From: Harvey Newstrom (mail@HarveyNewstrom.com)
Date: Mon May 12 2003 - 19:39:13 MDT
Behalf Of Brian Atkins wrote,
> Recently, LEF article says eating glycotoxins (AGEs) in diet increases
> them in your bloodstream, and also causes inflammation (C-reactive
> protein, etc.).
>
> http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2003/may2003_awsi_01.html
>
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_ui
ds=12429856&dopt=Abstract
> (anyone have access to this? I'd love to read the whole thing)
Here it is:
LE Magazine May 2003
As We See It
"Eating Food Cooked At High Temperature Accelerates Aging"
by William Faloon
new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences1
reveals that eating foods cooked at high temperature may increase the rate
at which we age. According to this study, the ingestion of high temperature
cooked foods causes chronic inflammation and the formation of advanced
glycation end products.
Life Extension members have been frequently warned about the dangers of
chronic inflammation and glycation. For the benefit of new members, I will
succinctly explain these two lethal processes.
As humans age, there is a systemic increase in inflammatory cytokines
(destructive cell-signaling chemicals) that contribute to many degenerative
diseases. Rheumatoid arthritis is a classic disorder where excess levels of
cytokines cause or contribute to the destructive inflammatory syndrome.
While inflammatory cytokines can cause agonizing pain, they also disrupt the
linings of our arteries, mutate DNA and degrade brain cells. Chronic
inflammation is directly involved in diseases as diverse as cancer,
atherosclerosis, diabetes, aortic valve stenosis, congestive heart failure,
Alzheimer's disease and kidney impairment.
In aging people with multiple degenerative diseases, we often find elevated
blood levels of C-reactive protein, indicating the presence of an
inflammatory disorder. When a cytokine blood profile is conducted in these
individuals, we usually discover excess levels of one or more of the
pro-inflammatory cytokines. The most common pro-inflammatory cytokines are
tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, interleukin-1(b) and/or
interleukin-8.
Chronic inflammation inflicts devastating effects, especially as humans grow
older. The lethal consequences of inflammation are clearly established in
the medical literature.2-14 The good news is that many of the nutrients,
hormones and drugs being taken by Life Extension members suppress the
production of these deadly inflammatory cytokines. As you will soon read,
avoiding foods cooked at very high temperatures can also reduce production
of inflammatory cytokines.
Age-accelerating effects of glycation
The other pathological aging mechanism exacerbated by eating high
temperature cooked food is the formation of advanced glycation end products
(A.G.E.'s). Glycation can be described as the binding of a protein molecule
to a glucose molecule resulting in the formation of damaged protein
structures. Many age-related diseases such as arterial stiffening, cataract
and neurological impairment are at least partially attributable to
glycation. These destructive glycation reactions render proteins in the body
crosslinked and barely functional. As these degraded proteins accumulate,
they cause cells to emit signals that induce the production of inflammatory
cytokines.
The glycation process is presently irreversible, though a recent study
indicates a drug in clinical trials may be partially effective. Life
Extension members take supplements to help protect against glycation.
According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study,
consuming foods cooked at high temperature accelerates the glycation
process, and the subsequent formation of A.G.E.'s.
A more succinct descriptive term for "advanced glycation end products" is
"glycotoxin", since "advanced glycation end products" are toxic to the body.
We will use the word "glycotoxin" from here on to describe the term
"advanced glycation end products".
Cooking and aging have similar biological properties
Cooking foods at high temperatures results in a "browning" effect, where
sugars and certain oxidized fats react with proteins to form glycotoxins in
the food. Normal aging can also be regarded as a slow cooking process, since
these same glycotoxins form in the skin, arteries, eye lenses, joints,
cartilage, etc. of our body.
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study shows that
consuming foods high in glycotoxins might be responsible for the induction
of a low-grade, but chronic state of inflammation. In addition, the
glycotoxins in food cooked at high temperatures also promote the formation
of glycotoxins in our living tissues. The implication of these findings is
profound.
