Inflammation is Everywhere!
What is inflammation?
Inflammation is a form of swelling typically with signs of redness, itching, pain, heat, and loss of certain bodily function. We tend to notice it most in the skin, but it also affects us within. Inflammation happens while our body is fighting injuries, toxins, chemicals, bacterial or viral invaders, and from having an autoimmune disorder, in which the body attacks itself, as though it’s a foreign invader. Inflammation is also a result of athletic training and heavy workouts, but can be beneficial. Basically though, the body releases chemicals as a defense that triggers the immune system. These chemicals, such as cytokines, can in certain instances storm up and create inflammation
Why is inflammation so harmful?
Chronic inflammation can be harmful by slowly destroying the body. Organs, glands, joints, skin tissue, eyes and so on deteriorate. Chronic inflammation creates a more severe destruction upon the body. Cancer can also develop from chronic inflammation, as can heart disease and other diseases.
Why is inflammation becoming so common?
There are so many things affecting inflammation. Inflammation has become increasingly common. Stress, poor diet, drugs, smoking, alcohol, sugar, chemicals, acid or low pH, and the environment all play a huge role in causing inflammation. As a society we are consuming more sugar hidden in foods than we had fifty years ago. A good example of an inflammation is a swollen shin after bumping it. That’s the body’s inflammatory response to the injury. Also, when we over exercise our muscles develop micro-tears. Typically these pose no issue and with good nutrition, rest, sleep, and recovery movements an athlete, or overworked individual, can easily heal while beneficial collagen does its job to repair the muscle. Improper nutrition though may halt this vital process. Exercise though does balance certain inflammatory triggering mechanisms that are vital in the fight against inflammation.
What can we do to help reduce inflammation?
There are many things we can do to reduce an inflammatory response. Proper dietary nutrition, rest, and exercise are effective tools against inflammation by increasing certain cell proteins that reduce inflammation. Physical activity offers a strong anti-inflammatory response and improvement to our metabolism as well.
Another way to fight inflammation is simply reduce abdominal fat. Visceral fat cells within the abdominals secrete molecules that are a direct link to the increase in inflammation. Studies show that reducing abdominal fat through liposuction though did not provide the same reduction of inflammation as did natural fat loss measures through natural means of diet and exercise.
What we consume within our diet can also play a huge role in inflammation. We know already that alcohol and sugar induces inflammation as well as acid in the body. When the acidity levels increase then inflammation also sets in. Typically, one helpful way we can help reduce acidity is by consuming deep green vegetables and certain herbs. Deep greens have an effective means of reducing both acidity and other inflammation triggers. Also, foods high in Omega 3 and Omega 9 fatty acids, such as fatty fish, krill, and algae oil reduce swelling while also improving blood fats and brain function.
Our immune system as a whole plays a huge role in inflammation. Science also suggests that the health of our gut regulates a direct link to inflammatory reactions through our immunity. Our gut plays a major role in our immunity. A healthy gut microbiome, through proper diet and even probiotic supplementation, regulates our immune system to help reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines. We’ve become aware of inflammatory cytokine issues during the 2020 Covid 19 virus.
Stay Awesome,
–RAWr! Life.