing up the body's metabolic systems. A taste enhancer, MSG is used to overstimulate (some say

poison) the glutamine receptors of the brain, so we sense salt and sweets more (but not bitter and sour tastes, interestingly) . The downside? That may cause us to eat more and to have higher insulin levels. One theory about metabolism says that cold temperature stimulates appetite. (Ever notice you eat more during the winter, and you're not hungry after exercising, when your body's warm?) And people with low body temperature have lower metabolism and will be prone to gaining weight. The average woman gains twenty-four pounds between the ages of twenty-five and sixty-five. Considering the total food intake of women over forty is more than forty thousand pounds of food, the difference between food intake and food expenditure that produces such a weight gain is .06 percent-or just 8 calories a day. And if you want to lose weight, the whole fight comes down to measly 100 calories a day-that's ten permanent pounds and roughly

three inches off your waist every year. It's not only men who get pedicures who may think they have some female hormones. All men have them-and it turns out that they're beneficial to all of us. Female hormones increase levels of HDL, whereas male hormones lower HDL cholesterol. The much higher the levels of estrogen in women may partly explain why they avoid the hardening of arteries until later in life. Many experts believe the decreased life expectancy of men is related to testosterone poisoning. Gland Inquisition Too much stress overstimulates the adrenal gland, which releases too much cortisol (the stress hormone), testosterone, and estrogen. This witch's brew encourages us to eat more and rapidly stores those calories in your belly fat. The Better Sex Diet? There's an added benefit to healthful foods: Many of them

can boost sex-related hormones that increase desire-including omega-3 fatty acids and foods containing the testosterone- boosting mineral zinc-Some additional foods (think asparagus and artichoke hearts) have been linked to sexuality because of their physical resemblance to certain anatomical parts. Since it's hard to complete a double-blind randomized trial on this theme, we'll just pass along the limited facts and let your imagination run. Ok, this information is from Chapters 5 and 6.