Dr. Tanya Edwards, director of the Center for Integrative Medicine, writes that inflammation is now recognized as the “underlying basis of a significant number of diseases.” Some doctors go a step further and say that inflammation is the root cause of nearly every modern, chronic illness. It doesn’t matter what it is: cardiovascular disease, Alzehimer’s, type 2 diabetes, autoimmune disease, or cancer. The root cause of all of those is chronic inflammation. In other words, the body lacks the ability to keep up with the level of inflammation we experience on a day-to-day basis. So what are the top causes of inflammation?
Our environment is a factor in the amount of inflammation in our bodies. That’s because we are surrounded by plastics, air and water pollution, an increasing number of electromagnetic frequencies (think smart home), synthetic chemicals in our home, health and beauty products, and heavily processed foods. Other factors include stress, lack of good sleep, food allergies, lack of exercise, and more.
To be clear, not all inflammation is bad. Acute inflammation happens when we are injured or are experiencing a minor illness, like a cold or flu. This is OK because is generally goes away after a relatively short time. A couple of days to a couple of weeks. Chronic inflammation is the type we want to avoid and that can result in disease and things like arthritis and other degenerative problems. This is when you want to look for the top causes of inflammation in your life.
Food
If you haven’t cleaned up your diet, food could be one of the the top causes of inflammation in your body. Some of the most inflammatory foods are corn and soybean oils, pasteurized dairy, refined carbohydrates, conventional meats, trans fats, and sugars. For some people, eliminating gluten can completely turn the tide around. For some, any kind of dairy causes inflammation – even organic. For others,it’s any form of corn and for still others, any form of soy. In all cases, processed foods, and especially fast foods spell real trouble.
If you want to get the upper edge on your health, start with determining if you have an food sensitivities or allergies. There are several ways to approach this. Seeing someone who specializes in allergies is one way. Seeing a functional medicine doctor, http://www.functionalmedicinedoctors.com/ , or a multi-modality chiropractor is another. One technique that a chiropractor can incorporate for allergy testing is NAET, https://www.naet.com/ .
Once you’ve found the foods to avoid, add in ant-oxidant rich foods to further reduce inflammation. Some to start with (providing you’re not allergic to them) include acai fruit, allium vegetables (chives, garlic, leeks, onions, scallions and shallots), beans and lentils, dark leafy green vegetables, hot peppers, healthy fats, berries, green tea, healthy herbs and spices like turmeric.
Leaky Gut or Disbiosis
The lining of your colon is only one cell thick. If you’ve been eating poorly or have an unhealthy gut microbiome, then toxins, immune-stimulating particles of food , and microbes are leaking out through the lining of your stomach and colon and into your blood stream. Symptoms of leaky gut include bloating, joint pain, weight gain, fatigue, headaches, skin issues, and more. A leaky gut is one of the main causes of inflammation. To reverse this situation, start with eliminating anything you’re sensitive too along with the common inflammatory foods. This alone can go a long way toward your healing.
Adding in soothing foods like bone broth, raw cultured dairy (keifer and yogurt), fermented vegetables (kimchi, sauerkraut, kvass), healthy fats, sprouted seeds, and organic coconut products. All of these things will support the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut. Don’t forget to add teas and drinks of soothing plants and herbs like aloe vera, slippery elm, and marshmallow root are very soothing to inflammed tissues and may help calm things down.
Finally, there are some supplements that can be very helpful in healing leaky gut. These include L-glutamine, probiotics, digestive enzymes, licorice root, and quercitin.
If you can’t get your gut health restored on your own, you may need to see a functional medicine doctor or a multi-modal chiropractor.
Toxins
Environmental toxins are a major source of inflammation. Even if you eat well and clean-up your home environment, there may still be toxins in the water you drink when you are away from home, in the air you breathe, and even in the organic foods you buy. I buy 90% organic, but I’m still concerned about the plastic packaging that is used on the steamed beats, sprouted breads, cheese, etc. that I purchase. I’ve also seen that glyphosate (Round-up) has been found on organic eggs. So it is good for everyone to do mild detoxing all the time.
If you’re just starting out on your wellness journey, you may not be aware of some of the most common sources of toxins. These inlude things like medications such as antibiotics and birth control, mercury and other heavy metals in fish and amalgam fillings, plastics including BPA, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and genetically modified non-organic produce, and hormones in conventional meats and dairy.
In addition to getting rid of these known sources of toxins, you may want to do a good detox that will open up your elimination pathways and escort the most common toxins and parasites out of your body. Some people find that fasting can also be helpful when trying to detox.
Here is a blog post that I wrote about detoxing with food that you may find useful. http://sharonledwards.com/detox-naturally-food/
Infections
Underlying bacterial and viral infections are also major causes of inflammation. This could come from something like the presence of a virus (Herpes simplex, Epstein-Barr, Hepatitis C) or bacteria (Lyme, H. Pylori, Yersinia enterocolitica, E. coli). Low grade dental infections have also been known to cause major health issues. These things will trigger your immune system to release antibodies and could result in an autoimmune condition. If you have an autoimmune disease and making the changes above has not helped reduce your symptoms, you should get tested for infections that may be preventing you from reaching optimal health. Finding someone who specializes in lyme disease and it’s co-infections would be very beneficial.
Stress
Stress is one of the major causes of inflammation. It affects everything including your hormones, digestion, and immune system.
When your body is met with a physical, mental, or emotional challenge, it releases hormones including the primary stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol comes from the fight or flight impulse, which is good in short doses. But over time, with too much cortisol, our immune system responds by producing inflammation. The stress that causes the release of cortisol can come from a poor diet, lack of sleep, a stressful work environment, or relationship problems. The normal switching off of cortisol never happens if the stress is never reduced. Thus inflammation runs rampant. In addition to causing inflammation, prolonged stress can cause your overworked immune system to become suppressed, leaving you susceptible to infection, autoimmune disease, and other chronic illness.
Work on reducing your stress levels with a nutrient-dense diet, plenty of sleep, and stress-relieving activities. This could include things such as meditation, yoga, deep breathing, listening to your favorite music, golf, walking or hiking, or some much-needed “me” time to emphasize self-care. You deserve it, and your health depends on it!
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