Inflammation and Weight Loss

What is inflammation?

Inflammation- I’m sure you’ve heard the term a million times, but what actually is it?  Inflammation is bad right?  Something we want to avoid and eliminate?

This may come as a surprise, but inflammation is actually a protective mechanism that your body launches in response to injury or infection.  In the short term, it tells the immune system to come clear up damage, protect the area from infection, and to heal.

When inflammation becomes chronic

Inflammation can become chronic when there is continuous exposure to a pathogen, toxin, pollutant, irritant, or smoke; when you are constantly stressed, sleep deprived, eating a crappy diet, or overweight; or when you have an imbalanced gut microbiome.   When this happens, inflammation can trigger diseases including CVD, diabetes, COPD, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and IBD.   Mood disorders including depression and anxiety can also be triggered by chronic inflammation.  

This is because chronic inflammation damages tissue and creates dysfunction within that tissue, increases oxidative stress, impairs immune function, damages the gut lining, and creates problems with metabolism, nutrient absorption, and nutrient utilization.  

How inflammation hinders weight loss efforts and can lead to weight gain

Inflammation can also lead to weight gain and make it very hard to lose weight!  How? Chronic inflammation can create insulin resistance and elevate cortisol, both of which cause elevated blood glucose levels.  

Insulin is the hormone that tells your body’s cells to pick up glucose out of the bloodstream to be used for energy or stored for later energy use.  Cortisol is a stress hormone that increases glucose in the bloodstream so that in a  “fight or flight” situation, there is plenty of energy to either run or fight.  This gets activated even when the stressor is mental and not physical (say work stress vs being chased by a tiger, both activate the fight or flight response). Pancreatic beta cells, the cells that produce insulin, can become damaged by inflammation; meaning you produce less insulin and your blood sugar stays elevated.  When your blood sugar is consistently elevated, you can’t lose weight.

Another way that inflammation affects weight is by raising hunger hormones, which can entice you to overeat. When inflammation is present, weight gain in the form of visceral fat-the fat around your internal organs-is much more common as compared to weight gain without inflammation present.  So if you’re looking to lose that stubborn belly and shrink your waist, you first have to make sure you are not chronically inflamed.

This is kinda a catch 22, but excess adipose tissue creates more inflammation.   

So let’s get to the key steps you can take to reduce inflammation and lose weight if you are chronically inflamed and weight loss is your goal.

Dietary Patterns That Help to Prevent, Reduce, and Eliminate Inflammation

The Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet consists mainly of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes and seeds, grass-fed dairy products including yogurt and milk, a little full fat grass-fed dairy, olive oil, nuts, fish, seafood, eggs, poultry, and a little bit of wine in moderation.  The Mediterranean diet limits sweets, processed foods, other alcohols, and any foods not listed above.

The DASH Diet

The DASH diet focuses on lowering blood pressure and LDL to reduce heart disease risk.  The DASH diet includes vegetables, fruit, whole grains, low fat and fat free dairy, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils, while limiting fatty meats, full fat dairy, sweets and sugar sweetened beverages, and sodium.

Plant Based Diet

Following a plant based diet means that you are primarily eating plant foods to make up the bulk of your diet.  This includes fruit, veggies, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds, olive and other vegetable oils, and some but not a lot of animal foods and products including fish, meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy. 

Individual Nutrients Shown to Help Prevent, Reduce, and Eliminate Inflammation

Fiber: Fiber is found in whole grains, veggies, fruit, beans and legumes, and nuts and seeds as well as their butters.

Omega-3 fatty acids: Omega-3 fatty acids are found in oily fish, flaxseed, chia seed, and walnuts.

Turmeric/Curcumin: Curcumin is believed to be the anti-inflammatory compound found in turmeric.  I recommend using whole turmeric or turmeric powder, along with a little black pepper to help best absorb it.

Polyphenols: Polyphenols are antioxidants found in plant sources and can be obtained by eating a variety of vegetables including broccoli, spinach, carrots, chili peppers, red cabbage, and onions, fruit including berries, olives, and apples, green and black tea, dark chocolate, red wine, nuts and seeds including flaxseed and sesame, herbs including cumin, turmeric, and ginger, and whole grains including oats.

Beta carotene: Beta carotene is the precursor to vitamin A found in certain plant foods, which allows the body to make vitamin A as needed.  It is also an antioxidant that gives yellow and orange fruits and vegetables their distinct color.  Good sources include carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, romaine lettuce, red peppers, spinach, apricots, broccoli, and mango.  

Magnesium: Magnesium is a mineral aiding in muscle and nerve function, bone health, and blood sugar regulation, found in green leafy veggies including spinach, whole grains including whole grain cereals and brown rice, legumes including black beans, peanuts, edamame, and soymilk, nuts including almonds and cashews, seeds including pumpkin and chia, and potatoes and yogurt.

Vitamin D: Vitamin D is primarily produced in the skin when exposed to UV rays, but can also be found in some foods including cod liver oil, fatty fish, and certain UV exposed mushrooms.  When getting vitamin D from the sun, aim for 10-30 minutes of sun per day on bare skin depending on your tolerance to sunlight.

