Inflammation Doesn't Start With Age: It Starts With What You Eat

There is far too much confusion in the world, and far too many people trying to make assumptions from poor research or incomplete data. I could rant about it, but let’s take an article I recently read, one that tried to make a link between sarcopenia and cognitive decline.

Let’s start by stating that the facts are very unclear on this, but the connection is obvious. Older people have cognitive decline, and they also have sarcopenia. But just because they are often present at the same time is not cause and effect. It is circumstantial. To be transparent, not all people with sarcopenia have cognitive decline, but all those with cognitive decline have sarcopenia.

The paper was actually about inflammation, which they like to call “inflammaging,” a cringe-worthy term that suggests it is a softer version of chronic inflammation. Truthfully, that does not cause sarcopenia either.

Sarcopenia is a gradual loss of muscle and strength as we age.

It happens to everyone. It is inevitable. However, it can be slowed to a crawl, but only if we strength train. For the aging population who insist on walking and little else, the onset is more rapid. It affects balance and independence. It may be hastened by inflammation, but not necessarily caused by it.

Inflammation does contribute to cognitive decline and, as it turns out, aches, pain, disease, and premature death too. The term “inflammaging” was coined by an Italian researcher named Claudio Franceschi, who wanted to describe chronic low-grade inflammation that drives disease. However, it already did that. We already knew it. Changing the name does little other than to give Claudio a little wink and pat on the back.

To be clear, chronic inflammation is and always has been at the root of all disease. It has been described and defined many times, most notably by Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling, who said that inflammation is a foundational element in many, if not all, diseases, and that nutritional approaches could mitigate these inflammatory processes.

Pauling was right, of course, but he did not go back far enough. If inflammation is present, it suggests a trigger earlier in the chain. That trigger is likely ultra-processed carbohydrates and sugar.

For those opposed to this idea, it is well established that these elements cause inflammation. A paper in Frontiers in Immunology, published in August 2022, called “Excessive Intake of Sugar: An Accomplice of Inflammation” summarized its history and effects on the human body. To summarize, it stated that processed carbs, derived from refined carbohydrates, promote chronic low-grade inflammation by rapidly spiking insulin levels. Frequently high sugar levels increase systemic damage by promoting fat storage, oxidative stress, hardening of the arteries, and cardiovascular strain. Long-term, this leads to increased risk of type II diabetes and cancer, and accelerated aging.

But chronic inflammation is also a hallmark of gut dysbiosis, otherwise known as leaky gut syndrome. Research tells us that refined sugars and carbohydrates in their ultra-refined forms directly contribute to leaky gut.

This systemic inflammation weakens the intestinal lining, promotes the harmful growth of bacteria, and damages the tight junctions, which then allow toxins to enter the bloodstream. This is the beginning of autoimmune issues and, in the long term, contributes to cognitive decline.

It is a slow loss of function, developed over years of poor eating habits, but processed carbohydrates, including refined sugars, white flour, and ultra-processed foods, are the issue. These foods directly contribute to inflammation, and that inflammation affects how the gut absorbs nutrients.

It is actually a well-understood pathway. We eat inflammatory foods. Those foods trigger inflammation, which disrupts the delicate balance of bacteria in the gut and weakens the intestinal lining. Since nutrients are absorbed through the gut lining, an inflamed lining allows more into the blood, which then affects the rest of the body.

Moreover, these inflammatory foods promote the growth of harmful bacteria and continue to damage the intestinal wall, allowing toxins and undigested food particles to enter the bloodstream. The most common pro-inflammatory foods include sugar, white bread, cookies, cereals, crackers, almost every snack food, fast food, pizza, soda, protein bars made with seed oils, orange juice, and any other white flour product, including all sugary drinks. That sums up about 71% of the food eaten by the average American, by the way.

In a way, when you look at the foods you can and cannot eat, it is a little concerning. But more concerning is the long-term risk of disease, cognitive decline, and accelerated aging that occur because of these foods. Actually, calling some of these edible concoctions food might be part of the problem.

