What is Inflammation Anyway?
No doubt about it: anti-inflammatory foods are the superheroes of the nutrition universe. Most of us can name at least a few…. nuts, salmon, avocado, olive oil. But what, exactly, do they do in the body? While we’re at it, what is inflammation anyway?
The word is thrown around all over the place. And with good reason. So let’s get into it so you understand what it really means.
What Is It?
Essentially, inflammation is a response to an injury or illness. A fever is your body’s inflammatory response to being sick; swelling might be the response when you stub your toe, skin your knee, or break a bone. What literally happens behind the scenes is that your immune system detects that something isn't right and sends out inflammatory cells to attack a virus or heal an injury. Short-term inflammation – also called “acute”-- is actually a good thing. It shows you that your body is working.
Chronic inflammation is a whole different story.
You can’t see it and it’s not something that Advil or an ice pack will resolve. In chronic inflammation, your immune system is sending out its inflammatory cells even though there isn’t any danger. It’s ongoing and can damage healthy tissues if left unchecked.
A very clear-cut example of chronic inflammation can be found in rheumatoid arthritis where your body attacks your joints, causing damage. Painful joints is an easily identifiable symptom. But other signs of chronic inflammation might not be so easy to identify. That’s because they’re symptoms that so many of us have, and ones you might not automatically associate with your immune system. Some include:
Abdominal pain
Fatigue
Insomnia
Depression or anxiety
Constipation or diarrhea
Acid reflux
Weight gain or loss
If you’ve experienced any of these conditions, “immune system” and “inflammation” probably didn’t immediately come to mind. Maybe you even tried to address the specific symptom with a sleep medicine, a laxative, an antacid, or whatever. The problem with that approach is that it doesn't get to the root cause, which could be inflammation.
Worse is that sometimes chronic inflammation is silent, so you may not know anything is wrong at all. But, either way, research has shown that it’s connected to a whole range of conditions, like heart disease, high blood pressure, some cancers, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes, and more.
So now that you understand a little more about chronic inflammation, what can you do about it, how can you prevent it?
First things first.
What Causes It?
The list is long, but some of the biggies include chronic stress; poor diet; exposure to toxins like chemicals and air pollution; tobacco and alcohol use; an unhealthy gut; lack of physical exercise; and being overweight or obese.
What Can You Do About It?
Although you can’t necessarily modify every cause of chronic inflammation, the good news is that there’s a lot you CAN do.
Wanna take a guess?
Yup. The foods you eat have a direct effect on inflammation in your body. The primary culprits are trans fats, processed or fried foods, processed meats, sugar-sweetened drinks, alcohol, and refined carbs like sweets and white bread.
It should be no secret, then, that a whole food diet is the solution to reduce inflammation or prevent it from happening in the first place. Fruits and vegetables in all colors are the stars, along with nuts, avocado, olive oil, fatty fish including salmon and sardines, and spices like turmeric and ginger.
As I’ve said before, understanding the effect food has on your body can make the decision about what to put in your body easier. But it takes intention. If you can get yourself to picture what’s going on inside and think about how it will affect you on the outside – your sleep, your energy, your weight, your mood, your digestion, your focus – it just might change what you reach for in your kitchen, in the grocery store, or at that restaurant.
Muscle Memory
So, easier, but maybe not exactly easy. Not at first, anyway. But eventually going for whole foods over processed foods will become your default.
Think of a baby learning to walk. At first, it takes a lot of concentration, a lot of determination, and a fair amount of “stick-to-itiveness.” And then it pays off. Muscle memory takes over, they leave crawling in the dust, and off they go.
The same can be true for you. If you want it to be.
It won’t happen all at once – nothing worth having ever does. Your motivation will falter and that’s when your determination needs to take over. That’s when thinking about the long game – about what you want your life to look like – is really crucial. One of the most important things I do for my clients is get them over those types of hurdles so they get back on track and continue to have success.
And here’s the beautiful thing – once you experience the absolute joy of eating amazingly delicious whole foods and feel the incredible effect they have on your body, you won’t miss what’s missing. You won’t want to go back to crawling. You’ll want to run.
My last piece of advice? Learn all you can about nutrition and your health (reliable sources only, please); make conscious decisions about what you give your body to work with; and let me know if you'd like my help.
