The Inside Out - How Decreasing Inflammation Can Help You Lose Weight and Improve Your Skin

Too much of a good thing. Yup, we’ve all heard that one before. But normally, we attach this ever so common expression to things like chocolate, wine, and yes, even exercise—not inflammation. It makes sense though, doesn’t it? Nobody really wants a second helping of swelling, tenderness, and redness. All the same, inflammation is a vital part of your body’s natural defense system. This important function helps to fight off invading bacteria and viruses and support the healing of injuries by increasing blood flow and dispatching white blood cells, hormones, and nutrients to the affected area. When the battle is over, your army of protective cells retreat and all is well again. But if your immune system gets knocked out of balance, inflammation can overstay its welcome—causing a host of health issues, including weight gain and skin problems. Chronic inflammation can affect your skin Look at the people around you. Can you tell by looking who has joint pain? Maybe, maybe not. The stiffness, aching, and throbbing sensations of joint pain may not be easily visible. When it comes to your skin, on the other hand, the negative effects of chronic inflammation can be literally right under your nose. Your skin doesn’t lie. If something’s not right on the inside, it’s going to let you know on the outside. And you won’t have to look very hard. Acne breakouts, rosacea, and psoriasis—a chronic, autoimmune inflammatory disease that causes dry, scaly skin—are all clear visible signs of an inflammatory response. Is your skin loosing that healthy glow? Turns out, long-term inflammatory conditions can also speed up your skin’s aging process. Chronic inflammation can break down collagen (the stuff responsible for giving skin its elasticity), resulting in fine lines, wrinkles, and sagging. Chronic inflammation can lead to weight gain Though having joint pain may cause you to be less active, resulting in fewer calories being burned, weight gain may also be at least partially caused by the inflammation itself. This connection between chronic inflammation and weight gain can be partly contributed to a chemical called leptin. Leptin is a hormone that signals the brain to suppress our appetites and boost our metabolism, so it is one of the major contributors to regulating body weight. The more body fat we carry, the more leptin we produce. That would be good if it were that simple because fat gain should result in more leptin, which should cause us to eat less. But, unfortunately, obesity results in a decrease in leptin’s appetite suppressing activity. This is called leptin resistance, and one of the causes of this is chronic inflammation. So, if you want to trim that waistline, it is important to reduce inflammation. Addressing inflammation Properly managing and ultimately overcoming chronic inflammation requires some healthy lifestyle choices. In addition to eating healthy, limiting your exposure to toxic chemicals, managing your stress, and getting regular movement activity, you may consider taking some natural anti-inflammatory supplements. Though SierraSil Joint Formula 14 is best known for treating joint pain, because it has anti-inflammatory action, if you take this supplement, you may notice the good “side effects” of healthier skin and better weight management. Dr. Melissa Carr is a registered Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine with 16 years of clinical practice and a B.Sc. in Kinesiology. In addition to using acupuncture, Chinese herbs, supplements, biopuncture, and nutrition to treat pain, digestive issues, stress, fatigue, hormonal imbalance, and more, Dr.Carr is also a natural health and nutrition consultant, lecturer, and writer. www.activetcm.com. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2829991/ https://authoritynutrition.com/leptin-101/