Chronic Inflammation, Healthy And Easy Ways to Reduce Inflammation Naturally!
Ho to Reduce Chronic Inflammation Naturally?!
Inflammation – Overview:
When a wound swells up, turns red, and hurts, it may be a sign of inflammation. Very generally speaking, inflammation is the body’s immune system’s response to an irritant. The irritant might be a germ, but it could also be a foreign object, such as a splinter in your finger. Reduce Inflammation
This means that inflammation doesn’t only start when, for instance, a wound has already been infected by bacteria, is oozing pus, or healing poorly. It already starts when the body is trying to fight against the harmful irritant. Where inflammation becomes dangerous and even deadly is when it manifests as chronic inflammation.
Inflammatory disease is a general term that applies to autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammation conditions in which a person’s immune system attacks the body’s own tissues. Familiar inflammatory diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel disease, and multiple sclerosis. These diseases can affect almost any bodily organ and in most cases more than one organ or organ system.
While the classic sign of the disease is inflammation, other symptoms may include joint stiffness, pain, loss of function, and rashes, with periods of remission and periods of increased disease activity (flare-ups). The burden of inflammatory diseases includes the number of comorbid conditions, workdays missed, decreased quality of life, and shortened lifespan.
Chronic inflammation,
As the name suggests, represents inflammation that lasts weeks, months, and even years and occurs when the initial stimulus which led to acute inflammation persists, as the body interprets the stimulus as unresolved. This form of inflammation can be sinister in nature, silently damaging your tissues without the usual redness, heat, swelling, or pain that would normally be seen with acute inflammation.
Tissue damage is a classic hallmark of chronic inflammation, often forming fibrous or scar tissue from the tissue which once existed in the site of repair. New blood vessel formation (or angiogenesis) is another common hallmark of chronic inflammation, which plays a part in many disease processes, such as cancer.
Diseases linked to chronic inflammation:
Chronic inflammation has been linked with autoimmune disorders, allergic reactions, viral and bacterial infections, and a host of other diseases and disease processes, such as:
- Asthma.
- Crohn’s Disease.
- Rheumatoid Arthritis.
- Heart Disease.
- Multiple Sclerosis.
- Diabetes.
- Celiac Disease.
- Alzheimer’s Disease.
- Cancer.
- Obesity.
- Atherosclerosis.
- Allergies.
And many other conditions (including other inflammatory conditions such as gastritis, endocarditis, tendonitis, etc.)
The Main Causes of Inflammation:
Many different things can cause inflammations. These are the most common:
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Pathogens (germs) like bacteria, viruses, or fungi.
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External injuries like scrapes or damage through foreign objects (for example a thorn in your finger).
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Effects of chemicals or radiation.
Diseases or medical conditions that cause inflammation often have a name ending in “-itis.”
For example:
- Cystitis, an inflammation of the bladder.
- Bronchitis, an inflammation of the bronchi.
- Otitis media, a middle ear infection.
- Dermatitis, a disease where the skin is inflamed.
inflammation plays a key role in many diseases, some of which are becoming more common and severe. Chronic inflammatory diseases contribute to more than half of deaths worldwide.
Inflammation is associated with diseases such as the following:
- Autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.
- Cardiovascular diseases like high blood pressure and heart disease.
- Gastrointestinal disorders like inflammatory bowel disease.
- Lung diseases like asthma.
- Mental illnesses like depression.
- Metabolic diseases like Type 2 diabetes.
- Neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease.
- Some types of cancer, like colon cancer.
Signs and Symptoms:
There are five signs that may indicate an acute inflammation:
- Redness.
- Heat.
- Swelling.
- Pain.
- Loss of function.
Chronic inflammation is a more gradual and subtle process. When symptoms do appear, they can include:
- Fatigue.
- Muscle aches and joint pain.
- Constipation, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal issues.
- Weight gain.
- Headaches.
- Skin rashes.
Also, there is a Loss of Function,
For example,
When the inflamed limb can no longer be moved properly or when the sense of smell is worse during a cold, or when it is more difficult to breathe when you have bronchitis. This means that inflammation does not start when a wound has been infected by bacteria, festers, or heals poorly, but already as the body is trying to fight against the harmful stimulus or a viral infection.
