Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating

by Christy Harrison

In the same way, inflammation has been found to be associated with a number of different health conditions, but it hasn’t been shown to cause them per se. Here are a few things that may be underlying causes of inflammation, according to a large body of research (see if you can spot the commonalities): lower social class, being divorced or separated from a partner, not having a job, being in financial trouble, having a greater number of negative interactions with other people, having people close to you struggle with their health, and being treated with disrespect or verbally threatened because of your race or your weight.27 In other words, having bad shit happen to you—especially experiences of social injustice—is a risk factor for both increased inflammation and chronic disease. Another risk factor for chronic inflammation is weight cycling—repeatedly losing and regaining weight, which is what almost inevitably happens when people embark on weight-loss efforts. And when the true cause of inflammation is psychological distress, injustice, and yo-yo dieting, is eating more kale really going to help?