Alarm No. 1: Inflammation causes cancer.

Alarm No. 2: Inflammation causes heart attacks.

Alarm No. 3: Inflammation causes diabetes.

Alarm No. 4: Inflammation causes impotence in men and women.

If you're middle-age and overweight, your insides may be a "Towering Inferno" of harmful inflammation. Excess fat makes CRPs (C-reactive proteins) and leukocytes (white blood cells) crank up inflammation and create the "Perfect Storm" with nothing as good-lookin' as George Clooney sloshing around inside you.

So, what's inflammation? An immune-system reaction designed to kill invading microbes and cancer cells and protect your body. Sometimes, this response goes over-the-top - extra fat cells cause body-wide inflammation.

More than 70 percent of Americans and 50 percent of Canadians are overweight or obese. That's a lot of smoke and fire! But good news - You can put out the flames and slash your risk for premature disability or death:

-Quit smoking; where there's smoke, there's inflammation.

-Walk (goal is 10,000 steps a day); sitting down is a real heart-stopper.

-Take 1,000 IU of vitamin D-3 (1,200 if you're 60+); 600 milligrams of DHA omega-3 (900 milligrams for 50+) daily; and maybe 200 milligrams of omega-7 daily.

-Set a doable weight-loss goal: Post-menopausal overweight women can slash their cancer, heart attack and diabetes risk by losing 10 percent of their body weight.

-Eat oranges (flavonoids), walnuts, salmon and trout (healthy fats), apples, carrots, leafy greens, chia (fiber), no-sugar-added yogurt (calcium and probiotics in pills or yogurt): They dampen inflammation and help you lose weight.


© 2012 Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.