How to Reduce Chronic Inflammation?

THE ROOT CAUSE OF MOST DISEASES: CHRONIC INFLAMMATION

According to the CDC, chronic inflammation is the leading cause of death and disability. Six and 10 adults in the US have a chronic disease and four and 10 have two more. Chronic inflammation is often the root cause of chronic diseases such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Also known as the “silent killer."

THE SILENT KILLER

When our body sends out an inflammatory response and there's no need to do (chronic inflammation) the body starts attacking internal organs or other healthy tissues within our body. This persistent inflammatory response can then lead to a variety of diseases and chronic conditions. For example, visceral fat, most dangerous, surrounds your organs. The immune system will send out white blood cells to attack these healthy tissues and organs because they see them as a threat. That’s why waistline is the biggest indicator of your health since that’s where we store visceral fat. The longer you’re overweight the longer your body is inflamed.

WHAT CAUSES AN INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE?

There are many causes of inflammation including diet, stress, environment, injuries, chronic illnesses, and genetics. I will touch on the factors we can control:

Diet

What we put in our bodies matters. Inflammatory foods are seen as foreign invaders to our bodies. Processed foods, unhealthy fats (saturated and trans fats), refined sugars, sugary drinks, and refined grains are the most common offenders in our diet that we all should avoid. Many other foods can cause inflammation too such as, gluten, casein, dairy, red meat, soy, and corn. Every individual is different some people can eat gluten while others can't tolerate dairy. You usually know when your body can't tolerate food. You may experience GI issues such as bloating, gas, diarrhea, or constipation. Also, weight gain, skin irritations, and headaches. If you are not sure what foods bother you, try an elimination diet to identify the foods that don’t agree with you. Alcohol and caffeine can also cause inflammation so we want to keep our consumption to a minimum.

Stress

Some stress is good, such as Eustress (a fun challenge) and the fight and flight response when we are in danger. Our body reacts and releases hormones: adrenaline and cortisol to help our body fight off invaders or accomplish a task. But, chronic stress from work, relationships, personal or psychological puts your body in a constant state of fight or flight, which produces higher levels of stress response to the body. Over time this chronic stress can manifest in different ways such as obesity, high blood pressure, depression, anxiety, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), or inflammatory bowel disease.

Environmental Factors

Environmental factors can trigger inflammation including smoking, secondhand smoke, pollution, pesticides/herbicides, heavy metals, chemicals, and airborne irritants. We can’t control all the factors in our environment, but we can control what we use in our home, and expose our body to regularly.