Not all five signs occur in every inflammation. Some inflammations occur “silently” and do not cause any symptoms.
General responses in the body:
If the inflammation is severe, it can cause general reactions in the body. These may include the following signs and symptoms:
- Generally feeling ill, exhaustion, and fever. These are signs that the immune system is very active and needs a lot of energy, which may be lacking for other activities. If the rate of metabolism is higher due to a fever, more antibodies and cells of the immune system can be produced.
- Changes in the blood, such as an increased number of immune system cells.
A very rare but dangerous complication of infection is called septicemia (blood poisoning). The possible signs of this complication include chills, feeling very ill, and a very high fever.
Septicemia may occur if bacteria multiply quickly in a certain part of the body and then a lot of them suddenly enter the bloodstream. This can happen if the body isn’t able to fight the infection locally, if the germs are very aggressive, or if the immune system is very weak. Septicemia is a medical emergency and needs to be treated by a doctor as soon as possible.
Here’s 15 Way to Reduce Inflammation Naturally:
1. Identify and Treat chronic Infections:
Do you have persistent heartburn? Do you have chronic loose stool or diarrhea or gas and bloating? Have you been exposed to hepatitis or parasites while traveling internationally? Do you have a chronic post nasal drip or cough? See your health care provider determine the cause and get proper treatment and follow-up.
Once the infection is resolved take measures to boost your immunity to prevent future infections. Eat fermented foods or use probiotic supplements that contain healthy organisms that are part of natural immunity in our digestive tract and intestines.
2.Trim the FAT:
Excess fat stored in fat cells (adipose tissue), by itself, causes inflammation and inflammatory processes to occur in the body. In fact, these very inflammatory processes can lead to insulin-resistant type II diabetes as well as resistance to cortisol, making it even more difficult to lose weight in those suffering from obesity.
Diet modification, regular daily exercise, food portion control, chewing your food twice as long as you normally would (while eating at a slower pace), and having the support of family and friends can help overcome obesity once and for all, helping to avoid the many health conditions associated with obesity.
3. Redefine Your Sweet Tooth:
Simple sugars, such as those found in most processed foods, wreak havoc on our bodies, causing an abrupt spike in our blood sugar levels while raising insulin levels to counterbalance the spike. This leads to lowered immune system function, promotion of obesity, and a rise in inflammation, increasing the levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation in the body.
Eating complex carbohydrates, whole grains, fruits, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and healthy sources of protein can help balance blood sugar levels while improving satiety and decreasing inflammatory processes in the body. As a general rule, the more natural and unprocessed the food source, the more regulated your blood sugar levels will become.
The top of the list for reducing inflammation is to eat an anti-inflammatory diet.
A. Anti-inflammatory diets will be heavy on:
- Vegetables.
- Whole grains.
- Nuts.
- Oily fish.
- Some proteins.
- Spices such as ginger and turmeric.
- Brightly colored fruits.
B. The foods that promote inflammation are:
Foods that cause inflammation:
Refined carbohydrates, such as white bread and pastries. French fries and other fried foods. soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages. red meat (burgers, steaks) and processed meat (hot dogs, sausage).
- Saturated fats.
- Trans fats. Reduce Inflammation Reduce Inflammation Reduce Inflammation Reduce Inflammation
- Corn and soybean oil.
- Refined carbohydrates
- Sugars.
- Red meat.
- And dairy.
Now you see why you will probably also lose weight with an anti-inflammatory diet. An added benefit. What’s great about controlling inflammation with your diet, is no side effects. No list of side effects that come with most medications. And you should see improvement in just a few weeks.
4. Quit Smoking:
Aside from smoking being the number one cause of preventable disease and premature death, smoking has also been linked with causing inflammation and raising C-reactive protein inflammatory markers, contributing to heart disease, stroke, lung disease, and atherosclerosis.
