How inflammation may be impacting your waistline
Eating all the right foods, exercising and still not loosing weight is a picture that I see all to commonly amongst many clients. And it can be so frustrating because I feel their pain! Their diet is great, portion sizes are correct, they are exercising (sometimes not enough, but we will work up to that) and weight is not shifting!
We all know about the hormonal picture which can be associated with weight in terms of thyroid and oestrogen levels, but have you ever considered that inflammation may be the cause as well?
Over recent years more research has been done into the link between weight and inflammation. They have found many more inflammatory peptides in people suffering from obesity compared to the healthy population. But this doesn't tell us whether or not this inflammation has caused the weight gain, however it is telling us that with weight gain comes increased inflammation within the body. From here we have to ask if this is what is maintaining the weight or is it just a coincidence that people are carrying excess weight also have this increased inflammation.
Inflammation is a mechanism which the body uses to protect itself from harmful pathogens in the body. But over time diet and myriad of environmental factors can trigger genes to switch on within the body which causes these inflammatory markers to be produced long term, no matter what is going on in the body.
What is interesting to note is that these inflammatory markers were present in children as young as 3 who were carrying extra weight. A delicate system of a 3 year old, generally speaking, hasn't been exposed to bad food choices long term and we can’t say that stress is a major factor in children (keep in mind this is generalising), so this makes us think hat there may be a cause and effect relationship between weight and inflammation.
The best treatment for obesity (or any weight loss in that matter) is to balance the hormones and regulate the genes, and the most effective, long term way to do this is through diet. Designing a diet that is calorie controlled as well as anti-inflammatory will be a well rounded approach to weight loss.
Inflammation can be caused by a number of things, especially diet and lifestyle. Managing stress, as well as regular physical activity (not to much though) and of course dietary choices all play a role in keeping inflammation to a minimum.
Foods that increase inflammation
Saturated/trans Fats. These ‘bad fats’ are found in things like fried foods, dairy and animal products, pastries etc. The reason they are bad is that they set off a cascade of inflammatory markers within the body when they are metabolised by the body.
Sugar-
When we have lots of sugar in our diet it really impacts our insulin and blood glucose levels. When insulin and blood glucose are disrupted then this increases inflammation within the body.
Alcohol-
A pretty obvious one but many people live the healthiest life ever except for their alcohol consumption. Alcohol impacts the gut bacteria which impacts homoeostasis and can set off a cascade of inflammatory markers. Alcohol also impacts liver function which is important for detoxifying potential toxins within the body that can cause increased inflammation within the body.
Specific food intolerances-
This is a very person-by-person point, as not everyone is going to have an intolerance. If there is a food that you know doesn't agree with you then every time you have this food you are causing some form of inflammation within the body to be produced. This specifically impacts the gut bacteria which helps the body maintain a healthy homoeostasis and when it is impacted by unwanted foods then the inflammation can increase.
Foods to reduce inflammation
Healthy Fats-
These healthy fats have an anti-inflammatory action on the body and help to reduce the inflammatory markers that are increased by the bad fats.
Eating the rainbow in fruit and vegetables, herbs and spices
Fresh fruit and vegetables have so many action within the body. They help to reduce inflammation by providing the body with many micronutrients and phytonutrients. Some plant constituents also have strong anti-inflammatory actions within the body, for example turmeric and ginger are both strong anti-inflammatory actions.
