Inflammation is a natural reaction in the body to injury, pain and stress. In the acute form it can save your life. An inflammatory response is an automatic reaction to some sort of trauma in the body and also part of the healing process. However, in the chronic form it can be a major player in the largest diseases responsible for death in the US.
According to Kiecolt-Glaser (2010) cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes account for 70% of all deaths in the US and all of these diseases share a common link with inflammation. What is even more interesting is that there is a clear link between our lifestyles and inflammation in our bodies. It makes sense then to modify our lifestyles to promote less inflammation in our bodies. Who doesn’t want to promote a longer and healthier life with less risk of deadly disease?
So then the question becomes, what causes inflammation?
- Refined Carbohydrates: This Article from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition made a correlation between an intake of refined grains, sugary soda and diet soda and increased inflammation in the body. The same group also had and low intake of coffee, wine, cruciferous and yellow vegetables.
- Omega-6 Fatty acids: Omega-6 fatty acids tend to be pro-inflammatory where as Omega-3 fatty acids tend to be anti-inflammatory
- Trans-fat: The often demonized trans-fat makes yet another bad guy appearance as a promoter of inflammation.
- Chronic Stress and Depression: These two has been shown to increase inflammatory processes in the body with absolutely no provocation from an injury or infection. Funny how your brain can cause illness huh?
- Poor Sleep: Yup, yet another reason to get to bed on time.
- Being Sedentary: You guessed it, sitting on your butt all day will increase inflammation
- Overtraining: This one may come as a surprise but studies in endurance runners show really large spikes of inflammatory markers during training. Eek, better stop exercising! Just kidding and don’t worry too much, we’ll show later that exercise in moderation decreases inflammation in the long run.
Well is there anything that decreases inflammation? Well, Yup!
- Fruits and vegetables: Higher fruit and vegetable intakes have been linked to less inflammation
- Turmeric and Ginger: Turmeric and ginger have been shown to be safe and also combat inflammation.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids: As stated above Omega-6 fatty acids tend to be pro-inflammatory where as Omega-3 fatty acids tend to be anti-inflammatory
- Intermittent Fasting: This is a bit of a strange one. Intermittent fasting just means going for a prolonged period of time without eating. In this article Observant Muslims fastest 12 hours per day for one month (ramadan). Their markers for inflammation decreased 50% during this time.
- Take care of your Gut: Food that passes through the intestinal lining when it shouldn’t will cause an inflammatory reaction in the body. This is the process behind leaky gut syndrome. Leaky gut syndrome is associated with inflammation in the body.
- Exercise: This study showed positive effects in elderly women and weight training.
- CBD: Cannabinoids, including CBD, are believed to be anti-inflammatory. Several studies in cells, rodents, and humans support the idea that CBD may be an effective anti-inflammatory, but more research is needed to determine how it works and the best applications for specific types of inflammation, If want to try its benefits, there is CBD oil for sale online.
Do whatever it takes to get better sleep…
Action Steps to decreasing Inflammation in the body:
- Get refined carbohydrates and sugars out of your diet
- Balance your intake of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. A good place to start is by eating cold water fish twice per week and start eliminating processed (omega-6 laden) oils like vegetable, canola and soybean oil. An interesting note is that when cows are allowed to graze on grass as opposed to grain, their omega-3 content improves.
- Stop eating Trans-fat. No margarine, no hydrogenated fats, no problem
- Manage your Stress: I’ve covered this in depth in a past article you can find here. What is very interesting is that stress will effect your food choices and your food choices can effect your stress/mood. That’s a pretty terrible place to be in. I’d hate to be stuck in a cycle of donuts and bad mood.
- Sleep More: Get to sleep on time and sleep enough to feel refreshed in the morning
- Exercise: Weight training seems to fit the bill here. Other forms of exercise are most likely equally as good but be careful not to go overboard with your exercise.
- Eat Plenty of Fruits and Vegetables
- Use Turmeric and Ginger: These can be obtained through supplementation as well. I like to put turmeric on my chicken and eggs as well as with Indian cuisine.
- Take Care of your Gut: Stop eating foods that disagree with your stomach. Start eating fermented foods with beneficial probiotics such as yogurt and sauerkraut. You can even start to think about investing in a high quality pro biotic supplement.
- Intermittently Fast: We always hear about how terrible it is to miss breakfast. From a health perspective we’re made to think that if we miss breakfast we may end up failing in life. Turns out there is some pretty solid research showing that if we miss breakfast every so often, its going to have some very cool health benefits.
There you have it guys, a few action steps to help prevent disease in your life and extend your lifespan. A few may be interesting and novel to you but for the most part you most likely already knew how to keep yourselves healthy. Get to it!