The Link Between Inflammation and Obesity

Inflammation: What Is It and How It Relates to Obesity?

The association between obesity and inflammation is not well understood. Here, we break down the complex relationship between inflammation and weight gain in a more simplified way, and discuss why adopting an anti-inflammatory diet is the key to battling your excess weight and obesity problems once and for all!

To understand the relationship between inflammation in the body and obesity, one needs to understand what inflammation is and the role it has on the body. Inflammation is an orchestrated sequence of events that provides protective tissue response to bodily injury or destruction (Ellulu et al., 2017). There are two types of inflammation that occur in the body – acute and chronic inflammation. Both types involve the proliferation of white blood cells (WBCs), as well as edema, in trying to control injured tissues and cells. However, in acute inflammation, the process is short lived before the WBCs and other recruited inflammatory “defenders” of the body are removed and stored back to their place of belonging. In essence, acute inflammation is needed for injury repair and to help maintain homeostasis. In chronic inflammation, the inflammatory process, produced by leukocytes (WBCs), macrophages, interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and others, continuously occur, not getting the memo to stop the inflammatory process. This eventually leads to disease and weight gain (Ellulu et al., 2017).

Obese individuals carry excessive fat that is stored as adipose tissue in the body. Adipose tissue produces and releases various pro-inflammatory markers, including cytokines and chemokines, TNF-alpha, IL-6, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) (Ellulu et al., 2017).

It is this relationship between adipose tissue and pro-inflammatory markers that correlates to obesity. Specifically, when one consumes extra macronutrients, adipose tissue responds by both the excessive production and enlargement of adipocytes (fat cells). This excessive production leads to damage and reduced blood flow to adipocytes, leading to hypoxia. Cellular damage from hypoxia leads to the over-production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 and TNF-alpha, among others, into the adipose tissue, igniting a systemic inflammatory process that becomes chronic (Ellulu et al., 2017). Furthermore, excessive pro-inflammatory cytokines can lead to insulin resistance, causing the body to store excess blood glucose as fat (Garcia, 2018). Thus, excessive consumption of food leads to cellular damage of fats cells, and the release of pro-inflammatory mediators by excessive adipose tissue, causes both inflammation and insulin resistance, leading to weight gain.

How to Reduce Inflammation That Can Lead to Weight Gain:

As the saying goes, You are what you eat! It is important to understand what foods causes inflammation, and thus weight gain. At Embodied Wellness’ Holistic Weight Loss Program , we have conveniently created a food list of Yes, Please! And No, Thank you! options, so that you can easily begin your journey towards weight loss and improving your overall health.

In general, you are going to want to avoid these common pro-inflammatory foods: Wheat, dairy, processed foods, sugar, certain vegetable oils, refined carbohydrates, fried foods, and artificial additives, among others (Garcia, 2018). These foods cause gut injury by destroying the gut-lining, leading to leaky gut syndrome and intestinal permeability, causing malabsorption and leakage of gut bacteria and other substances into the bloodstream, and harming vital organs and other bodily functions (Vasconcelos & Oliveira, 2004). Thus, the damage pro-inflammatory foods have on the gut and body causes chronic inflammation, as the body tries unsuccessfully to repair itself, leading to further weight gain and chronic illnesses.

When you eat an anti-inflammatory diet, you help calm the immune system by reducing inflammatory responses, which as we learned, can lead to a cascade of events that can worsen weight gain. An anti-inflammatory diet helps repair the gut, building good gut flora that helps aid in weight loss and overall improved health.

So, consider switching to an anti-inflammatory diet, or rather, way of life. You will be amazed at what a difference it can make in your weight loss journey and overall well-being.

Resources:

Ellulu, M. S. et al. (2017). Obesity and inflammation: the linking mechanism and the complications. Archives of Medical Science, 13(4), 851-863. doi: 10.5114/aoms.2016.58928

Garcia, J. J. (2018). Chronic inflammation and weight gain. Retrieved from https://www.garciaweightloss.com/blog/chronic-inflammation-weight-gain/#:~:text=Inflammation%20can%20also%20interfere%20with,of%20weight%20gain%20in%20humans.

Vasconcelos, I. M., & Oliveira, J. T. (2004). Antinutritional properties of plant lectins. Toxicon, 44(4), 385-403. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2004.05.005.