The Weight Cycle (Part 2)

Inflammation may also interfere with leptin, the chemical that tells your brain you’ve had enough to eat. A review that was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences in 2020 examined the research linking inflammation and leptin. “Inflammation contributes to leptin resistance in the brain at the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus, and as a result, alters food intake and energy expenditure leading to obesity,” wrote the study’s authors. “The elevated circulating leptin levels in obesity contribute to the low-grade inflammatory background, which makes obese individuals more susceptible to an increased risk of developing metabolic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes, as well as degenerative disease, including autoimmunity diseases (multiple sclerosis, thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, intestinal inflammatory disease, and knee arthrosis, among others) and cancer.” This means that leptin, weight gain, and inflammation all come together in a cycle: Inflammation triggers leptin, which can lead to weight gain and obesity, which adds to inflammation.

If you’ve experienced sudden and unexplained weight gain, inflammation of the thyroid might be to blame. An estimated 4.6 percent of people in the U.S. ages 12 and older have some degree of hypothyroidism, which occurs when the thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland in the front of the neck, produces fewer hormones than normal. When that reduction of hormones becomes long-term, it is considered hypothyroidism. The most common cause of hypothyroidism is Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disorder that includes chronic inflammation of the thyroid. A family history of the condition can increase your risk, and hypothyroidism is most likely to occur in middle-aged women. A blood test for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) is used to diagnose hypothyroidism. If the diagnosis is confirmed, a doctor would work with you to find the right treatment which often includes hormone replacement therapy. Weight gain may not always be explained by a thyroid problem; it is just one of the many complex, coordinated ways that inflammation and weight control interact.

The good news is that inflammation is entirely reversible, and lowering it can help people reach and maintain a healthy weight. It’s not just people who are considered obese or live with chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes who see the direct result of lifestyle changes on their inflammation levels. A study published in Scientific Reports in 2019, for example, examined 42 young, healthy, normal weight female athletes. Half of them belonged to a diet-focused group, and researchers found that dieters’ fat loss was accompanied by a decrease in low-grade inflammation. “The prevalence of weight loss attempts in modern society is increasing, even among individuals within a normal-weight range,” wrote the study’s authors. “We demonstrated for the first time that even in healthy, previously lean individuals with rather low quantities of fat mass, further reduction of body and visceral fat mass results in positive changes.” The lifestyle changes a person would undertake in order to limit inflammation are not entirely different from the changes one might make to kick-start weight loss. Ginger Hultin, a Seattle based registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says vegetarian and vegan diets and the so called Mediterranean diet can accomplish both by highlighting fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, plant-based proteins, herbs, and spices. Hultin also points to the DASH diet to tame inflammation. DASH, an acronym for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, is an eating plan promoted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to control blood pressure. The diet emphasizes unprocessed foods, including plenty of fruits and vegetables, and moderate amounts of low-fat dairy, whole grains, and lean protein. “It very much lowers hypertension, but it also can be great for blood sugar management and for weight and inflammation,” Hultin says.