Are You on Fire? Fight chronic inflammation with natural fire extinguishers

By Rupina Meer • April 11th, 2012 • 8703 Views

When you scrape your knee, it's easy to see and feel the inflammation. But how do we measure inflammation at the cellular level and why do we care? Chronic, low-level systemic inflammation, also called "silent inflammation" is now accepted as the root cause of aging and most degenerative diseases, ranging from cancer and congestive heart failure to diabetes and dementia.

What is Inflammation?

Normally, inflammation is a defending phenomenon of the immune system to protect us against bacterial and viral invaders and can be a good thing in small doses. Step on a nail and you want white blood cells and the body's inflammatory chemicals to rush in. But chronic systemic inflammation arises from two interacting systems: a play between nature and nurture:  1) In our immune system, normal pro-inflammatory chemicals called cytokines go awry; and 2) an imbalance in our omega-3 to omega-6 fat intake results in the production of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids. Together, these two factors result in chronic systemic inflammation. It's inflammation that doesn't know when to stop and that's obviously a problem.

Where There's Smoke…

If you're overweight, or have diabetes, you definitely have chronic inflammation. The same holds true if you're constantly in pain and popping OTC meds, like Tylenol and Advil, just to get through the day. Some other early signs include: gum disease; muscle loss; weight gain and resistant weight loss; arthritis; eczema; IBS/leaky gut syndrome; and depression to name just a few. The best way to measure inflammation is to have your physician run a high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) test. The test isn't perfect because it tells if you have inflammation, but it doesn't tell you where the inflammation resides. Most doctors like to see a CRP score of 1 or less.

How to Fight the Fire

Fortunately, we have 4 natural fire extinguishers in our tool kit to put out this smoldering fire:

1)     Diet. What we eat has the power to either crank up the heat or dampen the fires of inflammation. Did you know that Type 2 diabetes can be reversed in as little as four weeks with an anti-inflammatory diet and the consistent use of food as medicine? Food is our trump card in the battle against silent inflammation, and we hold it, not Pfizer or any of the pharmaceutical giants. Studies have shown that CRP levels tend to be higher in people with high-glycemic diets. Conversely, a whole foods diet that's rich in...

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Location:  Orange County, US

Rupina Meer, Board-Certified Holistic Health Coach received her training from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN). Health Coaches from Integrative Nutrition’s world-class training program learn from luminaries in the field of health and wellness including Drs....