Select Page

As we continue to explore the potential role that omega 6 fatty acid overload plays in the creation of the most major modern disease epidemics – such as asthma, allergies, autoimmune disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, it’s an appropriate time to closely examine one of Russ Farris’s Cortisol Schematics.

Farris has been led to believe that the hormone cortisol, released in response to inflammation, is an important step in the chain of events leading to metabolic syndrome, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other chronic disease states.  I am more or less in full agreement, having entitled a chapter in my latest eBook on reversing type 2 diabetes “Cortisol is All.” 

The inflammation connection was strengthened even more yesterday after I googled “inflammation causes leptin resistance” yesterday only to discover that an entire book has been written about how inflammation causes leptin resistance – the bread and butter hormonal connection between low body temperature, decreased lipolysis (fat burning), increased lipogenesis (fat storage), increased appetite, decreased energy levels, and all of the endless array of health problems that stem from this physical state (Mark Starr’s chapter on symptoms of low body temperature for example, is 83 pages long – to give you an idea of how much can go wrong in this state). 

Anyway, give this a looksie. I hope to include this schematic in an upcoming guest post at the Fat Head blog, showing the low-carbers that insulin resistance isn’t something caused by carbohydrate consumption, but by factors totally outside the number of grams of glucose in your diet. 

Note very closely that Russ’s first step is infection, which he believes is the root of disease (although many other factors can trigger inflammatory reactions, such as environmental toxins, allergens, and so on).  He therefore believes that the cause of inflammation is the cause of disease, and that it comes from outside factors… i.e. infections.

Looking at the progression of chronic disease in the 20th century however, and being familiar with the work of countless scholars during that time period, it seems far more likely that the root cause is related to diet and lifestyle somehow.  The two biggest changes in diet in the 20th century were the massive rise in the consumption of refined sweeteners, and an even more substantial rise, on a percentage basis, of omega 6-rich vegetable oils in brand new techno foods such as margarine, shortening, and solvent-extracted corn and soy oils.  If this indeed accumulates in our tissues, and is the precursor to the “Inflammatory Cytokines” in the diagram below – the substances that do the most cellular damage and invoke the greatest outpouring of cortisol, then the veggie oil connection to chronic disease is VERY POWERFUL.   

For more on Russ Farris’s work or that of Mark Starr mentioned above, grab a copy of their books in my Amazon shop. 

Click on the image below to see it REAL BIG.