What is inflammation?
Inflammation is a beneficial process in our bodies consisting of swelling and increased blood flow, helping to immobilize the are of injury as the rest of the immune system rallies to heal and repair. In a healthy individual, when the infection has been cleared or the tissue damage has been healed, the inflammation process stops and the body returns to its normal state.
Not all inflammation is good for us however. What few understand is that hidden inflammation run amok is the root of most chronic diseases we experience. Most doctors and scientists agree that the initial manifestation of virtually every illness known to man is chronic inflammation in our cells. Many of us are all too familiar with chronic inflammation in its various forms. Chronic inflammation has different names when it appears in different parts of the body.
Internal sources of inflammation can be infections, allergies, inflammatory bowel problems, arthritis, and autoimmune disease. Acute inflammation is usually assoiated with external causes and can be identified by redness, heat, pain, swelling, and loss of function usually lasting only a few days. Chronic inflammation or silent inflammation can persist for weeks, months, years, or even a lifetime.
Chronic Inflammation
The inflammatory response remains “turned on” resulting in potentially significant damage to the body’s tissues. It is dangerous because it falls under the radar of our senses and causes illness to become more prominent without us noticing. By the time we start noticing symptoms (aching back, cough, headaches, fatigue, muscle pain) our cells have already been inflamed for quite some time. Chronic inflammation has been associated with diabetes, cancer, heart disease, obesity, depression, and dementia. The overactive immune response associated with chronic inflammation results in common conditions like allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune diseases, and asthma. In the case of asthma for example, persistent inflammation exists in a sufferer’s lungs and this ongoing inflammation leads to increased sensitivity of the lung tissue. The airways become very sensitive to external stimuli such as changes in temperature and environmental factors like animal dander and pollen. This increased sensitivity can lead to asthma attacks when tightening of the airways make something as simple as breathing difficult. Allergy sufferers deal with common chronic reactions such as rhinitis (inflammation of the nose), sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses), and asthma (inflammation of the airways). Chronic inflammation is also the culprit behind arthritis (inflammation of the joints), dermatitis, achne, eczema, and digestive disorders such as gas, bloating, heartburn, and irritable bowel.
Food as the Remedy
So how do we reduce chronic inflammation and get our bodies back to a state of homeostasis (balance)? Here is a list of environmental factors that can cause systemic chronic inflammation.
- Stress
- Smoking
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Infections (Virus, bacteria, yeast, pesticide)
- Environmental toxins (mercury, mold, etc)
- Poor food choices
The single leading inflammatory trigger is unhealthy food including sugars, gluten, trans-fat, alcohol, artificial ingredients. Packaged and processed foods, especially those laden with hormones, antibiotics, and preservatives are also a major cause of inflammation.
So What Can I Eat to Reduce Inflammation?
-Eat food. Not food like substances. This means choosing unprocessed, unrefined, whole, fresh, real food. Not foods full of sugar, corn syrups, and trans fat.
-Eat the right types of fat. Choose monounsaturated fats found in nature such as olive oil, avacados, nuts, flax, and pumpkin seeds. Omega-3 fats coming from cold water oily fish are also very beneficial.
-Eat complex carbohydrates such as apples, asparagus, beans, broccoli, blackberries, blueberries, cabbage, cantaloupe, green beans, kiwi, leafy greens, peaches, pears, plums, raspberries, spinach and strawberries.
-Stay away from simple carbohydrates such as breads, cereals with sugar, french fries, artificial juices, pancakes, pasta, soda, sugar, and waffles.
Remember, pick and choose foods that ease inflammation and eat them instead of those that promote it. If you adopt an anti-inflammatory diet, you will be doing your heart, brain, and the rest of your body a huge favor. Ask Dr Bruce or Dr Brandon about implementing an anti-inflammatory diet as part of your journey to health.