From a chiropractic perspective, patients who smoke have altered healing times, so a bone fracture can take considerably longer to heal for a smoker in comparison to non-smokers. The body has a tremendous ability to heal itself and quitting smoking today can greatly improve the chances of avoiding the harmful and potentially life-threatening effects smokers face.
5. Lower Your Stress, Find Your Inner Peace:
Stress is an absolute killer that much is known to us, yet the degree to which stress kills is remarkable. Stress has been linked with heart disease, stroke, high cholesterol, depression, diabetes, colds, kidney disease, asthma, ulcers, and cancer (to name a few) and has been shown to raise C-reactive protein, driving inflammation in the body.
Finding ways to curb stress in your life is of the utmost importance. Some stress-reducing methods include:
Daily exercise, meditation, and prayer to clear the mind, talking it out with loved ones or a therapist, yoga, and tai chi (or qi gong), taking time to spend with family and friends, laughing daily.
In chiropractic, we find many people carry stress in their neck, shoulders, and low back, and much of the pain our patient’s experience can be attributed to stress. We have found that regular adjustments have helped our patients deal with the side effects of stress, aiding in stress management.
6. Green Tea:
In order to fight inflammation within the body, we need to restore the balance between omega 3 and omega 6. This means we need to increase our intake of omega 3. Natural sources of omega 3 include fatty fish and fish oil and since there are a number of supplements out there, it is really easy to find good omega 3 supplements to allow us to increase our omega 3 intake. Chronic Inflammation
There are however certain things to watch out for when choosing the right omega 3 supplements. One of the factors to consider is the freshness of the oil. A supplement that guarantees freshness will be more effective than an oxidized supplement, so when choosing a supplement, ensure the manufacturer offers some sort of freshness guarantee.
7. Get A Good Fat:
As the name suggests, essential fatty acids are fats that are essential to our survival our bodies are unable to make them, so we must obtain these fats from our diets. Unfortunately, the standard American diet contains 14 to 25 times more omega-6 fats than omega-3; this despite the fact that the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 should be closer to 1:1.
There are innumerable conditions associated with inadequate omega-3 fat consumption, ranging from heart disease to mood disorders like ADHD and schizophrenia to rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. The bottom line is that we need to make a conscious effort daily to ensure we are getting our omega-3 fats to help drive down inflammation in the body and protect our brain, heart, and neural tissue.
Good sources of omega-3 fats can be found in many seeds and nuts, like walnuts and flax seeds, as well as wild-caught varieties of fish, especially wild-caught salmon and krill or cod liver oil, and eggs that are of the free-range (or cage-free) variety.
It is important to make the distinction between farm-raised salmon and wild-caught salmon, they are not the same and contain vastly different levels of the nutrients our bodies need. Also, with increased pollution, it has become very important to make sure to buy fish that contains the lowest levels of heavy metals, like mercury.
8. Trim the Bad Fat:
Excess fat stored in fat cells (adipose tissue), by itself, causes inflammation and inflammatory processes to occur in the body. In fact, these very inflammatory processes can lead to insulin-resistant type II diabetes as well as resistance to cortisol, making it even more difficult to lose weight in those suffering from obesity.
Diet modification, regular daily exercise, food portion control, chewing your food twice as long as you normally would (while eating at a slower pace), and having the support of family and friends can help overcome obesity once and for all, helping to avoid the many health conditions associated with obesity.
9. Control blood sugar:
Limit or avoid simple carbohydrates, such as white flour, white rice, refined sugar, and anything with high fructose corn syrup.
One easy rule to follow is to avoid white foods, such as white bread, rice, and pasta, as well as foods made with white sugar and flour. Build meals around lean proteins and whole foods high in fiber, such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, such as brown rice and whole-wheat bread. Check the labels and make sure that “whole wheat” or another whole grain is the first ingredient.
10. Exercise Regularly:
In addition to naturally lowering inflammation throughout the body, exercise has been proven to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, while lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, and improving mood and anxiety (lowering the risk of depression), and improving blood sugar levels, helping to optimize body weight, while reducing fat.
If you’re not accustomed to exercising, start slowly by simply walking every day. Yoga and water aerobics are my two favorite low-impact forms of exercise as you build more stamina and strength, you can begin to incorporate more into your life. An important point to drive home is this: exercise need not be stuffing yourself into a gym.
