7 Strategies To Lower Inflammation
One of the best ways to measure and track your inflammation levels is our Complete Thyroid Panel
which actually looks at a variety of inflammatory markers. However, if
you are dealing with a chronic disease or health condition, underlying
inflammation almost certainly a factor in getting healthy.
These 7 strategies are absolutely critical to recovering from a
chronic inflammatory condition. They work to mitigate inflammation from
many different angles. I have found that it is not enough to simply take
a turmeric supplement or use a fish oil as these only address one
aspect of inflammation. These are helpful, however targeting the
underlying causes of inflammation while employing other advanced
strategies get the best results.
Anti-Inflammatory, Healing Diet
The diet is a great place to start. In today’s society, we have quite an abundance of foods on the market that are extremely questionable.
You will want to revert back to consuming foods that are as close to
their natural forms as possible. As a few general guidelines, you will
want to:
- Cut sugars & grains from the diet
- Eliminate processed vegetable oils (Focus on healthy fats)
- Increase your intake of organic, low-glycemic vegetables
- Only consume grass-fed and pasture-raised meats
- Focus on supporting fat metabolism by following a ketogenic-style diet
Converting to a low-carb, high fat (or ketogenic)
diet has consistently shown to improve metabolism and lower
inflammatory markers in the body. This is likely because of the
relationship between glucose metabolism and inflammation pathways (
1).
By converting the body into a fat-burning state via a ketogenic diet,
there are additional anti-inflammatory benefits to be gained. It turns
out that by becoming fat-adapted and increasing ketone levels in the
body, there is a drastic decrease in inflammation, particularly in the brain tissues (
2). By creating an emphasis on nutrient-rich vegetables, herbs, spices, and healthy fats, you take these benefits a step further.
Reduce Exposure to Toxins
Our food supply is high in toxins due to the widespread adoption of pesticides, genetically-modified
crops, and runoff from industrialization. While it is pretty difficult
to eliminate toxin exposure completely. There are ways of mitigating
exposure so that the toxic load on your body is much lower.
First of all, following an anti-inflammatory diet as mentioned above
naturally cuts out many of the toxin-filled foods in our society.
Focusing on organic produce, pasture-raised meats, and healthy fats is key.
The next important source to look is your water supply. In today’s
day and age, tap water just doesn’t cut it. Most municipal water
supplies contain chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals, and even residues
from pharmaceutical drugs.
Finally, there are chemicals that we need to reduce our exposure to
that come from everyday household items like soaps, cosmetic products,
cleaning agents. Etc.
More on Toxins
Toxins that we ingest through our food and environment generally have
2 fates. Either our bodies are equipped to effectively eliminate them
or they become trapped inside our tissues. As your exposure to toxins
increases, the burden on your liver grows and more toxins tend to become
stored rather than eliminated. Many of these toxins have a particularly high affinity for becoming stored in body fat. If you have excessive body fat, burning that off via a ketogenic diet and adequate physical activity can go a long way.
Additionally, there are a number of advanced strategies you can
employ on a daily basis in order to effectively eliminate any stored
toxins in your body. These include things like using a sauna, super
hydration, and using detoxifying supplements.
Super Hydration
It is so important to drink a lot of water in order to flush out
toxins and help the body to produce cellular energy. I tell my clients
they need to “pee their way to good health!” This is because urination
is one of the major ways the body eliminates inflammatory waste and
environmental toxins.
Be sure to drink a minimum of half your body weight in ounces of
water. So if you weigh 150 pounds than that means a minimum of 75
ounces of water should be consumed each day. To heal faster, I
recommend getting closer to a full ounce per pound of body weight…so
that would be 150 ounces for a 150 lb individual.
Be sure to drink this away from meals so you don’t compromise your stomach acid
and digestive processes. I typically stop drinking about 30 minutes
before a meal and will pick up my hydration about 60-90 minutes after my
meal.
Eliminate Food Sensitivities, Heal the Gut
Growing up we all hear about food allergies. You may even have one. This is where eating a certain food, such as wheat or peanuts, causes an outright and obvious negative reaction in the body. These can be immediately life threatening.
You may go your entire life, however, having a food sensitivity and
not know it. This is when consuming a food creates a subtle inflammatory
response in the body. Consuming these on a regular basis contributes to
a state of chronic inflammation in the gut and eventually the rest of
the body. Testing for your own, following an elimination diet, or using
the strategies in this article can help to reduce this inflammatory
reaction in the body.
These food sensitivity reactions are extremely common in people with leaky gut, autoimmune disorders, and most inflammatory conditions (
3).
Address Micronutrient Deficiencies
Your body contains an unthinkable number of biochemical processes
that are always occurring whether you know it or not. These processes
require certain nutrients in order to complete properly. Everything from
hormone balance to immune system function depends on certain nutrients being present in the body.
Testing for your own deficiencies and addressing them can go a long
way in mitigating chronic inflammation. Some of the most common nutrient
deficiencies I encounter include, magnesium, Zinc, Vitamin D, Omega 3 Fats, B Vitamins, and anti-oxidants.
Following a healing diet
is a powerful first step for improving your micronutrient intake. Using
targeted supplementation or a high-quality multivitamin should be
considered as well.