Feeding foods rich in glycotoxins to diabetics
The presence of glycotoxins in the blood of individuals with diabetes has
been known for quite some time.15 To ascertain reasons for this, a group of
diabetics were studied to assess the difference between consuming a diet
high in glycotoxins compared to diet low in glycotoxins. The high glycotoxin
diet was induced by heating food for a longer period at higher temperatures
compared to the lower glycotoxin diet. Using a variety of foods, the
scientists were able to increase the glycotoxin content five-fold by cooking
the food at high temperatures.
After only two weeks, diabetics on the high glycotoxin diet showed a 50% to
100% increase of glycotoxins in their blood and urine compared to the group
consuming the low glycotoxin diet. The group eating the high glycotoxin food
also showed increased levels of inflammatory blood markers such C-reactive
protein and pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha.
In order to determine whether these significant changes were merely an acute
response to an altered diet, the scientists carried out a second study that
lasted for six weeks. Again, those consuming a diet high in glycotoxins had
higher concentrations of glycotoxins in their bodies, along with increased
inflammatory cytokines in their blood.
The researchers also found that eating diets low in glycotoxins reduced the
level of other potentially harmful substances in the blood, including LDL
cholesterol ("bad cholesterol"). During the two-week, low-glycotoxin diet,
diabetics had lower LDL levels than those on a high-glycotoxin diet. A
six-week, low-glycotoxin diet caused a 33% reduction of LDL, while a
high-glycotoxin diet increased LDL by 32%.
Aging control and weight loss
This study on human diabetics raises intriguing possibilities of preventing
disease and slowing aging via proper food preparation. First of all,
previous studies have shown that caloric restriction prolongs life span in
rodents while simultaneously decreasing glycotoxin formation in body
tissues.16 There is now considerable evidence that the same glycotoxin
formation that occurs during cooking also occurs inside the body during
normal aging17 and at an accelerated rate in diabetics.18 For example,
glycotoxins accumulate faster in the skin collagen of diabetics compared to
non-diabetics.19 We also know that glycotoxins engage cell receptors in such
as way as to promote tumor growth and metastasis (via mechanisms that
stimulate cell migration, tumor cell growth factors and enzymes that digest
the extracellular matrix).20
While this study on human diabetics is preliminary and needs confirmatory
results in healthy populations, there were other benefits associated with
consuming a low glycotoxin diet. Not only did the diabetics consuming the
low glycotoxin diet lose weight, but their blood glucose levels also
dropped. In the group eating the high glycotoxin diet, blood glucose levels
increased. Elevated glucose levels can trigger production of deadly
inflammatory cytokines.
It should be noted that the number of calories, carbohydrates, proteins and
fat was the same in both the high and low glycotoxin diets. The diabetics
consuming the low glycotoxin diet, however, lost weight. It is well known
that reducing excess weight and glucose levels confers longer life.
Reversing glycation
In the August 2001 issue of this magazine, an article reported on a compound
called ALT-711 that has been shown to partially reverse glycation.
Regrettably, the company (Alteon, Inc.) trying to get ALT-711 through the
FDA's approval process is woefully under funded, and clinical studies have
progressed at a snail's pace.
On January 21, 2003, some encouraging results were announced from a
preliminary analysis of a Phase II clinical trial evaluating the activity of
ALT-711 in treating diastolic heart failure. The significance of these
results is that diastolic heart failure (DHF) is one of the most common
types of heart failure in the elderly. DHF is a poorly treated medical
condition that is characterized by the inability of the heart to relax
properly and fill with blood, due to stiffening (glycation) of the heart and
subsequent impaired relaxation of the left ventricle. Diastolic dysfunction
is estimated to account for 30% to 50% of all heart failure cases, which
total nearly five million cases in the U.S. alone.
