What Causes Inflammation?

Fat Tissue, Adipokines, and Inflammation

It is no longer believed that white adipose tissue, or fat, is merely a storage organ for excess energy, as we are now coming to realize that it plays an important role as an endocrine organ. In an individual with a healthy amount of fat, the adipocytes, or the individual adipose tissue cells, release a number of hormones and hormone-like cytokines, known as adipokines, which control various aspects of our appetite and our immune system. Of the most interest to inflammation are the adipokines, two of which are the pro-inflammatory messengers TNFa and IL-6.

Your fat, like any other organ in your body, has an ideal size, and functions best when at that size. An enlarged thyroid is major health concern, and can end up releasing too many hormones, causing dysfunction in our body. Fat is no different: once enlarged, it releases more hormones and adipokines. As fat expands through weight gain, the adipose tissue cells release more and more inflammatory messengers, including TNFa and IL-6.

In addition, the increased level of fat “turns on” local circulating monocytes and macrophages. Once turned on, the macrophages begin to release more TNFa and IL-6 as well. Increasing obesity thus promotes inflammation by two pathways: pro-inflammatory messengers are released in increasing amounts by two different sources.

The Good News!

The good news is that weight loss, even moderate, can cause significant regression in pro-inflammatory messenger activity. As weight is lost, fat cells shrink and begin to release normal amounts of pro-inflammatory messengers. Macrophages stop being turned on, and begin to leave the fat as well. With less macrophage activity, less TNFa and IL-6 are released. Finally, as weight is lost and the overall grade of inflammation reduces, the foods which can cause an inflammatory response in unhealthy individuals start to be better regulated by our body, causing less inflammation or perhaps none at all!

Why You Must Spice It Up

There are many more foods which exacerbate chronic inflammation than foods which directly cause it. In other words, there are specific nutrients which, when consumed by healthy individuals, will have both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory effects, but when these same nutrients are consumed by people who already suffer from chronic inflammation, their effect is much more pro-inflammatory.

It should also be noted that the most important role food plays in chronic inflammation is not what we do eat, but what we don’t eat enough of. Fruits, vegetables, and most crucially spices all play a huge role in turning down the levels of pro-inflammatory messengers. It can be hypothesized that the biggest role pro-inflammatory foods have is that they replace anti-inflammatory foods in our diet, making it more about balancing inflammatory foods than completely removing them.

Foods That Cause Inflammation

Keep in mind that these foods cause the most inflammation in individuals who already suffer from chronic inflammation. It is about balance in most cases, not complete removal, though many of these nutrients are found primarily in processed foods, which should be completely removed for maximum relief of chronic inflammation.