When you eat foods that are high in refined sugars, trans fats, and saturated fats, your body sees them as toxins. This triggers your liver to produce chemicals that cause inflammation.
This is a normal process for the body when it's exposed to toxins. Unfortunately, when your diet is filled with toxins, this response can become chronic. It isn't meant to go on and on daily.
When your cells are inflamed, they can't take in nutrients as well, so you feel tired, hungry, and have a lot of cravings. This can then cause you to eat the very types of foods that you need to avoid.
The hormone cortisol is also connected to inflammation. This is a hormone that's produced when you're experiencing stress. It's part of the fight or flight response that's beneficial to the body in times of acute stress.
However, chronic stress can cause cortisol levels to become too high, which leads to inflammation and aging of the body. If you're experiencing high levels of inflammation on a chronic basis, it can have serious consequences for your health.
Effects of Inflammation
Inflammation can cause your body to have many health problems. One of the first things you may notice outwardly is that you accumulate more belly fat. That's because cortisol triggers fat to be stored in this part of the body.
When you're eating a lot of foods that are considered toxins by your body, the liver has to fight those foods. It often stores toxins in fat cells in order to neutralize them and keep the rest of your body safe.
If you're overweight, chances are it's a result of these toxins that are being stored in fat cells. No amount of exercise or deprivation dieting is going to help you get rid of this particular fat. But the good news is, you can reverse the inflammation.
Inflammation also causes you to have a higher risk for cancer, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's, arthritis and diabetes. It also causes your skin to develop wrinkles earlier and causes you to age faster.
If you're ready to reverse the inflammation that's causing you to feel fat and is putting you at risk for disease, it's time to take some simple steps toward healing and weight loss.
Inflammatory Foods to Avoid
There are many foods that can cause you to have higher levels of inflammation. These are usually foods that are more processed. Take a look at the greatest offenders that you may be eating.
Foods baked with white flour are at the top of the list of foods causing inflammation. White flour causes a spike in your blood sugar, which leads to problems with high insulin and inflammation.
Foods in this category typically include cookies, cakes, breads, pastas, and items that are breaded and fried. These foods were once eaten sparingly, but have become more and more common in the Western diet.
Refined sugar causes inflammation. There are many foods that contain refined sugars, but one of the worst offenders is soda. Soda is basically liquid sugar. When you drink it, you're getting sugar in very high amounts.
Sodas also contain artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives that are seen by the body as toxic. This leads to an inflammation response. It's best to avoid soda completely in order to reverse inflammation.
Fried foods are notoriously full of saturated fats. These are the fats that clog your arteries and cause you to have heart trouble. They also cause an inflammatory response in your body.
When you eat a lot of deep fried foods, you increase your inflammation. Not only are you getting extra calories from fat, but you're also causing your body to store more fat related to toxins.
Trans fat is a man-made fat that comes from taking unsaturated fats and converting them to a solid by adding hydrogen to them. This was once the main type of fat in most margarines and shortenings.
Unfortunately, this fat is worse than saturated fat when it comes to the inflammatory response. Recent research has revealed that it's worse for heart disease as well as inflammation.
As a result, many food companies have stopped using it. But you still need to check labels and look for any "hydrogenated" oil. Avoid anything that contains that ingredient. Trans fat is also required to be listed on labels in the US.
Refined sugar is a chemical that causes the body to go into an inflammatory response. It causes spikes in insulin and causes the immune system to work overtime.
Unfortunately, sugar is one of the most prevalent ingredients in the foods we eat. It can be hidden in items you wouldn't expect to find it. Make sure that you check labels and avoid sugar as much as possible.
Artificial preservatives are often found in boxed and canned foods to extend their shelf life. Eating processed foods that contain artificial preservatives, such as MSG, can lead to inflammation.
Make sure you read the labels on your food. In general, avoid food with ingredients that are difficult to pronounce. This is a red flag that they're full of chemicals that could be leading to inflammation and weight gain.
