Fat Is Inflammation in Disguise
By L. Markham McHenry, D.O.
Got a beer belly? Muffin top? Or belly pudge that just won’t budge?
What about the extra weight you’re carrying in other areas of your body?
Sure, your clothes might be tight, and you know it’s not healthy, but what I’m about to tell you might surprise you.
All those extra pounds can actually trigger a vicious cycle your body just isn’t equipped to handle. And it can create serious health problems if you don’t do something about it now.
How can that be, you ask?
Let me explain.
In a previous post, I explained that inflammation is the root cause of so many health conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke.
See, being overweight or obese triggers inflammation, and in turn put you at risk for serious – even life-threatening – diseases.
In fact, a recent study shows that a specific protein in the body typically linked to inflammation could actually play a role in obesity in women and be linked to insulin-resistance, which leads to type-2 diabetes.
Being overweight or obese can definitely threaten your health, but when you also have other health conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or elevated blood glucose levels, you have a greater risk for metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that when combined, puts you at risk for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
Let’s take a look at your fat cells, for example.
They aren’t just lying around in your body – they’re actually sending out a ton of inflammation signals telling your body that there’s danger on the horizon.
Belly fat, in particular, triggers inflammation and causes the lining of your blood vessels to go through the inflammatory process to protect itself.
What’s problematic is that fat increases triglycerides – a.k.a. “bad” cholesterol – and increases blood glucose levels, which cause your insulin to rise as well. So over time, if you do nothing to lose weight, you’re likely to develop type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
What’s more, with all those triglycerides and extra fats in your blood supply, your liver will have a harder time filtering out toxins. The result? Fatty liver disease, which can lead to liver failure, liver cancer, and death.
The bottom line: carrying extra weight isn’t simply unhealthy. It can be deadly.
The good news is that you can lose weight and get healthy, even if your past efforts have been unsuccessful or you think you’re destined to be overweight because of bad genes.