Paracelsus said, “The Dose Makes the Poison.” It means that the poison is in the dose of a substance and not the substance itself. Sola Dosis Facit Venenum
We encounter the concept every day. Alcohol in moderation is preventive for heart attacks. But if you have too much alcohol, then you can get into trouble. The same thing with coffee, food, depression, devotion, fire, salt, fat, and water. Too much of anything becomes a toxicant.
At normal levels, glucose is fuel for cellular functions. Too much glucose all the time (hyperglycemia) causes insulin resistance, fatty liver, Type 2 diabetes, and all its complications.
Insulin is essential for survival, but too much insulin (hyperinsulinemia) affects all organs and leads to many other diseases.
Fat is not just for insulation but also an organ that makes essential substances and signaling proteins (cytokines) for health maintenance, cancer prevention, and overall well being of the body. Some of these cytokines are Plasminogen Activator inhibitor (PAI), Lymphokines including the Interleukin family, Tumor necrosis factors (TNF), interferons, and Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Only s few are mentioned, and they all have useful functions.
Metabolic Syndrome Turns Dr. Jekylls into Mr. Hydes
When overeating oversupplies the bloodstream with glucose, and there is no space in the liver and skeletal muscles because of a sedentary lifestyle, the glucose gets stored into the fat cells. As the fat cells become more significant in number and size, the intraabdominal fat (visceral fat) produces more cytokines. The once beneficial cytokines increase in number and become pro-inflammatory. This is when Dr. Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde. The oversupply of cytokines spread inflammation throughout the body and manifests as different diseases.
Right now, the different pharmaceutical companies are in a race to develop different drugs for the treatment of the metabolic syndrome. Medications are made to counter the effect of a substance. The problem is that targeted cytokines have a beneficial effect. Therefore, both good and bad consequences are blocked, and it leads to side effects and unexpected adverse reactions. Not to mention the expense.
What if we just reduce the dose so that we can remove the toxic effect?
It stands to reason that if we decrease the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokines, the systemic inflammation goes away. Losing weight and trimming the waistline to an acceptable level does not only make you look good on the outside but many times better on the inside.
Lifestyle changes by fasting and exercise make the cytokines become Dr. Jekyll once again.
Related Readings:
Diseases Associated with the Metabolic Syndrome
Conditions Associated with Metabolic Syndrome. Top Causes of Mortality, lungs, gout, and eye, coagulation, periodontal disease, erectile dysfunction, atrial fibrillation, cancer, ear problems, tinnitus, and vertigo, male genitourinary and female reproductive system, and heartburn.
Fasting
- How to Fast
- The Kaizen Method of Fasting, and
- Fasting: Preparing the Mind. Are you concerned that
- Will fasting will make my muscles shrink?
- How Does Exercise Burn Visceral Fat?
- Do you Want to Know the Difference Between Fasting and Starvation?
- If you are skinny, can you be obese too?
Exercise:
Image Attributions:
Skull and Bones Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde By Photo by Henry Van der Weyde (1838-1924; London, England) – http://www.photography-museum.com/jekyll.html / Originally uploaded to en.wikipedia; description page was here., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1819530
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