Vitamin E: Vitamin E is an antioxidant found in wheat germ oil, sunflower seeds and their oil, almonds, safflower oil, hazelnuts, peanut butter, peanuts, corn oil, and boiled spinach.

Vitamin B6: Vitamin B6 helps to keep the nervous and immune systems healthy, and is found in chickpeas, beef liver, tuna and salmon, chicken breast, turkey, 85% lean ground beef, potatoes, winter squash, banana, marinara, bulgur, and 1% fat cottage cheese.

Zinc: Zinc is used in wound healing, functioning of the immune system, and functioning of the metabolism, and is found in oysters, shrimp, sardines, blue crab, bottom sirloin beef, pork chops, turkey breast, cheddar cheese, oats, pumpkin seeds, and lentils.

Other individual foods found to help reduce and eliminate inflammation include high antioxidant fruits and veggies, garlic, ginger, nuts and seeds, and whole grains.

Consuming the above-mentioned anti-inflammatory foods in your diet may provide benefits including a reduced risk of chronic disease, improved immune system health, improved gut health, a reduction in joint pain, and brain and mood health improvement.

Foods that Increase Inflammation and Should be Minimized or Avoided

Red meat: This includes pork, beef, goat, bison, veal, lamb, mutton, and venison.

Fried foods: Including french fries, donuts, potato chips, fried chicken, calamari, clam cake, coconut shrimp, fish and chips, crab rangoon, corn dogs, funnel cakes, churros, anything fried!  Essentially a food is fried when it is cooked in fat or oil at a heat high enough to cause the fat or oil to decompose, brown, and become oxidized.  Frying can turn even healthy fats into unhealthy ones that not only increase inflammation, but also can increase heart disease risk factors.

Processed foods: This is primarily referring to any food that has been severely stripped of nutrients, has added chemicals, high levels of sodium and sugar, or has hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated trans fats.

Refined foods: This includes processed foods that may have had fiber and/or other nutrients removed such as white pastas, white breads, white rice, and certain cereals.  Oftentimes sweeteners, sodium, preservatives, and sugar may be added.

High fat meats: Some of these include beef ribeye, beef short ribs, T-bone steak, New York strip, ground beef, corned beef, sausage, pork ribs, shoulder, and belly, organ meats, ground lamb, and any meat with visible marbling.

Sugary foods and beverages: This includes sodas, sweetened teas and other “sweet” drinks,  cakes, cookies, candies, sugar sweetened bars, donuts, and even crackers, breads, sauces, and other carby foods that have added sugar in their ingredients list.

Lifestyle Factors to Help Reduce Inflammation

Exercise: Exercise, in my opinion, is wildly under-appreciated for its vast therapeutic potential in so many different disease states!  When it comes to inflammation, more exercise will help to burn body fat which will help to reduce inflammation.  But even before weight loss happens, with every exercise session you get a dose of anti-inflammatory benefits simply from contracting your muscles.  

This is because contracting muscles release proteins that help to ward off inflammation.  Exercise also boosts the production of hormones that help fight inflammation.   Cardio, weights,  anything movement that gets your blood flowing and heart rate up  is helpful!  Strength training has its own array of anti-inflammatory benefits as muscle becomes stronger and more resilient, including reversing insulin resistance and increasing metabolic rate.  It even boosts the immune system, which further combats inflammation.  Appropriate strength training helps to strengthen bones, and joints that may become damaged by inflammation.  

If you want to start incorporating strength training, I recommend at least 3 days of training per week hitting each muscle group at least twice in the week.  I also recommend daily movement of at least 1 hour for adults who are otherwise sedentary during the day.  Anyone who works at a desk will benefit from getting up and doing 5-10 minutes of movement (walking, jumping jacks, dancing, etc) every hour on the hour during the workday.  This will help keep the flow of blood delivering oxygen and nutrients to the joints and tissues, and help to prevent inflammation caused by long hours of sitting.  If you can get a standing or treadmill desk, even better! 

Sleep: Okay here’s the deal.  Most Americans are chronically under-slept.  Men need 6-8 hours per night.  Women need 8-10, and maybe more during their menstrual cycle.  If you can aim for a bare minimum of 7 hours/night, you’re on the right track!  You will most likely find that the more you increase sleep up to that target amount, the better your body feels and the less inflamed you feel (if you feel inflammation in the gut, joints, etc).

Stress Management:  Techniques like yoga, nature walks, meditation, breathing exercises, healthy diet, exercise, quality sleep, taking necessary work breaks, and therapy when the aforementioned efforts are not enough.  If you are chronically overwhelmed and on the edge of burnout, there is a good chance that the elevated stress hormones running through your body may be causing inflammation.  Addressing stress can be an important key to bringing down chronic inflammation.

Medications: Under certain conditions, your doctor may prescribe medication.

What markers to look for?

If you believe you may have chronic inflammation, talk to your doctor about doing a blood test!  They will most likely test C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.  A CRP level of 8-10 mg/L is high and indicative of inflammation.  However it doesn’t distinguish whether inflammation is acute or chronic.  Other blood tests for inflammation include erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and/or Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR).  Your doctor can help you decide which test to take and interpret results.