Inflammation: A double edged sword
Inflammation is a normal response to an external attack. It is a survival mechanism and in an ideal world, when we've recovered, it goes away.
Inflammation is a normal response to an external attack. It is a survival mechanism and means that, when we cut ourselves, we heal. When we fall ill with a virus, we recover. This is ACUTE inflammation. In an ideal world, when we've recovered, it goes away.
Sadly, modern-day living exposes us to so many of these triggers that inflammation can become a daily and constant occurrence where it turns into CHRONIC inflammation.
What this means is that cytokines (the messengers our body sends out to recruit help) NEVER goes away. These cytokines cause changes in our physiology and lend to chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, to Alzheimer's.
What are some of these triggers of chronic inflammation?
Food - foods we may be allergic to can trigger an immune response and thus inflammation; toxins in our food like pesticides, additives, chemicals can also sound the alarm. Refined sugar, processed foods containing inflammatory oils like sunflower oil rich in omega 6 can contribute to inflammation.
Environmental toxins - this is why I am always talking about reducing our body toxin burden. We don't have to be 100% toxin-free, but we just need to give our bodies some breathing space to eliminate what we encounter, otherwise, these toxins can confuse our immune system and ramp up inflammation. 80/20 rule is what I try to play by.
Gut dysbiosis and endotoxemia - are related to food AND toxins because both can contribute to gut dysbiosis (an imbalance in the friendly bacteria in our gut). We know that when we have an excess of unhealthy bacteria, this can lead to inflammation and leaky gut. Endotoxemia is just a fancy word for what happens when we have leaky gut and dysbiosis - bugs that should stay inside the lumen leaks into our bloodstream. Some of these bacteria, particularly the gram-negative ones with a lipopolysaccharide coating, are potent triggers of the immune system. This then leads to a constant background level of inflammation until you correct gut dysbiosis and leaky gut.
Sleep deprivation - 40% of people in the US get less than seven hours of sleep per night, which is the minimum requirement to fully function.1 Sleep deprivation can induce an inflammatory response in our body or make existing inflammation even worse.2
Stress - Stress, whether it be physiological (e.g. from an infection), or emotional, alters our HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) to get us into the fight or flight mode. This is helpful in getting us out of dangerous situations. However, chronic stress can impact our hormones, gut health and lead to cytokine changes that cause inflammation.3
It's not all doom or gloom though - the good news is that lifestyle changes CAN make a big difference and reduce inflammation.
Below are a few key lifestyle changes...
1. Reduce toxin exposures
This is particularly important in the context of indoor air quality now with the colder weather. Our windows will be shut, and festive traditions like candle burning may increase VOCs in our indoor air, directly impacting lung health. Some of these particular matters (PM2.5) may travel via our bloodstream to affect other organs like the heart, too. Avoid traditional paraffin-based candles scented with synthetic fragrance (blog post on better candle choices coming soon). Be sure to ventilate your house, damp dust regularly, and if you can afford to, invest in an air filter. There are many options on the market, I personally use the Air Doctor, but other good brands include Austin and IQ air. You can get $300OFF the air doctor via this link