Is Internal Inflamation Making You Gain Weight?

You may or may not realize that our activity levels and food we eat can cause internal inflammation in our body.  Weight gain is another cause of inflammation.  This can become a dangerous cycle.  We eat poorly which can lead to inflammation and disease, and this can lead to more weight gain. 

When we have inflammation occuring the body becomes resistant to certain hormones like insulin and leptin.  Leptin is a crucial hormone for weight loss.  This hormone controls our appetite and affects our metabolism by controlling energy expenditure.  Leptin becomes bound which makes it more difficult to pass through the blood brain barrier, so you don't know when you are actually full.   So basically if you are more resistant to this hormone you will not only be more hungry, you will also burn less calories. 

When we have more trouble using fat for fuel do to resistance to fat burning hormones we have extra fat in the body.  This fat has to go somewhere.  This extra fat will not typically be stored for later use however.  This fat will begin to go to our organs, such as the liver, which will cause inflammation.  My last post was about how you may have a fatty liver if you eat too much sugar.  This is a type of inflammation. 

Not only does inflammation lead to weight gain it also leads to serious disease.  The main disease we are concerned with here is heart disease.  Those that have inflammation are at a much higher risk for suffering from serous heart conditions. 

So what can be done?  First off it is a good idea to see your doctor and test for inflammation.  It is usually done by check you C Reactive Protein levels. 

I just found two studies that show how we can help reduce this problem.  First from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a group of researchers looked at obese individuals who were not diabetic.  For 8 weeks they gave them about 3g of Omega 3 Fatty Acids (EPA, DHA).  After eight weeks all participants saw a significant decrease in inflammation of fatty tissue.  Here is a video explaining how these fatty acids can help reduce inflammation: 

www.mikedeibler.getprograde.com/essential-fatty-acid.html

Make sure you are staying away from Omega 6 Fatty Acids.  These are found all over the Western Diet. 

The second study from Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.  This study looked at resistance training and effect on inflammation.  Again a group of obese individuals were studied.  They performed 3 sets of 10 exercises for 8-12 reps three times per week.  They continued this exercise routine for 12 weeks.  After 12 weeks they found a 33% reduction in C reactive protein in the blood.  This is a huge improvement in reduced inflammation.

So two very simple things you can do to help reduce this issue.  First make sure you increase your Omega 3 fatty acid consumption while reducing Omega 6 fatty acids, and secondly perform resistance training 2-3 times per week.

You Stay Healthy San Diego,

Mike Deibler MS, CSCS
San Diego Premier Training
My Workout Creator