on our bones, and stressing our heart and joints from the sheer extra
poundage.
What we have learned in the past 10 years is that fat cells are
metabolically active, and when too much fat is stored up inside
them, they go to work sending off messages that act to increase
inflammation and inflammatory problems. Some of the messaging
molecules that signal inflammation are only produced in overly fatty
fat cells! Conversely, fat cells are also capable of producing anti-in-
flammatory molecules, and production of these molecules can be
reduced when the fat cells become overloaded with fat.
You may already have heard about a weight loss program called The
Fat Resistance Dietby Dr. Leo Galland (Broadway Books, 2005) or
a second weight loss approach called UltraMetabolism: The Simple
Plan for Automatic Weight Lossby Dr. Mark Hyman (Scribner,
2006). Both of these programs recognize several newly found
connections between weight management, our brains, our fat cells,
and inflammation. There are a good number of important and cutting-
edge facts that you are going to want to consider in your healthy
weight loss planning when it comes to inflammation. For this
reason, I am going to tell you about this inflammation story in a more
detailed way.
Understanding Fat Cells and Leptin
Leptin is a particularly important molecule that our fat cells produce.
When we have too little fat stored up inside our fat cells, our fat
cells cut way back on their production of leptin.
The reverse set of events holds true when we overeat and our fat
stores become too great. Under those conditions, our fat cells start
to produce more and more leptin. The increased production of
leptin in turn will trigger two sets of events: it will decrease our
appetite and it will increase our body’s ability to burn fat.
At this point in the story, we have come to the role of inflammation.
World’s Healthiest Foods Reduce Inflammation