August 4, 2006, Newsletter Issue #27: The Potbelly Syndrome: What It Is and How to Fight It

Tip of the Week

In 2005, the Basic Health Publications issued the book by Russell Farris titled "The Potbelly Syndrome: How Common Germs Cause Obesity, Diabetes, And Heart Disease" - from which title one can draw conclusions about the meaning of the term "Potbelly Syndrome".

Its symptoms are abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes - conditions well known to both medical professionals and the public. However, according to the author, not a health professional but artificial-intelligence researcher, the condition is caused by a germ resulting in chronic inflammation. This inflammation is believed to be initiated by the stress hormone cortisol, which stimulates appetite and slows down metabolism thus creating a vsious circle. "Each time we are attacked by a germ, our bodies start an acute phase response (APR) to kill that germ," writes Russell Farris

Solutions that Russell Farris offers are the following:

- Avoiding Stressors

- Building Stress Resistance

- Reversing the Infection-Cortisol Loops

The problem is not totally ignored by conventional medicine but it goes under a different name - Cushing Syndrome and is extremely difficult to manage but Russell Farris is optimistic:

"A healthy lifestyle, with exercise, vitamins, and a good diet, can delay the consequences of chronic APRs for a long time".

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