THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT CHRONIC INFLAMMATION

In my practice I see many  day-to-day habits of patients that can make or break your health. At the top of the health-breakers list is inflammation. It’s a word my patients become quite familiar with as we work together to tame it. And now people outside wellness circles are also starting to hear about it a lot more too. Trouble is, most of them don’t really understand much about inflammation or just how destructive it is. You could say everybody’s talking about inflammation, but what are they doing about it? Hopefully, they’re learning to take steps to prevent it. To help you do that, here’s a list of what chronic inflammation is all about and why it’s essential to tame it.

IT’S A KILLER YOU CAN’T SEE COMING

When most people think inflammation, they think of the acute kind that shows itself as a bit of swelling or redness – a kind of physical calling card for those minor injuries we don’t usually need to worry much about. Chronic inflammation, however, is considerably more worrisome – and there aren’t necessarily any visible signs that let you know it’s ‘flame-on.’ Instead, you may start to experience warning symptoms like an uptick in allergies, gut problems (bloating, constipation, IBS, etc.) or back and joint pain.

IT SETS THE STAGE FOR DISASTROUS DISEASES

A primary culprit behind so many health problems, chronic inflammation has been linked to an increased risk for many of the diseases we fear most, including cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes. It’s also thought to play a significant role in neurological problems likeAlzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and even mental illnesses like depression and schizophrenia. These are “worst case” diseases, so it’s easy to see why it’s so important that we do whatever we can to tame chronic inflammation.

IT’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM GOES ROGUE

Acute inflammation is your body’s natural response to injury. When injury occurs, your immune system kicks into gear to repair the damage. It sends a flurry of chemicals and inflammatory cells to the injured region to protect the vulnerable area and get the healing under way. In time, you’re virtually good as new. With chronic inflammation though, an out-of-balance, over-revved immune system keeps the flow of chemicals coming and tissues – healthy or otherwise – wind up living in a perpetually agitated state. Why worry? Those constantly circulating inflammatory hormones bring with them an increased risk for plaque build-up in the arteries, arthritis, compromised bone health, high blood pressure and heart disease, to name a few.

IT’S ABOUT THE ‘LEAKS’ IN YOUR GUT

Most often, chronic inflammation is the result of an immune and nervous system imbalance – so if we can redress that and reduce inflammation, we can cut the risk for long-term health problems and help ease many of the low-grade ills you may be experiencing.  The first step is to remove interference to your nervous system by balancing out your spine and correcting vertebral subluxations. Then you need to get your gut into better, healthier, more balanced shape. As the gut is home to most of your immune system, if it’s unbalanced, the rest of you will be too. How do the wheels come off? One of the most common ways is via what we in the wellness community call “leaky gut syndrome”, triggered by alcohol, food sensitivities (eg gluten), certain medications (eg NSAID’s), low grade gut infections (eg yeast, bacteria and parasites) and even chronic stress. These cause damage to the lining of gut or the tight links between the cell wall, letting proteins and bits of bacteria into the bloodstream, setting off an inflammatory response throughout the body. These inflammatory particles called ‘cytokines’ run amok throughout the system, setting off a variety of responses that may include everything from skin disorders, digestive problems and migraines to fatigue, anxiety and mood swings.

IT’S ABOUT TIME YOU SEND IT PACKING

The good news is that with a little effort, you can turn the tide on inflammation and prevent it from wreaking havoc on your long-term health. Here are five quick tips to get you started:

1. Ditch processed foods which, aside from offering few beneficial nutrients, are often loaded with gluten and other irritants that can trigger an immune response. In short: less processed food equals less inflammation.

2. Minimize antibiotic and NSAID (like ibuprofen, advil and aspirin) use, as they are disruptive to gut health, promoting imbalances in gut bacteria, weakening the gut wall which in turn sets the stage for ‘leaky gut’, and then chronic inflammation.

3. Moderate alcohol intake, as it too increases the gut’s permeability and ‘leaky gut’, leading to  inflammation. In addition, alcohol disrupts sleep, which can also effect inflammation.

4. Cut stress. Easier said than done for many of us but even a few minutes of meditation a couple of times each week can help quiet your gut, which means less inflammation.

5. Floss. A good floss is one of the simplest and quickest things you can do every day to keep bad bacteria from taking root in your mouth and entering the bloodstream, triggering inflammation.