While there is still a lot we don’t know about the initiation and development of chronic inflammation, we do know that lifestyle habits—particularly food choices—play a key role in both encouraging and calming inflammation. And it likely won’t come as a surprise to learn that the typical American diet includes too many of those top inflammatory foods and not nearly enough foods that calm inflammation.
TOP FOOD INFLAMERS:
• Refined, low-fiber starches that create a high glycemic response
• Added sugars
• Fried foods
• Trans and saturated fats
• Excessive omega-6 intake relative to omega-3
• Processed foods
• Artificial sweeteners
• High-fat meats and processed meats
• Excessive alcohol or caffeine
• Excessive calorie intake
• Excessive carbohydrate intake
• Chemicals and compounds used on and in food—artificial colors, flavorings, preservatives, pesticides, and others used in the raising and/or manufacturing of food
OTHER LIFESTYLE INFLAMERS:
• Stress and emotional health
• Inactivity
• Gut permeability and dysbiosis (see page 18)
• Ongoing lack of sleep
• Excess body weight
• Environmental pollutants and toxins
“Inflammation” wasn’t a word that grabbed my attention until just a few years ago. I realized that every disease or condition I researched was, at its root, the result of some type of inflammation. There are several reasons why it’s relatively unknown or spoken about—even in doctors’ offices.
• Inflammation is difficult to diagnose or measure; initial signs are subtle and attributable to a variety of things. When you can’t see it, feel it, or put your finger on an exact problem (or if there even is a problem), it’s hard to wrap your head around inflammation being a true issue.
• While inflammation is a fundamental concept in all aspects of medicine and health, most medical training focuses on treatment, not prevention, and doctors receive very little training on how to effectively talk to patients about behavior and lifestyle changes. It’s understandable why a lot of physicians are more comfortable treating the issue with a prescription to the pharmacy, rather than a prescription to healthy cooking classes or for daily meditation.
WHY NOT JUST TAKE ASPIRIN?
Often, people take prescription and over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications like aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen sodium to ease acute inflammation symptoms such as swelling, headaches, and pain. So why can’t taking a few of these put an end to chronic inflammation?
• MANY ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MEDICATIONS work by halting production of the compounds in the body that trigger inflammation, so while you may get temporary easing of symptoms, nothing is being done to stop the irritant that’s causing inflammation.
• CHRONIC INFLAMMATION doesn’t usually present specific and immediate symptoms like a sprained ankle or fever might, so we aren’t usually cued to think about taking medication.
• MOST ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES are designed to alleviate acute inflammation that lasts a few days—not several months or years. Long-term intake of these drugs can increase risk of heart attack and stroke, as well as cause GI issues.
In case you’re more of a visual person like me, relating the concept of chronic inflammation to something that I could picture—albeit very simplistic compared to the true process—helped me to understand it more fully.
1
Chronic inflammation starts as a small, contained fire in the body. Initially, it’s not a big problem (few if any noticeable symptoms) since the fire is localized.
REAL-LIFE SCENARIO: Eating a higher-carb diet and drinking soda routinely triggers increased blood glucose and insulin levels, and body weight, as well as low-level chronic inflammation.
2
However, the fire’s embers make the other body systems slightly more sensitive or susceptible to irritants (diet, stress, lack of sleep, smoking, excessive alcohol, environmental chemicals, autoimmunity, etc.). New or existing irritants can easily spark additional small fires in other areas of the body.
REAL-LIFE SCENARIO: Stress at work and a sedentary lifestyle trigger high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and abnormal cholesterol values.
3
The overall effect of having more small fires burning may make symptoms become more noticeable or serious. Unless the fires are put out, this pattern continues.
REAL-LIFE SCENARIO: Routinely not getting enough sleep, combined with the continuation of previous lifestyle habits, triggers prediabetes.
4
Eventually the small fires combine to become a larger fire (diagnosis of condition or disease).
REAL-LIFE SCENARIO: The smaller “fires” turn into a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, a heart attack, and/or increased rate of aging and accelerated onset of dementia.