Dr. Mercola Interviews the Experts This article is part of a weekly series in which Dr. Mercola interviews various experts on a variety of health issues. To see more expert interviews, click here. In this interview, Dr. Chris Knobbe, an ophthalmologist, discusses some of the eye-opening information found in his book, “Ancestral Dietary Strategy to Prevent and Treat Macular Degeneration.”1 Knobbe is the founder and president of the Cure AMD Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the prevention of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the No. 1 cause of blindness among the elderly. His book is a comprehensive treatise on the historical progression of AMD and provides compelling evidence that this is a disease caused by processed foods.
Although we did not discuss these dietary issues and its connection to COVID-19 risk because the interview was done before March, it is still very relevant. We now know that eating processed foods, especially vegetable oils, will increase insulin resistance and metabolic inflexibility, which is one of the two largest risk factors for COVID-19, the other being vitamin D insufficiency. Vegetable Oils Responsible for Emergence of Heart DiseaseRefined flour, sugar, trans fats and vegetable oils are relatively recent additions to our food supply. Refined sugar has been around for a few hundred years, but it was consumed in really low amounts until the late 19th century. Vegetable oils emerged after the American Civil War. Refined white wheat flour came about in 1880 and trans fats in 1911.
Diet Has Increased Cancer and DiabetesKnobbe also reviews the historical data on cancer. Of the 942 people who died during 1811 in Boston, only five died of cancer. That’s 1 in 188 deaths. By 1900, cancer killed 1 in 17 people. Today, cancer accounts for 31.2% of deaths in the U.S., or nearly 1 in 3. The same exponential growth can be seen in Type 2 diabetes. In the 19th century, any form of diabetes was extremely rare. One of the first studies on diabetes was published in 1935. In 1935-1936, 0.37% of Americans had diabetes. By 2015, that rate had risen to 9.4%. That's a 25-fold increase in 80 years. The situation may actually be even worse than that, though, as the 9.4% rate refers to documented full-blown clinical diabetes. If you add in prediabetes and insulin resistance, then nearly 9 in 10 Americans are affected. According to recent NHANES data,2 87.8% of Americans are unhealthy based on five parameters of metabolic health, so virtually the entire population is at risk for and headed toward Type 2 diabetes. Shocking Rise in AMD PrevalenceMacular degeneration became discoverable following the invention of the ophthalmoscope in 1851. The ophthalmoscope was in broad use by 1880. By 1900, there was 140 versions available. By 1914, there was over 200 versions of ophthalmoscope in use around the world. Yet, between 1851 and 1930, there were no more than 50 cases of AMD reported in all the world's medical literature. It was virtually unknown. Prevalence began to increase in the 1930s, and by 1975, an estimated 4.5 million Americans suddenly had macular degeneration. By 1994, 15 million had it, and as of 2020, estimates put worldwide prevalence at 196 million. In 20 more years, it’s expected to hit 288 million.
Metabolic Dysfunction Is Common DenominatorThe common denominator that all of these diseases share is mitochondrial dysfunction caused by processed foods. Hopefully, knowing this will inspire and motivate you to change your eating habits. Once you realize what these foods are doing to you at the molecular level, you’ll be more excited about healthy choices.
The cardiolipin is only found in the inner mitochondrial membrane. In the lecture above, Knobbe illustrates the chain of events that result in mitochondrial dysfunction. High-PUFA Diet Triggers Catastrophic Peroxidation CascadeParadoxically, the cardiolipin molecule depends on linoleic acid, and linoleic acid is the primary omega-6 in our diets. However, in a high-linoleic acid diet, the linoleic acid in the cardiolipin molecule ends up being destroyed. So, what gives? Knobbe explains:
Another important variable here is the influence of carnosine, a dipeptide — two amino acids put together — made up of beta-alanine and histidine. Carnosine is only found animal products. It serves as a scavenger or sink for reactive carbonyl groups, intermediaries that go on to form advanced lipoxidation end-products and emulsification end-products. If you can grab these carbonyls before they attack proteins and fats, you can essentially stop the vicious cycle resulting in catastrophic peroxidation. This is yet another reason why I do not recommend diets that exclude animal products and meat, as they will lower your carnosine level, and carnosine is a really important nutrient to limit the damage from oxidation products. It's also important for mitochondrial function. Toxic AldehydesKnobbe has been studying the toxic aldehydes that result from these omega-6 fats. When you consume an omega-6 fat, it first reacts with a hydroxyl radical or peroxide radical, producing a lipid hydroperoxide. This lipid hydroperoxide then rapidly degenerates into toxic aldehydes, of which there are many. Examples include 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE) and malondialdehyde (MDA), as well as oxidized linoleic acid metabolites such as 9-HODE, 13-HODE, carboxyethylpyrrole and acrolein.
Knobbe also points out what you lose out on when eating vegetable oils, namely fat-soluble vitamins. Animal fats such as lard, butter and beef tallow provide not only healthy fats but also essential vitamins such as vitamins A, D and K2. “Let's face it, meat is the most densely nutritious food that most anybody in the United States ever gets,” Knobbe says. One of the benefits of eating meat is that it is loaded with carnosine, which is a dipeptide consisting of beta-alanine and histidine. This is a terrific scavenging agent for advanced lipoxidation endproducts (ALEs) like the fats discussed above. If you’re excluding meat from your diet and consume large amounts of industrial processed oils, you’re setting yourself up for metabolic disaster. Without a doubt, low carnosine and high aldehydes is a prescription for premature death from chronic disease. At the very least it would be wise to take a carnosine or beta-alanine supplement. Your Body Can RecoverWhile the good news is that you can recover your health by eliminating these unhealthy omega-6-rich oils from your diet — essentially ditching processed foods — the bad news is they have a rather long half-life. According to Knobbe, polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils, seed oils and trans fats are mostly stored (opposed to being used for fuel), and have a half-life of 600 to 680 days. That means it will take quite a few years to empty your body stores of these damaging omega-6 fats.
In the interview, Knobbe also discusses how his arthritis was traced back to oxalates, which are found exclusively in plants. Ironically, many of the plant foods that are praised for their healthiness have the highest amounts of oxalates and can wreak havoc on those with arthritis or other autoimmune conditions.
Macular Degeneration Strongly Linked to Processed Food DietAside from improving your overall health and avoiding chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, avoiding sugars, refined wheat flour, vegetable oils and trans fats is also crucial for the prevention of AMD. Knobbe reviews research showing the connections between a processed food diet and AMD. In Southwestern rural Nigeria, 0.1% of the adult population over the age of 50 have macular degeneration. A mere 240 miles away in Onitsha, Nigeria, the prevalence is 3.2%. The difference between these two populations is their food supply. The people in Southwestern rural Nigeria do not have access to processed foods. They live off native traditional foods. The people in Onitsha, Nigeria, do have access to processed foods, but at far lower amounts than what we get in the U.S. Barbados, meanwhile, has a macular degeneration rate of 24.3% — 243 times higher than the Africans of Southwestern rural Nigeria. What stands out about Barbados is the fact that it’s known by nutrition researchers all around the world as a Mecca for processed food. They import almost all of their food.
More InformationTo learn more about how your diet influences your risk of AMD and other chronic diseases, be sure to pick up a copy of Knobbe’s book, “Ancestral Dietary Strategy to Prevent and Treat Macular Degeneration.” More information can also be found on CureAMD.org.
from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/07/26/macular-degeneration-foods-to-avoid.aspx
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