I've wanted to cover this in more detail since I had this discovery with my own body. If you're here because you've read my health story or even if you're not, I was dealing with chronic inflammation from a 'mystery issue' that is something I'm still working on after 6 years.
Back in 2019 I was so unhappy with my body, of course it's not easy living with chronic pain but I could not for the life of me understand why I was constantly putting on weight. I'd changed nothing with my diet, I was exercising a little less due to the pain but also eating a little less because I was a paranoid about my body and the only way to describe the way I felt was swollen. I'd been a steady size 8-10 for years and now I was a definite 12-14 with no sign of stopping, it was rapid increase too.
Now I am fully aware that we are ALL so bio-dynamically different; there is never a one size fits all in diet or health but I wanted to talk about this for anyone that feels they can relate.
Please forgive how unappealing the above picture is - I actually never intended to share it publicly but once I had these results and after so long suffering I decided to get over myself and help other people. This was 28 days of eating an anti inflammatory style diet, removing potential problem foods and increasing my intake of a variety of different fruits & veg (not vegan but with a focus on more plants).
The best results I had with this eating style was my brain fog & depression lifting - I literally cried with the relief, it's actually in the highlights of my Instagram stories if you want to see me blubbering!!! BUT I can't ignore what happened physically. It was weird to me that none of the many, many specialists and doctors had ever suggested an anti inflammatory diet to me when it gave me such incredible quick results. I have since learned that Nutrition makes up a very small part of medical training unless you actively specialise in it or decide to do more study yourself - that makes a lot of sense.
So why did this happen? I've been so hungry for answers that I want to share my findings with you. This is super simplified and I'll link you to something more in depth below. Your gut releases endotoxins into the body, this can happen when the gut is out of balance i.e. there is an overgrowth of bad bacteria (dysbiosis or leaky gut). These endotoxins are directly linked to obesity, the fat is actually there to protect your body from the toxins - its trying to help! That's why if you're inflamed, calorie counting won't cut it! To make matters worse a lot of the low calorie diet style food contains toxic chemicals which can often add to the problem instead of help. Here's a really amazing podcast that will give you a more in depth understanding...