Gardening, cleaning, walking, biking, and other forms of physical activity is something we all require, so simply moving every day, in conjunction with eating a healthy diet, are the two most important things you can do for your body.
11. Chemical-Free:
The Environmental Working Group and the President’s Cancer Panel have both issued reports this year detailing the hazards of certain chemicals, toxins, and pollutants that pose particular risks to our health. Conditions affiliated with environmental pollutants and toxins are vast, Reduce Inflammation
but typically include:
Endocrine and nervous system defects, asthma, cancer, skin, eye, and lung irritation, ADHD, and a weakened immune system. These reports were in agreement that people should buy organically whenever possible, that they should drink filtered water, be aware of environmental pollutants (such as radon), and that they should make efforts to avoid certain household chemicals.
12. Reduce salt intake:
Too much salt has been linked to a variety of issues, but it may also contribute to chronic inflammation from autoimmune diseases. Two studies published in 2013 found that excess salt kicks the immune system into action. It may promote certain cells designed to fight infections, even if you don’t have one. If there’s no infection, those cells might start attacking your tissues. Studies in animals showed mice on high-salt diets were more likely to develop a type of MS. Limit salt to about 1 teaspoon or less a day.
13. Take Your Mediterranean Diet:
The Mediterranean Diet has long proven effective in helping to curb heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, and type-II diabetes, among the multitude of other health benefits it promotes. The diet centers on eating plenty of fresh, preferably locally-grown fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, whole grains, and heart-healthy oils (like olive oil) on a daily basis while incorporating herbs and spices into your meals in the place of salt.
Red meat is consumed sparingly in favor of fish, chicken, and eggs,
all of which are consumed in vastly fewer quantities than what we typically consume in the standard American diet. When considering your diet, take into account the trends around us, noting that the way we do things now is not how we’ve always done things and that obesity, type II diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and the like are on the rise.
14. Herbs and spices:
I. How they fight for you:
Like fruits and vegetables, they’re rich in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. For example, rosmarinic acid — found in rosemary, thyme, and other herbs — is both an antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory.
II. What to eat:
They all can be protective. Just to name a few: herbs such as basil, dill, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, tarragon and thyme, and spices such as black pepper, cinnamon, cumin, garlic, hot peppers, star anise, and turmeric.
Without official guidelines on portions, just use them generously when making salads, dips, curries, stews, baked fish and chicken, and other dishes.
II. And get this:
Oregano and rosemary reduce inflammation in lab animal studies. For example, in a University of Lisbon, Portugal, study, rats ingesting rosmarinic acid had 60 percent less swelling in their paws (in reaction to an irritant) than rats not receiving the supplement.
Compared with taking a placebo, ingesting 3 grams of ginger powder in capsule form for an eight-week period reduced fasting blood sugar levels by a significant 10 percent for 40 men and women with type 2 diabetes.
The study,
Reported in 2014 in Complementary Therapies in Medicine, found that ginger appears to improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin, which, in turn, leads to better blood sugar control. One proposed mechanism: It suppresses inflammatory compounds emitted by fat cells; these can make the body less responsive to insulin.
15. Massage:
Massages feel good, but they also have very real physical benefits, especially for people who have chronic inflammation. Studies show the pressure and motions associated with massage reduce inflammation. The Arthritis Foundation even recommends massage as a possible therapy for muscle and joint pain relief, and it’s especially effective for lower back pain.
Summing Up:
These solutions are natural ways that improve symptoms in many people, but sometimes, they aren’t enough. If you are struggling to control chronic inflammation and joint pain, it’s always best to consult with a doctor. There some prescription medications and over-the-counter supplements that can offer instant relief. No one should have to live in pain, but it may take some trial and error to find out which solution works best for you.
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Disclaimer: “Nothing in this article makes any claim to offer cures or treatment of any disease or illness. If you are sick please consult with your doctor.”
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IQWiG health information is written with the aim of helping people understand the advantages and disadvantages of the main treatment options and health care services.