Inflammation causes most disease. In fact, as we become more aware of what inflammation is and what it does, we realize all the trouble this bad boy causes. Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s-you get the drift.
Not everybody got the memo, though. Few magazines talk about inflammation. It doesn’t tend to come up in the doctor’s office. And I can’t imagine a television special is on the drawing board. We need to talk about this so you can protect yourself.
At its simplest, inflammation is a good thing. You get a splinter in your finger, the spot puffs up, a little squeeze shoots the splinter and goop out and things get back to normal.
Complications jump into the picture when the inflammation doesn’t go away. And since we can’t see internal inflammation, we won’t know until our health starts going south.
On a finger, we could spot the problem, but inflammation does its most dastardly work in our interior. And our endocrine system suffers-and creates-at least its share of the mayhem.
I read that it takes about fifteen years from the time inflammation becomes a permanent fixture to when you move on to disease. And you can go from one disease to another to another as long as inflammation’s doing its thing.
What makes inflammation permanent? Constant attack.
What causes inflammation?
Diet is a HUGE part of the picture. Get rid of vegetable oils, transfats, excess sugar, ALL high fructose corn syrup, MSG, aspartame, soy, malted barley flour (in breads and beer), carrageenan, etc. to slow the inflammation train down. Don’t argue or dilly-dally. The payoff is huge.
Too much iron in your system also pumps up inflammation. Big time. Don’t eat anything that’s fortified with iron. It’s the wrong kind anyway.
Heavy metals such as mercury, part of the flu shots doctors recommend so highly, are a problem. Cadmium from cigarette smoke does the inflammatory tango, too. And aluminum, which is in toothpaste, anti-deodorants and vaccines-including those for babies.
Fluoride’s also a problem. It’s best to have a non-fluoridated water supply. At the least, don’t add to the problem with fluoridated toothpaste and mouthwashes.
Avoid pesticides, too.
Factory-farm meat, eggs and dairy ramp up inflammation, also.
Fact is, though, just aging increases inflammation. Obviously, something needs to be done.
First off, ask your doctor to test your homocysteine level. Homocysteine measures inflammation, and you need to know where you are. Where you want to be is at the bottom of the normal range or even lower.
What reduces inflammation?
Start fighting back by getting your vitamin/mineral house in order. Give your body the tools it needs to fight the good fight. Build your nutrition foundation. In today’s world, you can’t have health and energy without a solid, balanced vitamin/mineral program.
Coffee does wonders for inflammation. Black, caffeinated seems to have the most punch.
Saturated fat in your diet-from grass-fed meat, coconut oil and the like-does fabulous things.
Garlic-raw or cooked-works really well but requires very understanding friends, family and co-workers. Aged garlic capsules get the job done without the aromatic advertising.
And get some exercise. Not the no-pain/no-gain type; that’s so last century. Besides, intense physical exertion increases inflammation. Interval exercise, where you go hard for brief periods followed by periods of going easy, seems to work well. Weights do better than cardio. Walking’s good, too.
