There’s a drugless and side effect-free way to reduce inflammation in the body, restore the body’s natural defense system, lose weight, possibly increase lifespan and improve or prevent diabetes, cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. What’s more, you can get the benefits from this natural health strategy no matter what your age or whether you already have a serious disease. So who’s behind these “wild” health declarations? It’s not a supplement maker or natural health group. Instead, the claims come from mainstream science — researchers from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, to be exact.

Their findings, published in the October/November issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism conclude there’s a simple, inexpensive dietary intervention that could control weight even without changing caloric intake and help make people healthier in a host of ways. The key? Stop eating processed and fried foods.

According to the Mount Sinai study, these foods, which are abundant in Western diets, are loaded with harmful toxins called Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs). AGEs are produced when foods are heated, pasteurized, dried, smoked, fried or grilled. Then, once consumed and inside the body, AGEs adhere to tissues and oxidize them, causing inflammation which can result in numerous diseases. In fact, a long list of animal studies conducted by Helen Vlassara, MD, Professor and Director of the Division of Experimental Diabetes and Aging at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, and her team have previously shown the dangers of AGEs. The oxidative stress from high oxidant levels and inflammation associated with long-term exposure to AGEs increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease and other chronic ills.