Chronic inflammation is known to cause and advance a wide range of health conditions and diseases. Inflammation is a contributing factor in almost every chronic disease and is a key player in cardiovascular disease, cancer, autoimmune disease, diabetes, anxiety, depression, and many others. Getting inflammation under control is one of the best things we can do for our health. If chronic inflammation isn’t identified and addressed, it can lead to other problems, conditions, diseases, and diagnoses.
what is inflammation?
Inflammation is our body’s defense mechanism that helps us fight off foreign invaders (like bacteria or viruses) and heal ourselves. Increased blood flow is sent to the area in need, leaving the area red, swollen, or hot. This is our body’s natural way to protect us and heal.
Inflammation isn’t always helpful. The problem arises when our body’s natural army starts to work in overdrive, causing excess inflammation to accumulate in the body. Inflammation, especially chronic inflammation, can contribute to disease and can be one of the most beneficial things to pay attention to when wanting to improve health and longevity.
The problem doesn’t lie with our body’s ability to respond to acute needs such as an injury or infection. It is when we have chronic inflammation raging inside, leaving us at increased risk for developing autoimmune disease or other chronic diseases and conditions.
Signs of inflammation
Inflammation can manifest in each of us differently and vary in severity and intensity. It often starts to show up as digestive distress, skin reactions, low energy levels, mood changes, and body aches and pains. People may feel tired all the time or wake up feeling like they haven’t slept well or experience skin reactions including rashes, acne, eczema, psoriasis, and breakouts. Joint pain, swelling, and stiffness are common when inflammatory cytokines are elevated. Digestive issues such as diarrhea, constipation, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) can indicate inflammation in the GI tract. Increased mucus production, anxiety, depression, allergies, asthma, and acid reflux are also signs of inflammation.
Causes of inflammation
There are many factors that can cause chronic inflammation including diet, lifestyle choices, stress, and our individual inflammatory response. It’s often difficult to determine which one factor caused the inflammation, as they often work together and feed off each other to create inflammation and determine the intensity. Lack of restorative sleep, stress, particularly chronic stress, and a sedentary lifestyle can lead to inflammation. Diet and nutrition choices, especially those including sugar, gluten, dairy, alcohol, processed foods can increase immune response. Compromised gut health, leaky gut (intestinal permeability), and an imbalance of gut bacteria, parasites, or infections can allow particles to pass through, leaving our immune system in attack mode. Other factors such as mold toxins, food allergies, and hidden and chronic infections can all contribute to inflammation.
how to overcome and manage inflammation
Work with a skilled practitioner to uncover the cause or trigger of the inflammation to get to the root of why our immune system has gone rogue. Even if we don’t have a diagnosis of a disease or autoimmune condition, if we have excess inflammation raging on in our body, we are at increased risk for eventually developing one or progressing the symptoms we are experiencing.
- ELIMINATE INFLAMMATORY FOODS AND FOCUS ON NUTRIENT DENSITY
Remove inflammatory foods such as dairy, gluten, sugar, soy, nightshades, alcohol, preservatives and dyes, and processed foods. Add in foods such as green leafy vegetables, fruits and berries, bone broth, salmon, avocado, and olive oil. Be sure to hydrate and drink enough water.
- HEAL THE GUT
Approximately 80% of the immune system is in the gut, so focusing on healing the gut lining is crucial. Removing toxins and inflammatory foods allows an opportunity to heal and restore the integrity of the gut lining. An elimination diet, like the Autoimmune Protocol, can allow our gut time to heal as well as help to identify foods that work well for our bodies and those that may be causing irritation and inflammation. Taking a probiotic is helpful and may not be enough. Work with a skilled practitioner to do testing to determine if there are any infections, parasites, or bacteria overgrowth that needs to be addressed.
- GENTLE BODY MOVEMENT
Regular exercise can help boost immune function, reduce stress, strengthen our cardiovascular system, and reduce inflammation. When we are experiencing chronic inflammation, the type of exercise we participate in is also important. Typically, people experiencing inflammatory symptoms do better with gentle body movements such as pilates, yoga, walking, swimming, and dancing versus more intense exercise programs that are popular right now that can work in the reverse. How do we know what will work best for us? We can try out a few things and see how our body feels during, afterward, and how long it takes to recover. If we find it takes our bodies days to recover or we are left with a lot of aches, pains, and fatigue, it may not be a good fit. If we are experiencing inflammation, our bodies will typically respond better to gentle, supportive movement.
- MINDFULNESS AND STRESS RELIEVING PRACTICES
We can help create an environment for healing by engaging in practices that can help calm our mind, body, and spirit. Meditation, yoga, deep breathing, and prayer can help our body heal by reducing stress, engaging the vagus nerve, and activating the parasympathetic state. There are great apps like Headspace and Calm that we can use for meditation practices.
- GET QUALITY RESTORATIVE SLEEP
It may sound simple, but getting quality, restorative sleep is imperative for giving the body an opportunity to heal. Sleep helps to reduce stress, promote immune system regulation, decrease inflammation, and reduce our risk of disease. Aim for 8-9 hours per night.
- ADDITIONAL WAYS TO REDUCE INFLAMMATION
Alternative practices such as acupuncture (my favorite!), chiropractic care, massage therapy, and reiki can help to restore balance and reduce inflammation. Talking to a practitioner to see what supplements would be beneficial such as omega 3’s, turmeric, ginger, resveratrol, vitamin D, and collagen. Therapy for support working through trauma, grief, and emotional and mental stress. Request lab work and tests such as an Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP)to give more insight into the inflammation in the body through a skilled practitioner.
CONCLUSION
Understanding the signs and symptoms, uncovering the root cause, and working with a skilled practitioner and health coach to eliminate and reduce inflammation are among the most beneficial steps we can take for optimal health. Learning to tune in to our body, recognize the signs, and respond to the call is imperative. Exploring ways that work for my body to bring the inflammation down will help slow the train down or return it to the station.
Head on over to www.ifm.org/find-a-practitioner for assistance finding a skilled functional medicine practitioner. Contact me at melanie@melaniesnyder.com for a complimentary consultation so I can learn more about you and help to create a customized action plan to help you accomplish your health and wellness goals.
This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to provide or take the place of medical advice.
