Chronic inflammation and how to know if you’re at risk

For years, you’ve heard how important it is to eat a nutritious diet in order to preserve good health and a healthy weight. Poor diets that are overly processed and heavy in sugar, preservatives, and saturated fats have been linked to practically every chronic disease in research after research.

Despite this, many people have not adjusted their diets or insisted that producers produce higher-quality foods. Low-quality foods cause chronic inflammation in the body, which is connected to diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, cancer, and a variety of other serious illnesses.

What is inflammation?

Inflammation is a natural immunological response that occurs in the body. When your body detects an injury or foreign invaders such as a virus or bacterium, it sends chemicals and white blood cells to fight them off, assisting in the healing and protection of your body. Naturally, this is a beneficial thing that contributes to your overall health.

So, what happens when persistent inflammation occurs?

Your immune system goes into overdrive when your body is out of balance, creating persistent inflammation, weight gain, pain, and disease. Chronic inflammation can develop even when the immune system is engaged but no foreign intruder is present. Food is both a key cause and a major cure for chronic inflammation.

Chronic Inflammation-Inducing Foods:

You’re probably already aware that highly refined and processed foods are bad for your health. Obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, auto-immune illnesses, and a variety of other major health issues are all linked to refined sugars and carbohydrates. Saturated fats play a role in disease as well.

There are meals that are more likely to stimulate the immune system and produce inflammation, which you may not be aware of. Hormonal imbalance, mood changes, joint discomfort, sinus and respiratory troubles, headaches, digestive troubles, exhaustion, and weight gain may occur as your body reacts to these low-level allergens. The symptoms appear gradually over time, and the cause is rarely linked to eating, with the exception of weight increase. As a result, you may turn to medicine or other medical testing and treatments in the hopes of finding comfort, but you will not find sustainable respite if your diet remains unchanged.

The most common food sensitivities come from:

• Dairy products
• Gluten
• Corn
• Soy
• Yeast
• Fried food
• Artificial sweeteners
• Hormones and anti-biotics
• Artificial additives (in almost every packaged food)

What causes food-related inflammation?

Everything you put into your body has an effect on it, for better or ill. Refined foods laced with chemicals, pesticides, and other toxins, medications, large amounts of sugar, and other harmful substances that you ingest or absorb into your body wreck havoc on your digestive system, altering the PH balance, bacterial composition, and damaging the protective lining in your stomach and intestinal tract.

This is known as “leaky gut” (sounds disgusting, doesn’t it?)

The lining of your digestive tract is meant to keep toxins and allergens out of your body and immune system. Food particles pass through the barrier when it is broken, triggering your immunological response.  As if it were a foreign invasion, your body begins to assault your meal. This asymmetry in the immune system causes persistent inflammation in the body, which leads to weight gain and other serious health problems.

What foods are anti-inflammatory?

Allow your food to be your medicine. Simply by making positive dietary changes, you can lose extra weight, lessen chronic pain, lower your chance of significant chronic illness, and even reverse chronic illness. Remove inflammatory foods from your diet and replace them with more nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods that are high in omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants.

Here are some foods to start incorporating into your diet:

• Berries (Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries)
• Leafy green vegetables (Spinach, kale, beat greens)
• Fatty fish (salmon)
• Garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Vegetables (Beats, celery, red pepper, tomato, broccoli)
• Raw oats
• Turmeric
• Whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, millet)
• Ginger
• Fresh fruits (apples, pineapple)
• Raw honey
• Seeds and nuts
• Beans and legumes

Including these and other anti-inflammatory foods in your diet lowers oxidative stress, improves nutrient absorption, and stimulates a variety of reactions and bodily processes. These reduce inflammation and begin to repair the harm caused by bad dietary choices.

You will lose weight and have less bloating, discomfort, and swelling as you continue to include these foods in your diet while reducing or eliminating more damaging ingredients. If you have a chronic condition, you will likely notice a decrease in symptoms as well as an improvement in your general health.

A gradual shift in your diet may lessen the risk of backsliding, depending on your circumstances. Pick foods based on your unique health needs and the suggestions of your healthcare specialists and nutritionists.

The Good News

For some, this may be a challenging process, but you may still eat a wide variety of wonderful meals.. Fortunately, there are a variety of easy and delectable methods to start incorporating new, healthy foods into your diet.

The easiest and fastest way to fight (and beat!) inflammation

When prepared properly, a green smoothie, is an excellent meal substitute that is high in nutrients.

Fruits, leafy greens, and other healthful components that are all major constituents in green smoothies are all anti-inflammatory meals! There are a plethora of recipes and combinations to choose from to keep things fresh and pleasant. Even substituting one meal per day can make a significant effect on your health.