What you NEED to know about inflammation
Do you, or someone you know, have a diet high in sugar and processed foods, don’t sleep well, experience prolonged stress, don’t get enough exercise and carry too much weight around the midsection? Well, this is the profile of the average sufferer of chronic inflammation. Surprised? If you are, this next sentence may shock you: Many health experts believe that it would be a rare adult in the developed world who isn’t walking around with some level of chronic inflammation.
Since the condition was first discovered by scientists in the 1900s, it’s gained prominence as a fairly serious health issue with more experts linking it to various health conditions such as asthma, diabetes and other metabolic disorders, obesity, depression and event dementia and cancer.
What is inflammation?
A slow, silent disturbance that never shuts off. You can’t feel it. You can’t be tested for it. Yet is had become a medical hot topic because of the research pointing to its involvement in heavy-hitting illnesses.
While inflammation isn’t all bad – there’s an essential part of the body’s immune response, fighting infection, dealing with injuries and beginning the healing process – the chronic, low-level version that lurks under the surface for long periods of time isn’t seen as a healthy response because it isn’t working to heal, instead it may be firing up these other conditions. Garry Egger, a professor of Health and Human Sciences at Southern Cross University, believes our modern lifestyle is responsible for basically all of today’s chronic conditions.
Scientists are still in the process of decoding exactly how inflammation works, but here’s what we know so far: It all starts in the immune system, the body’s first line of defense against any kind of harm. When you’re injured or sick, your bone marrow dispatches veritable white blood cells to root out infection and jump-start the healing processes. Sometimes, however, the immune system gets a faulty distress signal and this happens unnecessarily.
Top inflammation triggers:
- Carrying excess weight: Being overweight puts stress on your body and thus in response to this stress your immune system will respond to the alarm and the cells that called for help will become inflamed. Over time that inflammation can make healthy cells resistant to insulin and this can in turn lead to diabetes.
- Experiencing high anxiety: Bouts of anxiety have been linked to heightened levels of inflammation.
- Breathing bad air: Air pollution can encourage inflammation and therefore can contribute to insulin resistance and maybe also lead to developing diabetes.
Top inflammation fighters:
- Eating omega-3 fatty acids: Foods rich in omega-3s are great for your heart and nervous system.
- A diet with lots of fruits and vegetables: Plants are full of anti-inflammatory elements such as magnesium and antioxidants, as well as carotenoids and lycopene.
- Keeping active: Studies show that exercise has powerful effects in reducing inflammation. About 40 to 50 minutes of exercise is required most days a week.
- Boosting your mood: Lowering depression or stress of any kind can be a very big key in beating chronic inflammation.