Forget weight loss. Exercise fights a hidden enemy.

What is chronic inflammation? Why it matters? How can we prevent it?

Illustration by Siddhi Bhandari

Welcome to Truth Be Told, the weekly food and fitness newsletter published by The Whole Truth Foods.

Hi there, this is Samarth Bansal, your Editor, and I am writing today’s edition.

I am pretty sure none of the readers of this newsletter need convincing why exercise matters. Or why doing any form of physical activity—running or yoga or lifting weights or anything else you enjoy—is one of the kindest things you can gift yourself. For better health.

And yet, if I'm being brutally honest, my primary everyday kick for hitting the gym comes only from short-term reasons: lifting more, I hope, will give me a better physique; a morning run gives me an endorphin rush for a happier start to the day; and when I'm really regular with my workouts, I feel more energetic and in my zone at work and elsewhere.

Once you've experienced this, you don't need convincing. What's left—and the harder bit—is finding ways to make space for exercise in your life. (I wrote about it previously here.)

But... on days or weeks when I lose my streak, or when I really feel like questioning why I should choose a satiating wholesome balanced meal over a greasy burger, or why should I really wake up and go to the gym, these 'feelings' don't cut it. I make up excuses. It's just one time. How does it even matter?

Or when I start thinking of both food and exercise in terms of caloric input and output, it's even easier to shrug it off. It's just math. I can play around with other variables to ensure I stay in caloric balance. And if my weight isn't fluctuating, I'm probably getting the equation right.

So why, really, should I skip french fries or push for those deadlift records? (Yes, I feel the high, but many other things give me a high—so why this one?)

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I found that the answer lies in a biological process that completely changed how I think about exercise and healthy eating—and one that doesn't get enough attention.

That process is chronic inflammation.

At its core, inflammation is our body's normal response to injury or threats like bacteria or viruses. When you catch a common cold or accidentally cut your hand, your immune system sends special cells to fight invaders and clean up the mess. This causes redness, heat, swelling, and pain—signs that your body is fighting.

So far, so good. This is called acute inflammation. But there's another type of inflammation that's not so obvious.

Daniel Lieberman, a Harvard evolutionary biologist, explains this in his book Exercised. Thanks to advances in technology, scientists can now detect very small amounts of proteins in our body.

This led to a surprising discovery: the same proteins that cause obvious inflammation when we're sick or injured can also cause a hidden, low-level inflammation throughout our body.

Unlike the acute inflammation we can see and feel, this chronic inflammation is invisible and can last for months or years without us knowing. It's like having a constant, low-grade fire burning inside us.

This chronic inflammation is problematic because it can lead our body to attack the wrong things—like our own cells or harmless substances. Imagine firefighters always on alert, breaking down doors of houses that aren't on fire—and never leaving.

Over time, this ongoing inflammatory response can slowly damage our blood vessels, tissues, and organs. It increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, joint problems, depression, obesity, and even early death.

What's worse? It's hard to diagnose. The symptoms can vary widely, and there's no reliable test for it.

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What causes chronic inflammation? It’s complex, but our everyday choices often do.

You already know that eating lots of ultra-processed foods, skimping on sleep, constant stress, excessive drinking, or skipping exercise isn't great for your health. But here's what you might not realise: each of these choices triggers a small inflammatory response in our body.

Here's the thing: our body reacts to these everyday stressors much like it would to an infection or injury. It releases those inflammation-causing proteins we talked about earlier. But instead of fighting off a real threat, it's responding to the chips we ate or the sleep we missed.

The problem compounds when we make these choices day after day. That low-level inflammation never really goes away, keeping our body in a constant state of alert. We can't see or feel it happening, but over time, it can lead to serious health issues.

In fact, just last week, an op-ed in the New York Times highlighted how chronic inflammation continues to puzzle medical professionals. Its causes and exact biological impact are even more complex than we currently understand, underscoring the importance of the choices we make every day.

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So how do we combat this invisible threat? The answer lies in something we've been talking about all along: exercise. It's one of the most powerful tools we have to lower chronic inflammation.

When you exercise, your body goes through a fascinating process.

First, your muscles react to the stress of exercise much like they would to an infection or wound, triggering a small inflammatory response.

But then something amazing occurs: your body activates a much larger anti-inflammatory response to return to a non-inflamed state. And because muscles make up about a third of our body, this anti-inflammatory effect is potent and widespread.

This is why exercise is so powerful—it's not just about burning calories or building muscle. It's actively fighting inflammation at a cellular level, providing benefits we can't see but that profoundly impact our health.

The beauty of this process is that even modest levels of physical activity can dampen chronic inflammation—even in people who are overweight.

Lieberman explains this brilliantly. Exercise, he says, is like giving your body a deep clean. Yes, it causes some initial stress—like how cleaning might stir up dust. But the end result is a body that's healthier overall.

How? Think of your body's energy like a budget. When a large portion goes to exercise, your body becomes more frugal elsewhere. It suppresses unnecessary inflammatory actions and focuses only on real threats, reducing false alarms.

In essence, exercise is like scrubbing your kitchen floor so thoroughly after a small spill that the whole floor ends up cleaner than before. The modest stress of exercise triggers a repair response that yields benefits throughout your body. (Read more about it here.)

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With this understanding, I've started thinking about healthy habits, especially regular workouts, in a new way. Every day, we're making choices that either fuel or fight inflammation in our bodies. The challenge is that we can't see or feel this process directly. We can't know what's broken or how our actions are improving things. But it is happening.

When we choose a salad over fries, or go for a run instead of sitting on the couch, we're not just making decisions about calories or muscle tone. We're actively reducing our body's inflammatory load. Each healthy meal and workout is like depositing money in a health savings account—the benefits compound over time.

The true value of these choices often lies in what doesn't happen: the heart disease that never develops, the type 2 diabetes that doesn't manifest, the cognitive decline that's delayed or prevented, and the chronic pain that never sets in.

You won't know what you've gained—because the problem didn't appear in the first place. And this 'problem' of not knowing is infinitely better than the alternative.

If we can keep this long-term vision in mind, our everyday choices become more meaningful. The most significant benefits are happening at a cellular level, invisible to the naked eye. That's why judging the impact of healthy habits solely by visible metrics like weight, muscle definition, or mood misses the bigger picture.

So yes, while the short-term kicks of a good workout are great, it's this invisible battle against inflammation that makes exercise invaluable for our long-term health.

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PS: Yes, I started this post by saying no reader needs convincing, but I guess sometimes we do need nudges. I do. Take this as one. Why it's worth showing up for, day after day. Pat yourself on the back if you do. :)