In this Phase II clinical trial, DHF patients who received ALT-711 for 16
weeks experienced a statistically significant reduction in left ventricular
mass. The patients also had a marked improvement in left ventricular
diastolic filling. Additionally, the drug had a positive effect on patients'
quality of life, as measured by a well-established heart failure/quality of
life questionnaire. This Phase II trial is ongoing, and additional analyses
of the data are being conducted. Here is a quote about the significance of
this study:
"ALT-711 offers promise as a novel therapy for diastolic heart failure
because currently available therapies do not specifically target the
stiffening heart and vessel walls caused by pathological glucose-protein
matrixes called Advanced Glycosylation End-product (A.G.E.) Crosslinks. The
formation of A.G.E. Crosslinks is a natural part of the aging process that
can lead to stiffening and loss of function in tissues, organs and vessels
including the heart and large arteries. In previous human clinical testing,
ALT-711 has shown the ability to restore elasticity to blood vessel walls by
cleaving A.G.E. Crosslinks.* Additionally, in several preclinical studies
ALT-711 has been shown to normalize the thickening of the left ventricle and
remodel the heart."**
(Please note that these researchers use the term Advanced Glycosylation
End-product (A.G.E.), which is another way of stating advanced glycation end
products or "glycotoxins".)
Life Extension has long argued that the high cost of gaining FDA-approval
denies Americans access to life-saving compounds such as ALT-711.*** It can
take so long for a new compound to become an approved "drug", that many
companies run out of capital before they are able to comply with the FDA's
Byzantine regulatory procedures. The result is that Americans die even
though potentially effective therapies sit in the FDA's waiting room.
Since we cannot yet reverse the pathological effects of glycation, it
becomes critical for those seeking to prevent premature aging to at least
slow this lethal process. Avoiding foods cooked at high temperature and
supplementing with 1000 mg a day of carnosine are the best ways of
mitigating the glycation process.
*Wolffenbuttel BH, et al. Breakers of advanced glycation end products
restore large artery properties in experimental diabetes. Proc Natl Acad Sci
USA, 1998 Apr 14;958:4630-4.
**Veronesi M et al. ALT-711, A collagen cross-link breaker, decreases
myocardial fibrosis and improves endothelial dysfunction in hypertensive
Dahl salt rats. American Heart Association 55th Annual Fall Conference and
Scientific Sessions of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research,
September 2001.
***Kanda T. C-reactive protein (CRP) in the cardiovascular system. Rinsho
Byori 2001 Apr;49(4):395-401.
What you should do
Most Life Extension members follow a healthy lifestyle that helps prevent
glycation and chronic inflammation.
Inflammatory cytokine production can be suppressed with the proper
supplementation of fish oil, DHEA, vitamin K and nettle leaf extract. If
blood tests reveal persistently high levels of inflammatory cytokines, then
400 mg twice a day of a low-cost drug called pentoxiphylline may bring
inflammatory cytokine levels down to safe ranges.
What one eats plays a major role in chronic inflammatory processes.
Consuming low glycemic foods reduces the insulin surge that contributes to
chronic inflammatory processes. It is also important to avoid over
consumption of foods high in arachidonic acid (beef, egg yolk, dairy, etc.).
We now know that eating too much over cooked food causes an increase in
inflammatory cytokines. Since most "junk" foods are cooked at extremely high
temperatures, it makes sense to avoid french fries, hamburgers, potato
chips, fried food and other snacks. These foods not only contain lots of
glycotoxins, but they also create other metabolic disorders that can induce
degenerative disease.
Consuming at least 1000 mg a day of carnosine, and/or 300 mg of the European
drug aminoguanidine can inhibit pathological glycation reactions in the
body. Avoiding foods cooked at high temperature not only reduces
pathological glycation processes, but also prevents the formation of
numerous gene-mutating toxins that are known carcinogens.
When food is cooked at high temperatures, deadly gene-mutating toxins are
created that increase human cancer risk. This warning has been communicated
to readers of this publication for many years. Now that overheated food is
associated with accelerated aging, health conscious individuals have an even
greater incentive to pay attention to their diet.
As a member of the Life Extension Foundation, you learn about documented
methods of reducing disease risk years before the general public.
Those concerned that they are already suffering from the effects of a
chronic inflammatory disorder should turn to the next page to learn how they
can measure and suppress lethal pro-inflammatory cytokines.
-- Harvey Newstrom, CISSP, IAM, GSEC, IBMCP <www.HarveyNewstrom.com> <www.Newstaff.com>
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