The Hidden Cause of Disease

Avoid This Harmful Compound

What do foods that have been grilled, fried, toasted, or barbecued all have in common? These foods tend to be high in a particular compound that can have alarming negative effects on your health. These compounds are so significant that many health experts measure it in the body to determine the overall health of their patients. The compounds in question are called advanced glycation end products, or AGEs for short, and they're major contributors to a host of diseases and conditions.

Fried foods are FULL of AGEs.

What Are AGEs?

AGEs are harmful compounds that form when fat or proteins interact with and combine with sugar in the bloodstream but AGEs are commonly found in food as well. They're a key biomarker implicated in the aging process as well as the development or worsening of major diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's, and kidney disease.

What Makes AGEs So Harmful?

AGEs are directly linked to two processes that play a major role in the causation of disease: oxidative stress and inflammation.

You may have heard of antioxidants before and know that they're healthy and sought after. The reason for this is that antioxidants protect us from oxidative stress, a main causative factor in a host of diseases. Oxidative stress is when oxidants damage cells and even DNA in our body and, over time, this damage can become quite severe, eventually leading to disease.

Inflammation is, similarly, a major causative agent in the progression of disease. When the body is chronically inflamed, the white blood cells the immune system produces will start to attack surrounding healthy cells and tissues. Over time this opens the door for a variety of major diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, autoimmune disorders and much much more.

The accumulation of AGEs in the body directly contribute to these two major progenitors of virtually all major disease.

How Do I Avoid AGEs?

Eat more raw, plant-based foods. The main way people accumulate AGEs is via an improper, unhealthy diet. Foods that have the highest content for AGEs will be animal products, especially red meat, and food cooked at high heat or for a long period of time. Foods high in both protein and fat and exposed to a lot of heat will have the highest AGE content.