Wed, Sep-22-10, 09:42
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Registered Member
Posts: 36
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Plan: Carnivore
Stats: 236/217/185
BF:
Progress: 37%
Location: Oregon
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“Obesity: Often An Infectious Disease”
http://perfecthealthdiet.com/
I've been increasingly impressed with what I've been reading on The Perfect Health blog, and today's article has given me much to think about.
Quote:
In the book we attribute obesity mainly to food toxins and malnutrition. Both are well attested as causes of obesity in animals:
The easiest way to induce obesity in animals is to feed them a carb toxin and a fat toxin – e.g. wheat, fructose, or alcohol with polyunsaturated fats or hydrogenated trans-fats.
Obesity in animals can also be induced by nutrient deficiencies, as in the “methionine-choline deficient diet.”
These causes also seem to be active in humans:
Intake of fructose and polyunsaturated fats is strongly associated with obesity in humans.
Famine studies show that those who experience a period of severe malnourishment are more likely to become obese.
However, in general we attribute diseases to three causes: food toxins, malnutrition, and infections. This suggests we should look also for infectious causes of obesity.
Adenoviruses Can Cause Obesity in Humans
The study of “infectoobesity,” or pathogen-induced obesity, got underway with the discovery of four viruses that could induce obesity in animals. These four viruses — canine distemper virus, Rous-associated virus type 7, Borna disease virus, scrapie agent – were not able to infect humans. However, in chickens, mice, sheep, goat, dogs, rats and hamsters, these viruses infect the central nervous system and induce obesity through effects on the brain and nerves. [1,2]
But then an avian adenovirus, SMAM-1, was found that infects humans and induces obesity in chickens. SMAM-1 works by a different mechanism; it acts directly on fat cells. [2]
Subsequently 3 human adenoviruses, AD-36, AD-37, and AD-5, have been found that act directly on human fat cells and are associated with human obesity. [2] A group led by Dr. Nikhil Dhurandhar of Wayne State University in Michigan showed that AD-36 can induce obesity when given to chickens, mice, and marmosets. [1]
AD-36 Can Spread By Contact
In Dr. Dhurandhar’s chicken experiments, the virus spread fairly easily. Chickens that shared a cage with an infected bird showed signs of the virus in their blood within 12 hours, suggesting that the virus can be spread by nose or mouth secretions. [3]
To Get Really Fat, You Need an Adenovirus Infection
A new study [4] has given us new information about the prevalence and effects of AD-36 in humans. The study found that 22% of obese children (that is, children in the top 5 percentiles of BMI), but only 7% of non-obese, have AD-36 antibodies. Moreover, among the obese children, those who were AD-36-antibody-positive were much fatter than the other obese children. It seems the top 0.1% of children in BMI are probably overwhelmingly made up of AD-36-infected children.
Metabolic Benefits?
It may not be all bad news. AD-36 promotes proliferation of fat cells. Thus, while it promotes obesity, it may also help prevent diabetes. By creating a bigger pool of fat cells to help clear excess glucose from the blood, toxicity from hyperglycemia is reduced, at least for a time.
In Dr. Dhurandhar’s experiments, the extra fat cells showed metabolic effects consistent with enhanced glucose clearance. Infected chickens had lower serum cholesterol and lower triglyceride levels. [3] So infected chickens are fatter, but in some respects healthier.
Pathogens May Be The Source of Disease Diversity
Close readers of our book may have noticed that a combination of carb and fat toxins is, we believe, the most common cause of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and obesity.
Yet there are thin diabetics and obese non-diabetics. How is it that the same cause can produce different diseases?
One thing the adenovirus work is telling us is that the nature of one’s chronic infections may determine how bad diets translate into disease. Toxic and malnourishing diets make disease inevitable, but which disease depends on which pathogens happen to be around to exploit the bad diet and weakened immunity.
Lessons for the Non-Obese
I certainly wouldn’t avoid contact with obese people for fear of contracting AD-36. These pathogens are everywhere and infection is inevitable. Most elderly probably have hundreds of chronic infections.
The key to health is not avoiding germs, but maintaining a powerful immune system that prevents pathogens from causing disease. That means a healthy diet, good nutrition, and immune-enhancing practices like fasting and ketogenic diet days.
Conclusion
It appears that:
It’s possible to become obese from food toxins and malnutrition alone;
Some – it’s not yet clear what fraction – obese people do become obese from food toxins and malnutrition alone;
But to become really obese, or to become obese really young, you need a viral infection to help the obesity along.
In the book, we focus on elimination of food toxins and malnutrition as weight-loss steps. The Perfect Health Diet, controlled to 2,000 calories per day, is a weight loss diet for the obese as well as a healing diet for the metabolic derangements that underly obesity.
What the evidence for adenoviruses in obesity is telling us is that the obese may need to take another dietary step as well: autophagy-promoting steps like fasting. Autophagy is a primary immune mechanism against viruses, so fasting enhances viral immunity.
As always, we recommend that fasts include substantial amounts of coconut oil to help the liver make ketones and relieve the burden on the liver and the risks of glucose deficiency.
References
[1] van Ginneken V et al. “Infectobesity”: viral infections (especially with human adenovirus-36: Ad-36) may be a cause of obesity. Med Hypotheses. 2009 Apr;72(4):383-8. http://pmid.us/19138827.
[2] Atkinson RL. Viruses as an etiology of obesity. Mayo Clin Proc. 2007 Oct;82(10):1192-8. http://pmid.us/17908526.
[3] Dhurandhar NV et al. Transmissibility of adenovirus-induced adiposity in a chicken model. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2001 Jul;25(7):990-6. http://pmid.us/11443497.
[4] Gabbert C et al. Adenovirus 36 and Obesity in Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics. 2010 Sep 20. [Epub ahead of print] http://pmid.us/20855385. See also http://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/newsrel/he...alInfection.asp.
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Cheryl
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The case against vitamin D2
Linear Mode
