I’ve known for years that inflammation causes a LOT of illness like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer etc but I thought that was mainly as a result of smoking, eating too much, high levels of sugar in the diet, drinking too much alcohol, stress etc.
I’ve just read a white paper that FitPro have published from Dr Paul Batman which brings together 10 different studies on the association between inflammation and sedentary behaviour. It’s quite involved and detailed but here is my synopsis.
HOW DOES INFLAMMATION WORK?
Acute inflammation such as when you cut yourself is good. The immune response and increased inflammation helps in the healing process and then the inflammation recedes back to normal levels. The pro inflammatory and anti inflammatory agents are balanced in the body.
However, when inflammation remains, without any threat, the immune response is to continue to create a Pro-Inflammatory environment in the body. This can be measured by detecting certain markers in the body known as inflammatory cytokines. (Remember cytokine storm in very sick Covid patients?). These cytokines cause long term damage to cells, tissues, organs and systems. This is chronic, low grade systemic inflammation and it is associated with a decrease in insulin sensitivity, atherosclerosis and tumour growth. All of which are a strong predictor of all cause mortality and cardiovascular disease in older people.
“Heart researchers were among the first to identify inflammation as the root cause of atherosclerosis. Initially, it was thought that atherosclerosis was caused by plaque building up on the inside of the artery caused by eating a diet too high in fats. It is now recognised as being caused by low-grade chronic inflammation in the artery wall .”
EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON INFLAMMATION
The 10 different studies in the white paper then investigate the effect of exercise vs sedentary behaviour on these inflammatory cytokines. I won’t go into detail but you guessed it, sedentary people had much higher levels of these cytokines and were also more likely to be obese. The interesting thing in one of the studies showed that even if overweight but moving around regularly, these cytokines could be reduced. Good news!
HOW TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS TO YOUR HEALTH
So to reduce these inflammatory cytokines we need regular exercise. This doesn’t need to be a full on beasting by someone like me but can be a brisk walk to the shops instead of driving or pottering around the garden. Especially if you aren’t used to exercise. Of course, the better results came from more intense exercise and less sitting down but anything more than sitting all day has got to be an improvement. It is also worth noting that this effect will diminish if not done several times a week so you can’t do one almighty workout on a Monday and think that you’ve reduced your inflammatory cytokines. As I always say, it’s consistency that is key. Get your body moving daily and also regularly over the course of the day.
OTHER RISK FACTORS
This isn’t the whole story though and just exercising regularly won’t negate poor food choices, smoking, drinking, high blood pressure, obesity etc
BUT, don’t try to fix everything at once! Things like obesity, high blood pressure, inflammation and diabetes will all start to improve if you start exercising. They will really improve when you eat a healthy diet too.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
So to summarise, move your body regularly and eat lots of fruit and vegetables. This will reduce low grade long term inflammation and more importantly improve your health.