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Written by Navneet Kaur, M.Sc. Nutrition & Dietetics
Diet
Have you ever felt like no matter how much you try, losing weight feels harder than it should? One of the reasons could be inflammation in your body.
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It is your body's natural defence system, which helps in fighting infections, injuries or stress, but when it becomes chronic, it may start causing health and weight related problems.
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When your body is inflamed, it might disturb hormones like insulin, leptin and cortisol that control hunger, energy storage and fat burning, and an imbalance in hormone levels may cause weight gain.
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Chronic inflammation reduces your body's sensitivity to insulin, which makes it store more sugar as fat instead of using it for energy, leading to belly fat gain.
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Inflammation raises stress hormones like cortisol, and high cortisol levels make you crave sugary and fatty foods, which results in more weight gain.
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Inflammation also harms your gut health, leading to bloating, poor digestion and increased fat storage, while a healthy gut lowers inflammation and supports weight control.
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Eating processed foods, sugary drinks, refined carbs, and fried items regularly might trigger inflammation and make losing weight even harder.
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Your lifestyle can also be the reason for inflammation, like lack of sleep, high stress, smoking and sitting too much, so making some small changes like taking 7-8 hours of sleep, quitting smoking and doing exercises daily, may help lower down your inflammation.
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Add berries, green leafy vegetables, turmeric, nuts, seeds, olive oil and fatty fish to your diet as they naturally fight inflammation and help your body manage weight.
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Yes, inflammation can cause weight gain by disturbing hormones, metabolism and cravings, but eating clean, staying active, managing stress and sleeping well can help you fight it.
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