Healthy Movement
Getting regular exercise and physical activity are important for
lowering inflammation. If you are physically stagnant, you become
stagnant internally. You need to move in order to circulate lymph fluid, boost cardiovascular circulation, increase respiration, and increase the expulsion of toxins.
Having a healthy posture, proper breathing mechanics, and a balanced
muscular structure will reduce stress on the body and improve
oxygenation of tissues. Take this into account when deciding on a
workout structure to incorporate.
Another great strategy is to see a chiropractor
to address any spinal misalignments that may be contributing to nervous
system dysfunctions. In fact, chiropractic adjustments have been shown
to improve anti-oxidant production and lower inflammation in the body
specifically (
4).
Reduce Emotional Stress
Emotional and mental stress is actually a massive contributor to
oxidative stress and inflammation. This inflammation largely manifests
itself in the neurological tissues and has a profound negative impact on
mood and behavior, which could easily turn into a self-perpetuating cycle (
5). Resolving emotional stressors is absolutely vital to mitigating inflammation as much as possible.
Additionally, you want to instill peace within yourself to prevent
chronic inflammation from recurring do to emotional stress. This can be
done through daily practice of gratitude and by becoming comfortable
with making necessary changes in your life needed to reach optimal
health.
There is typically not a one-step solution to solving your health
problems, as is the case with many things in life. Accepting that
achieving health is a process in, and that this process requires a bit
of temporary discomfort is what will allow you to make breakthroughs in
your life.
Anti-Inflammatory Supplements
The lifestyle strategies above are effective for mitigating chronic
inflammation in the body over time, and keeping it away. For tough
cases, using specific supplements is super powerful for quickly reducing inflammation in the body.
The following act on different mechanisms of inflammation to create a
profound and systemic downregulation of this harmful condition.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D has the ability to regulate over 1000 different genes in the body (
6). This is one of the most common deficiencies I see in inflammatory disorders, especially auto-immunity and cancer.
Vitamin D is specifically an extremely powerful immune modulating
nutrient that helps to balance the immune system. Remember, an over or
underactive immune response is commonly found in inflammatory disorders
so using immune modulating compounds like Vitamin D is critical.
Many health experts agree that the ideal range of Vitamin D in the
body is 60-100 ng/ml in the blood, preferably closer to the 80-100 ng/ml
range. To achieve this level, 1000-2000 IU of supplemental Vitamin D
per 50 lbs. of bodyweight is a good strategy. Additionally, it is
important to take Vitamin D along with Vitamin K as they act together in
the body and not doing so can lead to lessened benefit.
Glutathione
Glutathione is the body’s master antioxidant that regulates all other
antioxidants. At this point, you understand just how important
controlling oxidative stress in the body is for mitigating inflammation
and glutathione is one of the most powerful ways to do so.
Getting plenty of antioxidants from vegetables, herbs, spices, and
even essential oils can be extremely powerful. When it comes to tough
cases, using oral glutathione can be an effective way to quickly
upregulate antioxidant systems in the body. Alternatively, there are
great ways to boost endogenous glutathione production by using natural
compounds like curcumin, N-acetyl cysteine, and alpha lipoic acid.
Curcumin
Curcumin is one of the most heavily studied compounds found in one of the most studied herbs on the planet, turmeric. It is believed that curcumin is one of the primary constituents responsible for turmeric’s anti-inflammatory effects.
The one I usually recommend is Meriva.
I like this one so much because it is contained in a liposomal form
which is extremely easy for the body to absorb. Turmeric in its raw form
is somewhat difficult to absorb into the body, so using a liposomal
extract allows for a much greater therapeutic effect in the body.
Omega 3
Increasing your intake of omega 3 fatty acids it is absolutely
critical for mitigating chronic inflammation. Most people consume a diet
that is high in omega 6 fats while being severely deficient in omega 3.
This puts fatty acids at an imbalance in the body that actually favors
inflammatory processes. This is because Omega 6 fats are part of the
eicosanoid pathway that is responsible for producing inflammatory
markers in the body.
Following an anti-inflammatory diet full of healthy fats and
wild-caught fish is a great way to quickly lower inflammation.
Additionally, you may find it helpful to supplement with a high-quality
fish oil in order to favor a healthy omega 3 to omega 6 ratio. In terms
of down-regulating inflammation quickly, I haven’t found anything as
effective as Omega.
Proteolytic Enzymes
Our bodies use over 3000 enzymes
to carry out over 7000 enzymatic processes in the body. Many people
don’t realize this but enzymes can even help to break down inflammatory
molecules such as Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF), C Reactive Protein (CRP),
and Circulating Immune Complex (CIC).
In many cases of chronic inflammation, these inflammatory molecules
are circulating in abundance throughout the body. Supplementing with
proteolytic enzymes helps to clear these molecules from the body and
effectively lower inflammation.
Summary
Everyone endures some level of inflammation on a daily basis. As long
as this inflammation does not overcome our body’s’ ability to mitigate
that inflammation, it is not an issue. Many people today have lost this
ability and are falling victim to chronic inflammatory conditions such
as auto-immunity, cancer, arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, and many more conditions.
Luckily, chronic inflammation can be overcome by following an
anti-inflammatory lifestyle including the principles mentioned above.
Additionally, utilizing powerful advanced supplementation it is possible
to rapidly speed up the healing process for any chronic illness.
