Ok I really haven’t listed 46 previous reasons for losing weight – largely because it’s self-evident. None-the-less, a new article published in New Scientist discussed why overweight and obese people get more infections: Because fat cells trigger the inflammatory response in our body.

Specifically, a protein known as TLR4 mistakes fatty acids for a similar looking bacteria and mounts an inflammatory response – which is designed to stimulate the immune system into action. Some amazing research done by Jerrold Olefsky at the University of California at San Diego tested this theory by eliminating TLR4 from macrophages, the body’s key immune fighter. When these macrophages were then injected into obese mice, they showed no signs of inflammation.

Olefsky’s group is now working on developing drugs that inhibit TLR4 to help lessen the impact of inflammation on obesity. For more on this, follow this link to New Scientist.