Anti-Inflammatory Diet For Dummies. Artemis Morris
- the pituitary gland secretes a hormone called acetylcholinesterase (ACTH) which signals the adrenal gland on the kidney to secrete cortisol that suppresses the immune system."/>
White adipose tissue, or fat cells, releases a number of inflammatory chemical signals, called adipokines, that affect the body as a whole. The fat cells then become part of the endocrine system — the system that regulates growth and reproduction and, when out of balance, increases the risk of insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, and other illnesses.
The low-level chronic inflammation of obesity makes your brain and body less responsive to the normal cues (mediated by the adipokines) that signal when you’re full and help you to maintain normal body weight. The inflammation also tells your adrenal glands to produce more of the compound cortisol.
IS METABOLIC SYNDROME A CAUSE OR EFFECT OF INFLAMMATION?
Metabolic syndrome occurs when a person has a series of metabolic symptoms that, when combined, put the person at an increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. The American Heart Association lists these symptoms as the core group resulting in metabolic syndrome:
Abdominal obesity (excessive belly fat)
Elevated triglycerides (blood fat disorders that create plaque buildup)
High blood pressure
Insulin resistance/glucose intolerance
Increased risk and susceptibility to blood clotting
Inflammatory state (elevated C-reactive protein in the blood)
In metabolic syndrome, the enemy is excessive insulin caused by insulin resistance, which creates an imbalance between blood sugar (glucose) and insulin. The cells of the body become resistant to the insulin’s attempts to bring the glucose into the cells, and the pancreas produces more insulin to try to make up for this.
Insulin resistance is worsened by inflammatory signals because inflammation does not allow the cells of the body to take in glucose; therefore, sugar levels rise in the blood and can get high enough to cause diabetes. Inflammation kicks in to battle the insulin resistance, creating elevated hs-CRP levels and other cytokines, and increasing the risks of stroke and coronary heart disease.
Cortisol is your body’s natural anti-inflammatory chemical and is produced in high amounts during chronic stress and obesity. Cortisol helps keep energy on track by determining the right type and amount of carbohydrate, fat, or protein that your body needs at any particular time. It moves the body’s fat stores from one location to another and prevents the release of substances in the body that lead to inflammation.
Cortisol’s response to inflammation is to produce more fat cells around the abdomen (belly fat), which then increases fluid retention, raises blood pressure, increases blood sugar and the risk of insulin resistance, and increases the risks of memory loss and muscle and bone weakness.
Diabetes: Wreaking havoc with your blood sugar
Inflammation and blood sugar have a somewhat tumultuous, circular relationship. When you have high blood sugar, chemicals are released throughout your body, weakening your immune system and kicking inflammation into gear to help protect the body. Because the immune system has been weakened, however, inflammation goes into overdrive and raises the blood sugar, further weakening the immune system.
When you eat, your body breaks down carbohydrates into glucose, a simple sugar that travels through your blood and that your muscle cells and other cells take in and use as an energy source. Insulin serves as the glucose police in that it regulates how much glucose remains in your blood. When glucose begins to build up, the pancreas (the organ behind the stomach) releases more insulin.
In the ideal situation, the pancreas produces the insulin the body needs, and the body cells respond by taking in sugar. But a condition called insulin resistance inhibits the way glucose can get into the body’s cells. Inflammation may be behind the poor reception between the cells and the insulin signals. The glucose builds up in the blood, leading to further inflammation and intensifying the problem.
Figure 3-2 shows how inflammation both causes and is caused by insulin resistance. Infection, stress, toxins, genetic factors, and poor diet increase inflammation, which contributes to increased insulin resistance. Insulin resistance leads to decreased glucose metabolism, which leads to high blood sugar and high insulin levels. High blood sugar and insulin levels contribute to weight gain and increased adipose (fat) tissue. High blood sugar, insulin levels, and bad fats contribute to further inflammation by blocking delta-6 desaturase, an enzyme that’s important in decreasing inflammation, and enhancing delta-5, an inflammatory enzyme.
The key to stopping the cycle is to find ways to lower the inflammation, which then works to lower the blood sugar levels.
© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
FIGURE 3-2: Insulin resistance is both a cause and an effect of inflammation.
Striking the Brain: Neurodegenerative Disease and Inflammation
Neurodegenerative diseases affect a lot of the ways your body works: balance, movement, heart function — even talking and breathing. The brain moderates and controls each of these activities. When your brain is under attack, these seemingly easy tasks become cumbersome and, sometimes, nearly impossible.
Old scientific belief held the body’s and brain’s immune system had no bearing on each other — the two systems didn’t communicate with each other because each system had barriers that kept the other at bay.
Today, science believes that although these barriers still exist, they may be compromised in brain diseases, and that thanks to inflammatory responses within the body, the two systems do, in fact, communicate. This is called the gut-brain connection, and it is a two-way street.
Researchers have come a long way in connecting inflammation to neurodegenerative diseases; a 2017 Harvard Medical School study acknowledged an increasing awareness of the link between inflammation and conditions affecting the central nervous system (CNS). Some of the diseases they saw linked to inflammation were Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and Huntington’s disease.
In this section, we take a look at the role inflammation has in these diseases.
Examining Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is more than memory loss — it’s a type of dementia that affects not only memory, but also thought and behavior. Symptoms are mild at first and worsen over time. Though the majority of people with Alzheimer’s are age 65 and older, an estimated 200,000 people under the age of 65 have early-onset Alzheimer’s.