How Inflamed Are You?

Inflammation. A word used a lot today but what does it really mean and how does it relate to health. Inflammation is a normal and beneficial process that occurs when your body’s white blood cells and chemicals protect you from foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses. Also, it can be a localized physical condition in which part of the body becomes reddened, swollen, hot and often painful, especially as a reaction to injury or infection. It is the body's way of signaling the immune system to heal and repair damaged tissue. Inflammation can be acute or chronic.

When it is acute, it occurs as an immediate response to trauma (an injury or surgery). To reduce acute inflammation and the resulting swelling and pain, injured tissue needs to be properly treated. Treatment for acute inflammation needs rest, ice, compression, and/or elevation depending on the injury.

So why is inflammation bad? Inflammation is at the root of most diseases, and many people aren't aware of this fact and that the gut is the biggest potential source of inflammation in the body. As long as your body is in an inflamed state it cannot heal itself. People don’t realize that you need some level of inflammation in your body to stay healthy, however it’s also possible, and increasingly common, for the inflammatory response to get out of hand.

If your immune system wrongly triggers an inflammatory response when no threat is present, it can lead to excess inflammation in your body.

Heart attack, arthritis, and swollen gums are extremely different health conditions, but all have a significant common factor - Inflammation. Inflammation is associated with a wide range of chronic and acute diseases. It is an immune response of tissues to injury, diseases, allergies and toxins. This inflammatory response helps separate the foreign matter from further contact with body tissue. Swelling, redness, heat and pain are the four key signs of inflammation.

What Causes Chronic Inflammation?

Chronic inflammation can be the result of a malfunctioning, over-reactive immune system, or it may be due to an underlying problem that your body is trying to fight off. Many of these issues are actually due to an unhealthy lifestyle. But the signs of chronic inflammation are not always obvious, and sometimes inflammation can linger idly for years before symptoms start to appear. Once you experience the signs of inflammation, you have accumulated enough damage within your body to cause noticeable problems.

Dietary components can cause or prevent health effects in your body, and this is very true with inflammation.

Eating oxidized or rancid fats and sugar will increase the amount of inflammation in your body. Eating healthy fats such as omega-3 fats will help to reduce them.

Here are five signs you have inflammation:

1. You just can't seem to lose those last 10 pounds.

Inflammation can put the brakes on reaching your ideal weight. Body fat increases inflammation.

2. You struggle with your mood.

Researchers have found an association between fatigue, pain, and depressive symptoms. "Inflammation could be a common link between fatigue, pain, and depression," researchers in one study concluded. As it turns out, a lot of these mood disorders are linked to poor gut health.

3. You're often stressed.

Managing inflammation demands that you manage your stress. Stress can and will exacerbate any and all of the symptoms of inflammation you may be experiencing in your body.

4. You suffer from uncomfortable bloating.

Inflammation is a key factor in dysbiosis (or a gut imbalance favoring bad bugs over good ones), and what happens in the gut affects the entire body and even your brain (your gut is your second brain).

5. You get sick easily.

Antibiotic abuse, eating the wrong foods that feed those bad bugs, the toxins you are exposed to in your environment, and the subsequent dysbiosis, you can develop other gut issues, such as leaky gut. This is a disaster for your immune system. Approximately 70 percent of the immune system lies in along the gut lining. Gut issues make us more vulnerable to getting colds and other illnesses more often.

When your immune system overactive it cannot be responsive to other viruses and bacteria that may be going on in your body effectively. To calm the immune system and fix inflammation, you have to heal the gut by avoiding the wrong foods and restoring the gut barrier.

All of the following can increase your risk of chronic inflammation:

· Being obese or overweight

· Eating a poor diet

· An existing heart condition

· A family history of heart disease

· Diabetes that's poorly controlled

· A sedentary lifestyle (no, or very little, exercise)

· Smoking

· Long-term infections

· Gum disease

· Stress

A high level of inflammation within the body can cause many health problems. An easy way to combat this? Arm your body with eating anti-inflammatory foods and eliminate the inflammatory ones. None of us can see the true effect of inflammatory foods on our bodies. Often diseases such as diabetes, PCOS, excess weight gain, coronary heart disease and countless other illnesses can be contributed to the inflammation from various foods in our diet.

Dealing with Inflammation at its Source, Naturally

Lifestyle changes will go a long way toward reducing chronic inflammation in your body, so focus on making the following changes:

• Focus on eating a healthy diet.

• Get plenty of animal-based omega-3 fats

• Exercise regularly.

• Quit smoking.

• Make sure your waist size is normal.

• Have healthy outlets for stress and other negative emotions.

Anti-inflammatory Diet Tips

Choose fresh foods more often and choose fewer heavily processed foods. Here are some tips:

• For breakfast, try oatmeal served with fresh berries and walnuts.

• Snack on whole fruits, nuts, seeds, and fresh vegetables instead of cookies and cake and candy.

• Eat more fish and less fatty red meat.

• Cook with olive oil and coconut oil.

• Have a salad with lots of fresh vegetables as your meal.

• Stay away from deep-fried foods; bake, broil, poach, steam or stir-fry instead.

• Choose dark green or brightly colored vegetables as side dishes -- they should fill half your dinner plate.

Maintaining a healthy weight is helpful for reducing pain and inflammation.

A blood test known as CRP (C-reactive protein) is a common way to measure inflammation in the body. Emphasizing the need to start with healthy eating and lifestyle habits in addressing inflammation is important. Evidence shows that changing habits can change inflammation.