What is Inflammation?
Inflammation is a natural response to the body’s attempt to protect itself by removing foreign substances and beginning the healing process. When tissues are injured by bacteria, trauma, toxins, heat, or any other cause, your body’s inflammatory response starts kicking in. The goal of an acute inflammatory response is to heal the body.
Chronic or excessive inflammation, on the other hand, causes the majority of chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, liver problems, cancer, dementia, fibromyalgia, and autoimmune diseases such as thyroid disorder, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Chronic inflammation may appear innocuous on a daily basis; you may not think much of it until it interferes with daily living. Bloating, brain fog, achy joints, and persistent fatigue are some of the symptoms.You might not even realise you have a chronic problem, just a “flare-up” here and there. You can wait for the sensation to pass, but our daily lifestyle habits are often what cause the inflammation in the first place.
Symptoms of Chronic Inflammation
Here are just some common symptoms of chronic inflammation:
• Digestive issues
• Low energy
• Body pain, especially in the joints
• Skin issues, like eczema
• Autoimmune diseases, like arthritis, thyroid, celiac disease
• High blood glucose
• High cholesterol
• Allergies
Its time to go further and explore how everyday diet and lifestyle play a role in Chronic Disease
What causes chronic inflammation?
1. Your Lifestyle
Chronic inflammation is facilitated by physical inactivity, stress, and sleep deprivation. Even smoking one cigarette per day raises the risk of coronary artery disease, stroke, and several cancers. Excessive alcohol consumption also increases the risk of cancer and contributes to psychiatric and digestive disorders.
2. Your Eating Habits
What we eat has an impact on inflammation: diet has a significant impact on the microbiome and preventable disease risks. People who consume foods with a high dietary inflammatory index are more likely to gain weight, become obese, develop type2 diabetes and have a heart attack.
6 Easy Ways to Reduce Chronic Inflammation
1. Eat Anti-inflammatory Foods
Chronic inflammation is frequently caused by chronically poor digestion. It is beneficial to your overall health to choose gut-healthy foods that are high in vitamins and minerals. To reduce inflammation and prevent free radical damage, seek out sources of antioxidants and phytochemicals (bioactive compounds). Leafy greens, colourful berries, tomatoes, spices, root vegetables, herbs, beans, and pulses are among them. Choose these anti-inflammatory foods.
Probiotic-rich foods are another anti-inflammatory option for strengthening the gut’s microbiome barrier. Adopt an anti-inflammatory and superfoods diet that includes fermented foods and omega-3 fatty acids. The Mediterranean diet is widely regarded as one of the most anti-inflammatory. This is because it emphasises fruits, vegetables, fish, and whole grains.
2. Eliminate Inflammatory Foods
Red meat and anything containing trans fats, such as margarine, corn oil, deep-fried foods, and most processed foods, are examples of inflammatory foods. Avoid foods to which you are allergic. Determine and comprehend your body’s systemic inflammation triggers, such as food intolerances, allergies, or poor gut health.
The gut contains 60-70 percent of your immune system. Individuals with a weakened gut barrier should be aware of how their bodies react to food colorings, yeast, sugar alcohols, eggs, aspartamine, additives like sulfites, and preservatives. Food intolerance can disrupt bowel function and cause inflammation, gastrointestinal problems, and the development of obesity, among other things. It is critical to understand and follow a diet that is tailored to your genetic make-up.
3. Manage stress
If inactivity is the first horseman of inflammation, chronic stress is the second. Stress affects almost every system in the body, raising the alertness of our cells and tissues and stimulating the production of several hormones, including cortisol. Fortunately, there are several methods for dealing with chronic stress.
Here are some natural stress relievers. Concentrate on the quality and quantity of your sleep (7-9 hours)- it’s a necessary process for body repair. To manage stress throughout the day, try meditation, yoga, biofeedback, guided imagery, or another technique.
We may not be able to change many of the stressful situations we face in life, but we can change our response and perception by learning better stress management techniques.
4. Make Time to Exercise
Over time, regular moderate physical activity can reduce chronic inflammation and disease risks. There are links between the amount of activity we engage in on a regular basis and the levels of inflammatory markers. Exercising can also help patients with type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and depression, all of which have a component of chronic inflammation.
But don’t overdo it; excessive exercise is a strain on your body and can worsen chronic inflammation. Take care of your joints and arteries while lowering your risk of heart disease by getting at least 20 minutes of movement each day, whether through walking, weight training, or cardio workouts.
5. Manage your weight
Maintaining a healthy weight is critical. Obesity has been linked to metabolic disorders associated with inflammation. In fact, as the amount of adipose fat increases, so does the inflammatory response. If you have a few pounds to lose, doing so may help with inflammation.
Excess weight, on the other hand, can exacerbate the problem. That’s why obesity and overweight are risk factors for so many health problems. Discuss with your nutritionist how you can achieve a healthy weight range.
6. Hydrate Yourself
The simplest way to reduce inflammation is to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated. When your body receives enough water, your joints will move more freely and easily, resulting in less pain. To perform their anti-inflammatory functions, your cells must be properly hydrated.
Every day, drink half your body weight in ounces of pure water. If you drink diuretics (alcohol, coffee, caffeinated tea, soda), add 12 ounces to your baseline ounce requirement for every 8-ounce diuretic beverage. Examine the signs of dehydration.
Positive results are felt quickly by taking a holistic approach to treating inflammation and developing a personalised treatment plan.
If you have chronic inflammation or if it persists even after changing your diet and lifestyle habits, see a nutritionist. If you have any questions, please contact us at detoxpri@gmail.com. We’re here to listen and assist.
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