Healthy Weight Loss — Without DietingThis same word of caution applies to lifestyle. Multiple studies show
the powerful role of regular exercise in reducing risk of chronic
inflammation. Healthy and adequate sleep is also clearly documented
as an important component of an anti-inflammatory lifestyle. Don’t
count on your diet alone to offset a long list ofimbalanced living
habits. But given a chance within the context of reasonable life
choices, an approach to eating—such as that outlinedin the Healthy
Weight Loss Eating Plan—can take you a long way down the path
of reduced inflammatory risk.
Achieving an Anti-Inflammatory Dietary Balance
I want you to know that the inflammation story is by no means
complete,and you can expect to see plenty of new research in this
area, including research related to weight loss. Some of the most
fascinating research might come in the area of cells and their
development.
Already, many scientists believe that some of our cells actually pass
through a kind of decision point, in which they have to decide
whether to become fat cells, or whether to become another type of
cell, called macrophages. Macrophages are cells that come from
white blood cells and form a very important part of our body’s immune
system. Their name in Greek comes from makrosmeaning “big”
and phageinmeaning “eat.” As “big eaters,” macrophages are
designed to help our body get rid of dangerous substances and
micro-organisms that might pose a threat to our health.
In some individuals, nearly half of the cells found in fat tissue (adipose
tissue) might be made up of macrophages. This very close connection
between our fat cells and our immune system is likely to give us a new
understanding of the events involved with excess fat storage and also
with loss of stored fat.
Beyond the inflammation question is also the general recognition
that weight loss is not simply a matter of counting calories. It’s also
a matter of our physiological health, metabolic regulation of our