The pathway by which inflammation occurs is complicated, but most processed foods are immediately broken down into sugar. Sugar triggers insulin and inflammation by raising inflammatory cytokines. Eventually, this leads to insulin resistance and the production of free radicals. The free radicals attack normal cells and steal hydrogens from them, making them unstable, and these unstable cells attack other cells. Typically, it is the mitochondria, the cells that make energy so you can live, that end the destruction of the free radicals by donating themselves to neutralize them. Over time, we damage more and more mitochondria, which then produce less and less energy. The body then determines the best place for that energy, to preserve life, and some of your organs get less energy in order to preserve brain function. As I said, it is complicated.

The end product is the production of Advanced Glycation End-Products (AGEs).

These are harmful compounds formed when fats, or lipids, combine with sugars through non-enzymatic reactions. End game, they drive chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, more free radicals, and then contribute to diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s.

Sometimes we call this process the Maillard reaction, in case you are interested.

That was quite a lot to take in, I know. And it gets complicated because we have a tendency to label everything, then give those actions a name. Some people make those names complicated to learn. But that is physiology. What would we all do if we could not have those labels? Do not answer that. Life would be more simple, I agree.

Anyway, in general, the early stages of failing health occur when sugar reacts with proteins in the blood and forms unstable molecules called Schiff bases. This is part of glycation. As these Schiff bases rearrange themselves in an attempt to become more stable, the Amadori product, which forms the basis for measuring A1c, they decline into permanently damaged AGEs, where they oxidize and produce more free radicals. Remember, the mitochondria will donate their own hydrogens to prevent too much damage in the short term. However, this leads to chronic issues because the base of mitochondria is lost, and that damages the body’s energy production in the long term, contributing to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations, more free radical production, and eventually cell senescence.

So, although cells age, senescence, cells age faster when attacked by free radicals, and chronic inflammation fails to clear damaged mitochondria, mitophagy, which causes two things. First, the development of diseased or damaged cells. Second, the reduction of energy production, adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

Since organs and cells receive less ATP, they are caught in a vicious cycle of damage and dysfunction, which contributes to cognitive decline, aging, and, most of all, metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders.

Did you stay with me so far? Because, in a nutshell, the mild chronic inflammation caused by sugar and processed carbohydrate intake causes a consistent decline in normal body function and energy production. This, in turn, leads to fatigue, inactivity, degeneration, and disease. We get old. Some faster than others.

This is all compounded by the gradual loss of strength, sarcopenia, as we age, leading to further decline in health and in your activities of daily living. Since muscle holds a good deal of the mitochondria that produce the energy to contract and use muscle, sarcopenia, or muscle loss, has a double effect on aging. The muscle loss causes weakness, but it also allows more free radical damage and leaves less available mitochondria to suppress that activity. Since muscle also absorbs much of the blood glucose during activity, lack of movement and lower muscle mass fail to control blood sugar levels, and the resulting hyperglycemia begins to affect the brain and its function. We sometimes call this process pre-type III diabetes.

Ultimately, this is how we experience cognitive decline, and how that decline is accelerated. It is interesting to note that building muscle, which can occur at any age, is paramount to good health and foundational to lifespan. So, sarcopenia does not cause cognitive decline, but it is present in all those who have it.

As I have mentioned, the human body is well able to heal itself, and this can occur at any age. It is easier when we are young, of course, but not impossible as we age. The trick is to manage the slowdown. A word of advice: the human body repairs much better if it is moving, and even better if it is not inflamed. There are many things that help us recover, and even stay healthy. Obviously, exercise is one of those factors. But let us not forget quality sleep, solid nutrition, hydration, and movement in general versus inactivity.

Here are the top 7 things you can do to stay healthy and reduce inflammation and pain.

Move. It sounds odd, but movement causes the lymphatic system to work properly. In case you were wondering, the lymphatic system’s function is a vital part of the immune system. It maintains fluid balance, defends against infection, and even absorbs fats. It is a major factor in absorbing toxins, waste, and bacteria from the tissue, and it can reduce inflammation. But only if you move. Muscle must be contracted for it, and for the lymphatic system, to work properly.

