A Silent Fire: The Story of Inflammation, Diet, and Disease in Science and Inquiry

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Feb 09, 2025 David Rubenstein rated it it was amazing

Shelves: medicine, history, evolution

What an amazing book -- I learned so much from it! Some portions of the book have actually impacted things I have been doing for health. So, the book is not only informative -- it is useful, too!

The first chapters of the book show why the study of inflammation has been so controversial. The fact that inflammation can be both a consequence of disease and a cause of disease has been a dampening effect on research and publication.

I learned that C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is used as a marker for chro What an amazing book -- I learned so much from it! Some portions of the book have actually impacted things I have been doing for health. So, the book is not only informative -- it is useful, too!

The first chapters of the book show why the study of inflammation has been so controversial. The fact that inflammation can be both a consequence of disease and a cause of disease has been a dampening effect on research and publication.

I learned that C-Reactive Protein (CRP) is used as a marker for chronic, low-level inflammation. It is not a cause of inflammation, but simply a marker. High levels indicate that one is three times more likely to have a heart attack, and twice as likely to have a stroke. Aspirin yields the best results for those with the highest CRP levels. CRP is at least as good--perhaps better--than LDL cholesterol for predicting risk. But using both markers is better than using either one alone.

Statins help prevent heart attacks, not only by lowering cholesterol, but also by reducing inflammation. As a result, even if you have low cholesterol, statins can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke.

In obese people, more than half of the cells of fat tissue are actually immune cells. Excess fat is essentially an immune organ. The resulting inflammation is low-level, chronic, smoldering, and escaping detection. There is evidence that it plays a role in diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and heart disease. In addition, there is a connection between inflammation and metabolism. In obesity, as the body becomes resistant to leptin, fat cells secrete yet more leptin, promoting hunger and inflammation. The inflamed cells tend to ignore insulin, pushing the pancreas to secrete more insulin, leading to diabetes.

I learned that the inflammation in the brain may contribute more to dementia than plaques and tangles!

Aspirin is one of the few modern drugs with the ability to both dampen and reverse inflammation.

The book contains a lot of information about the role of Omega-3 fats in redcucing inflamation. Omega-3 fats are only obtained from the diet, especially from dark leafy greens, walnuts, flax seeds, hemp and chia seeds, algae and seaweed. The book also discusses the role of processed foods in increasing inflammation and worsening health.

The book talks about the studies by Colin Campbell into the connection between animal protein and inflammation and cancer. He found that animal protein induces heart disease more than saturated fat. Campbell's "China Study" suggested that animal foods are linked to higher rates of chronic inflammatory diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity, while plant foods are protective.

Certain spices like turmeric hold a lot of promise for treating a wide range of chronic diseases. Stimulation of the vagus nerve can be anti-inflammatory. Actions like yoga, tai chi, meditation, deep and slow breathing, laughter, fasting, social connections, singing, chanting, and listening to certain types of music can all help reduce inflammation. On the other hand, habitual stress can encourage hidden inflammation. Things like loss of a loved one, a harrowing divorce, a bullying boss, burnout on the job, pollution, sleep loss, poverty and loneliness can all lead to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, autoimmunce conditions, depression and anxiety.

At certain points the book becomes very technical. I skimmed over these sections, because I realized I wouldn't remember them for long. But the sections of the book that describe the effects of inflammation and how to reduce inflammation are extremely helpful. Highly recommended! ...more

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