f you hit your thumb with a hammer, the resulting swelling and inflammation is obvious, painful, and short lived. Your immune system sends white blood cells and other hormone-like substances to help start the healing process. Inflammation here serves a healthy purpose.
"Inflammation is your body's response to stress -- whether from your diet, lifestyle or environment," says a 2006 article by Body Ecology. "Think of what happens when you catch a cold. You may experience inflammation in the form of a fever as your body heats up to eradicate the effects of the invading virus."
Inflammation goes chronic when there is a persistent stimulus. The stimulus might come from an army of free radicals launched every day when we eat foods made with processed (hydrogenated) vegetable oils – French fries, fried food, non-fat dried milk, powdered coffee creamer, most salad dressings, crackers, cookies, chips, and other processed and convenience foods. The stimulus might be an allergy to wheat (gluten) which inflames the gut. Or a low-grade, lingering infection. Or a growing load of heavy metals, pesticides, and chemicals. There is a lot of opportunity in today's contaminated, junk food-filled world for a combination of factors to constantly irritate the body's normal functions.
Chronic inflammation falls below the threshold of perceived pain. You don't think you feel sick, but a fire is quietly smoldering within you, upsetting the delicate balance among all of the major systems: endocrine, central nervous, digestive, and cardiovascular/respiratory. In a healthy body, these systems communicate with each another. With chronic inflammation, that communication becomes distorted.
Chronic inflammation feeds a smorgasbord of chronic diseases. If you don't have a chronic disease yourself, you know someone who does. An estimated 80 percent of visits to doctor's offices are for issues
| CHRONIC DISEASE
• Persistent or recurring disease, usually affecting a person for three months or longer
• Generally triggered by diet and environmental contaminants • Standard medicine believes such diseases can be managed but rarely cured • Includes allergies, Alzheimer's, arthritis, asthma, cancer, COPD, Crohn's, chronic fatigue, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, emphysema, fibromyalgia, Gulf War Syndrome, heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, Lyme, lupus, multiple sclerosis, obesity, osteoporosis, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and more |
Persistent, systemic inflammation is at the root of practically all known chronic health conditions, including everything from rheumatoid arthritis and high cholesterol to dementia and cancer. These conditions are not necessarily inevitable, and neither is chronic inflammation, but you have to know what lifestyle and dietary steps to take in order to avoid them, many of which are fairly simple and straightforward....
Transition away from inflammatory foods like sugar, refined carbs (pasta, chips, crackers, cookies...), and store-bought milk.
Drink plenty of clean, fluoride-free water - Pure, mineral-rich water is the most basic, yet one of the most powerful, anti-inflammatory nutrient that you can feed your body. Drinking naturally high-pH water from mineral sources will not only help to alkalize your body, which will prevent diseases from taking hold, but will also purify your blood and cleanse toxins from the body.
Eat plenty of fermented foods - Kombucha tea, kefir, sauerkraut, yogurt, fermented vegetables, and apple cider vinegar are all excellent examples of probiotic-rich superfoods that will help to populate your gut with beneficial bacteria, and ensure that your digestive tract remains healthy and well-functioning. Fermented foods and beverages also help prevent harmful pathogens from taking hold within the body.
Cut out the carbs and omega-6 oils, and eat plenty of healthy, saturated fats - The average American doctor would probably cringe at this advice, but saturated fats like those found in butter and fat from grass-fed animals, as well as in coconut and palm oils, are actually beneficial for your health, while carbohydrates and oils rich in omega-6 fatty acids are heavy promoters of disease-causing inflammation. Your best bet is to skip the low-fat diet and start eating more healthy fats in combination with mineral and enzyme-rich whole foods.
Get plenty of natural sunlight exposure - The vitamin D hormone plays a critical role in regulating immune function, as well as preventing the onset of chronic illness. A powerful, natural anti-inflammatory, vitamin D is easily accessible through natural sunlight exposure or supplementation, and it is one of the most powerful interventions for deterring inflammation.
Want to make sure you are eating right for your body? Call me to schedule your No-Cost consultation now!
Kathy E Thomas
Lake Premier Wellness Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
2430 South Bay Street, Eustis, FL 32726
352-323-0795
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