Lift. Yep, resistance training reduces inflammation and continues to support the lymphatic system and the job it does. But exercise also triggers a short-term inflammatory response that stimulates long-term anti-inflammation. It does this by releasing things called myokines, or muscle-derived cytokines. These include anti-inflammatory factors such as interleukin-6, interleukin-10, interleukin-1, and interleukin-1RA, all anti-inflammatory cytokines. You also release adiponectin. Adiponectin is a fat-derived hormone, called an adipokine, that acts as a key metabolic regulator, enhancing insulin sensitivity, reducing inflammation, and promoting fat burning. But only if you strength train.

Lose weight. Adiponectin, which helps you burn more fat and reduce inflammation, is lower in obesity. It is actually in direct proportion to obesity, so being overweight is automatically a sentence to chronic low-grade inflammation. This is primarily because overstuffed fat cells behave like an endocrine organ, releasing inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). As fat cells get larger, they also begin to recruit immune cells, macrophages, which polarize into pro-inflammatory M1 macrophages, producing free radicals and yet more pro-inflammatory cytokines. In case you missed that, the more overweight you become, the more inflamed you get.

Eat cleaner. Processed foods and sugars are pro-inflammatory. The average American diet is 71% processed foods, thus inflammation and disease promoting. If you want to lose weight and feel healthier, you have to cut sugary drinks, processed carbs, and white flour products. In short, if a food causes an insulin spike, avoid it. Obviously, sugar does that, but did you also know that seed oils do too? It is best to increase your protein intake and reduce your grains and carbs to lose weight. You should be eating at least one gram of protein per pound of body weight.

Feed your microbiome. As medicine progresses into functional medicine, we realize that we cannot cure a disease with a drug, only treat it. Then, and only then, will we progress to the next level. Your gut bacteria are an amazing thing. The microbiome is an amazing thing. It is referred to as the second brain and is now also being considered a separate organ. It is so large that there are ten times the number of microbial cells as in the entire human body. These cells represent as many as 5,000 different species.

Literally, the future of medicine will be determined through the functional assessment of the gut microbiome. Your probiotics will likely be customized to your body’s needs rather than just bought from a store.

To feed these microbiota, you will need to eat fermented products, kefir, inulin, and plenty of fiber. You will also have to curb the use of antibiotics in both prescriptions and grain-fed meat.

Your gut bacteria are involved in harvesting energy from food, balancing good and bad bacteria, manufacturing neurotransmitters such as serotonin, enzymes, and vitamins such as vitamin K. Your microbiome is paramount in immune function, and its interference leads to a majority of disease, including cardiovascular, neurological, and cognitive disease.

Improve the quality of your sleep. You may not realize this, but sleep is essential to good health. Sleep acts as a crucial period for brain restoration, memory consolidation, and healing of the entire body. Quality sleep strengthens the immune system, regulates metabolism, lowers the risk of chronic disease, and stabilizes mood. Interestingly, sleep also lowers inflammation.

Quality sleep also helps you lose weight. Yep, true. It balances hormones such as ghrelin and leptin that control hunger and fullness.

Sleep has also been shown to lower blood pressure and allow the cardiovascular system to rest, reducing heart disease.

Stay hydrated. Hydration is crucial for life, as water makes up about 60% of the body and supports nearly every function, including temperature regulation, joint lubrication, waste removal, and nutrient delivery to cells. Adequate water intake prevents dehydration, which can cause fatigue, headaches, dizziness, reduced cognitive function, and kidney stones. It is a fact that older people tend to hydrate less, and that is where much of the decline is felt.

People are always looking for ways to live better and have more quality of life. These 7 points will help you do that.

The road to fitness is not somewhere you arrive. It is a continuous journey with continuous benefit.

But if you stop, you begin to lose those benefits. Stay steady, stay focused, learn how to fit quality living into your schedule, and enjoy the outcomes.