Dr Natalie Crawford

Okay.

And actually that hip and thigh fat is protective for cardiovascular disease in a premenopausal women.

Not in men, but in women.

Okay.

But when that fat shifts to the intra-abdominal cavity, that fat is much more metabolically active than the fat under our skin, and it creates these pro-inflammatory cytokines.

And then you end up in this negative feedback cycle.

Your liver starts becoming dysfunctional.

Insulin resistance increases.

That drives more fat to the visceral cavity, increases inflammation, and it just goes on and on and on.

Plant heavy.

Lots of, yeah.

Yeah, because you're getting, so when I'm talking to patients, we talk about the quality of their nutrition.

So is your pattern of eating, I hate to call it diet because it's a four-letter word now, but is the pattern that you're eating pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory?

So meaning the things that you put in your body, are they likely to cause inflammation?

And we know there are certain things that do that, like heavily ultra-processed foods, you know, in large amounts.

Everybody can tolerate a little bit of everything.

But if the majority of your diet, and for most Americans, the majority of their diet is 60% is ultra-processed foods, okay?

Those are by and large pro-inflammatory.

Red meat in moderation, and especially leaner ones, seems to be a very reliable source of protein.

As far as inflammation goes, it seems to be neutral in small amounts, like high-fat meats or processed meats.