Top Ten Ways To Combat Inflammation: The Silent Killer

What is Inflammation?

Inflammation (Latin, inflammare, to set on fire) is part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as infection, pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants. Inflammation is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli and to initiate the healing process. It is characterized by an influx of white blood cells, redness, heat, swelling, pain, and dysfunction of the organs involved. Although, inflammation is a beneficial first response, if it persists it leads to chronic disease. Chronic inflammation has been linked to conditions like:

How Do You know if You Have Inflammation?

Anyone who shows signs or symptoms of or has been diagnosed with any of the conditions listed above has chronic inflammation. For some it may be detected only in blood tests such as CRPhs, HgbA1C, triglycerides, white cell count and anti-oxidant function on tests such as SPECTROX from Spectracell.

How to Decrease Inflammation?

Whether you have been diagnosed with a condition linked to inflammation or simply want to decrease your risk of developing an inflammatory condition, you can lower inflammation levels through: 1) hormone restorative therapy especially with anti-inflammatory hormones (i.e. DHEA, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol), 2) optimizing nutritional status, 3) removing toxins (reducing intestinal inflammation), and reducing 4) mind and 5) body stressors.

Hormones and Inflammation:

It is well known that as hormones decline inflammation and disease increase. The main anti-inflammatory hormones in the body are DHEA, cortisol, progesterone and testosterone which all decline naturally over time. When stress is high, the decline is more rapid.

Action 1) Measure and optimize your hormones. Hormone levels may be in the “normal range” and yet far from optimal levels that maintain the organs and prevent disease. By restoring optimal levels of hormones, our body’s anti-inflammation ability increases.

Nutrition and Inflammation:

Optimizing nutrient status is the most powerful method to control and reduce inflammation. As all inflammation begins in the intestines, anti-inflammatory food choices are a great place to start.

Action 2) The food you eat is the most important part of reducing inflammation. Anti-inflammation diets emphasize plant-based organic proteins and super-foods (i.e. aloe, coconut, acai, bee pollen, hemp) as described in the “China Study”, by T. Colin Campbell and “Superfoods” by David Wolfe.

Action 3) Take a few carefully selected supplements (usually a multivitamin with minerals and fish oil) without preservatives (i.e.) MgStearate and dyes.

Action 4) Measure nutritional status to determine adequacy of your program, absorption and utilization possibly by serum Spectracell or NutraEval.

Toxins and inflammation:

Toxins are a major contributor to inflammation. There are two main approaches to reducing the body’s burden of toxins.

Action 5) Reduce exposure to gases, paints, glues, preservatives, dyes, heavy metals, plastics, phthalates, bisphynol-A, electromagnetic radiation, etc.

Action 6) Enhance elimination of toxins from your body by optimizing the function of bowel, liver, lymphatics, kidney and skin. (Refer to Volume 1, Issue 1)

Action 7) Maintain hydration by drinking ½ of your body weight in ounces of pure water per day, as this is critical to elimination of toxins.

Mind stress/ body stress and inflammation

When we are under mental stress or body pain over prolonged periods of time, the sympathetic nervous system fires and utilizes hormones (i.e. cortisol, DHEA, progesterone) and nutrients (i.e. B vitamins, Magnesium, Vitamin C) much faster than usual.

Action 8) Breathe deeply and consciously to increase oxygenation, increase pH and reduce inflammation. When we are aware of the breathe, oxygenation increases. Exercise in the aerobic range where you can breathe and talk easily. In this range your body is oxygenated and anti-inflammatory.

Action 9) Get 8 hours of deep uninterrupted of sleep. Researchers have found that the more sleep we get the less inflammation and disease we have.

Action 10) Simplify your life by reducing commitments, news, activities.

Cleansing Vegetables

Superfoods/highly anti-inflammatory