Does Inflammation Affect Metabolism?

Dr. Debbie Smrz, ND

If comparison is the thief of joy, inflammation is the thief of health. You might think of it as something that happens when you get hurt or have muscle pain, but inflammation is caused by everything from stress to improper diet and depending on your body’s ability to rid itself of it, determines how severely it will affect you. All chronic degenerative disease is in an inflammatory environment…ALL. That’s diabetes, heart disease to cancer to obesity.

Inflammation tells your cells to go into ‘danger response mode’ to protect themselves from the attack it believes it is under. Cell danger response causes stiffening of the cell membranes, and reallocation of nutrients, a concern for managing weight.

Do you think fat cells are passive storage bins? Nope. They are metabolic mini-organs that secrete messengers and are involved in regulating your appetite and activating your immune system.

The problem with belly fat is that it causes an may lead to in pro-inflammatory immune cells and inflammation of fat tissues, decreasing one’s ability to burn fat efficiently.

It then becomes a vicious cycle once, fat causes inflammation, inflammation makes it more difficult to manage weight.

Immune Cells that may lead to in Adipose Tissue:

  • Macrophages – by as much as 4%
  • Neutrophils – first responders – altering metabolism to transfer energy-rich glucose and other fuels from metabolic pathways
  • Monocytes – part of the innate immune system which gets recruited in the inflammatory process
  • Mast Cells – part of the innate immune system which gets recruited in the inflammatory process
  • CD40 – receptors on fat cells which make them hypersensitive to incoming inflammatory molecules, seen in greater concentrations in people with higher fat levels

Metabolism 101

Ideal health is balance. When your body needs energy, your brain needs to be told by ghrelin to eat.  If you can’t provide food through diet, glycogen is needed to raise glucose and fatty acids for energy.  Insulin gets secreted to pull glucose out of the blood into the cells, however, inflammation causes these hormones to go haywire, releasing them when there is not a time of need, resulting in hunger and excess blood sugar levels.

A brief overview of hormones involved in metabolism:

  • Leptin – inhibits hunger, produced from fat cells, but may ease in inflammation
  • Ghrelin – hunger hormones, may help with hunger and growth of fat cells
  • Glycogen – raises glucose and fatty acids in the bloodstream
  • Insulin – absorbs glucose for the bloodstream, anabolic
  • Adiponectin – protective, helps keep inflammation in check
  • Growth hormone – is a catabolic hormone, that breaks down fat

Fat Cells Cause

↑ Leptin – decreases Treg activity, therefore allowing inflammation to go unchecked

↓ Adiponectin – protective, helps keep inflammation in check

In a nutshell, metabolism goes haywire due to inflammation. Inflammation triggers a cell danger response, telling cells not to touch glucose in the blood, which may contribute to insulin resistance and faulty metabolism, and weight gain.

So, what should you do if you have inflammation causing weight issues?

Step one is to support tolerance in inflammatory fat cells by turning off the cell danger response. Sealing the body’s protective barriers such as the intestinal tract by using probiotics, phytochemicals, vitamin D and other supportive supplements can help, as will eating an anti-inflammatory diet. Chronic, low-grade infections, trauma, hormone dysregulation, and stress are possible causes. The trick is to determine where your inflammation is coming from and manage it accordingly. This is where a naturopathic doctor who focuses on inflammation and longevity shines.