Released Toxins Cause Inflammation

Inflammation happens through different mechanisms and at different lev-els in the body. You may be familiar with the kind of inflammation caused by an arthritic knee, a sports injury, or a cold. But eating the wrong foods (or not eating enough of the right ones), an imbalance of bacteria in our intestines, and released toxins are some of the factors that can cause chronic low-level inflammation in the body.
The more chemicals that are dumped into the bloodstream, the more our immune system is called into action. Inflammatory and anti-inflammatory substances are released into the body, which can damage our cells, organs, and arteries, and prevent sugar from getting into needy cells, promoting insulin resistance.In addition to insulin resistance, inflammation causes cells to not prop-erly respond to the messages of another hormone, leptin. Derived from the Greek word meaning “thin,” leptin is produced by fat cells in the abdomen, and its role is to control our appetites by telling the brain how much body fat we have. Leptin works by binding to cells in the brain and blocking the release of a chemical called neuropeptide Y. The result is that you feel full and satisfied, your metabolism speeds up, and your body focuses on burning stored fat. Inflammation disrupts leptin receptors, so cells can’t receive or respond to leptin’s message. The result? You cannot keep your hunger or appetite in check.

Inflammation also places physical stress on the body. And as you learned in the last chapter, the stress-cortisol connection increas-es hunger, promotes fat storage in the abdomen, and elevates blood sugar.