Inflammation is your body’s natural way of protecting itself. When you get hurt or sick, inflammation jumps in to help you heal. It’s essential for recovery.

However, there are two types: acute inflammation, which is short-term and helpful, and chronic inflammation, which sticks around longer than it should. Think of chronic inflammation as an annoying guest that won’t leave — it keeps your immune system on high alert even when you’re not injured. This can end up damaging healthy tissues and organs.

Most people know that chronic inflammation is linked to several health problems, like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. What you might not know is that inflammation can also contribute to weight gain by messing with your body’s normal metabolism.

When inflammation is high, it can throw off your hormones and make it harder for your body to manage energy. This is especially true if you have metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular problems, and more. (Symptoms of metabolic syndrome include large waist, patches of darkened skin in armpits, groin, and back of neck), high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and low HDL cholesterol).

Scientists believe chronic inflammation contributes to weight gain by triggering the release of inflammatory cytokines. These substances can disrupt your metabolism and fat storage, causing more fat to build up, especially around your belly. They can also make it tougher to burn calories.

This creates a cycle: inflammation leads to weight gain, and weight gain causes more inflammation. Studies show that people with more inflammation often gain more weight and face an increased risk of health problems related to being overweight.

Chronic inflammation doesn’t just mess with how your body uses energy. It also influences hormones related hunger and satiety, particularly insulin and leptin.

Insulin Resistance: Insulin tells the body to take sugar from the blood and use it for energy. But when there’s a lot of inflammation, the body’s cells aren’t able to “listen” to insulin as well, leading to insulin resistance. When this happens, sugar stays in the blood instead of going into cells, and the body starts to store extra sugar as fat. Over time, this can lead to more fat, especially around the tummy, which can contribute to weight gain and health issues.

Leptin Resistance: Leptin is a hormone thought to be involved in letting the brain know when to stop eating. But when there’s inflammation, leptin may not send these messages properly. This can make your brain think you’re still hungry even when you have enough energy stored, leading us to overeating and gaining weight.

Certain foods can make you feel puffy and generally unwell. While these problematic foods are different for everyone, there are some that are unquestionably inflammatory.

Foods That Can Make You Puffy: These include things like candy, soda, and fast food. Foods like donuts, fried chicken, and highly processed hot dogs can also cause problems. When we eat bread and pasta made from white flour, it can make our blood sugar increase rapidly — not a good thing. Gluten, in particular, can trigger inflammation in many people (found in wheat, rye, semolina flour, wheat bran, couscous). Research is also showing that vegetable and seed oils can cause an inflammatory reaction in the body, particularly when heated. These include canola, soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower, and grapeseed).

Foods That Nourish and Heal the Body: Foods shown to help balance inflammation responses in the body include clean proteins like wild-caught salmon (rich in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats), grass-fed beef, pasture-raised eggs, organic poultry, and flaxseeds. Almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, and hemp seeds are particularly noted for their healthy fats, fiber, and antioxidants, all of which can help combat inflammation.

Fruits and vegetables play a crucial role as well, with options like berries, leafy greens, and cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts) being especially rich in antioxidants and phytochemicals. These compounds help neutralize free radicals and reduce oxidative stress, which is often linked to chronic inflammation.

Eating healthy is important, but there are other things involved in your health — here are a few of the most influential factors:

Moving Your Body: Exercise helps improve circulation, strengthen immune function so you are better able to fight off illness, and keep your blood sugar levels balanced. Also, any type of daily movement helps balance hormones, a key to avoiding extra fat storage.

Getting Good Sleep: Research shows that poor sleep quality directly affects inflammatory responses in the body, while chronic inflammation can significantly disrupt sleep patterns. From alterations in cytokine production to changes in immune cell populations, the impact of sleep on inflammation extends far beyond simple rest and recovery. When sleep patterns are disrupted, the body's inflammatory response becomes dysregulated. Research shows that even short-term sleep deprivation can trigger significant changes in inflammatory markers, including C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and cytokines.

The circadian system orchestrates the timing of cytokine release, with pro-inflammatory cytokines typically peaking during early sleep phases. This timing is crucial as it allows for optimal immune function while minimizing interference with daytime activities. The relationship becomes particularly evident during illness, when elevated cytokine levels often induce increased sleepiness and fatigue – a response that supports recovery and healing.

This intricate relationship demonstrates how sleep and inflammation are inextricably linked in maintaining homeostasis — and why prioritizing sleep is key for weight loss.

Managing Stress: Many people experience daily stress, but few realize its profound impact on physical health. Recent research has established a clear connection between stress and inflammation in the body. Scientists have discovered that chronic stress can trigger inflammatory responses that affect multiple body systems, leading to various health complications including obesity and insulin resistance.

Chronic stress-induced inflammation contributes to numerous significant health issues. For example, metabolic disorders show a strong connection to stress-related inflammation, particularly in the development of type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The inflammatory pathway also impacts:

Gastrointestinal Health: Chronic stress disturbs gut microbiota and can trigger or worsen conditions like Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Recent studies suggest that stress-induced changes in gut bacteria can lead to increased inflammatory responses throughout the digestive system. And other research has linked gut imbalances with obesity.

Immune Function: Prolonged stress impairs immune system efficiency, leading to increased susceptibility to infections and slower wound healing. The constant elevation of inflammatory markers can overwhelm the body's natural anti-inflammatory mechanisms.

Cellular Aging: Research indicates that chronic stress-induced inflammation accelerates cellular aging processes, affecting various aspects of health, including oxidative stress levels and the development of complex lifestyle diseases.

So, while acute inflammation serves as a protective mechanism, chronic stress can transform this natural response into a persistent state of low-grade inflammation, creating a cascade of health problems throughout multiple body systems.

The connection between chronic inflammation and weight gain is clear: long-term inflammation can disrupt the body’s natural metabolic and hormonal functions, leading to fat storage, insulin resistance, and other health complications.

Breaking the inflammation-weight gain cycle requires a holistic approach. By reducing dietary contributors to inflammation and incorporating anti-inflammatory foods, staying active, and managing stress, you can take meaningful steps toward better health.

Tackling inflammation is not just about weight loss—it’s about improving overall well-being and reducing the risk of chronic diseases. Embracing these changes can help you achieve a healthier, more balanced life in the long run.

Sources:

Pérez-Pérez A, Sánchez-Jiménez F, Vilariño-García T, Sánchez-Margalet V. Role of Leptin in Inflammation and Vice Versa. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Aug 16;21(16):5887.