Chronic Inflammation

Key Contributors to Inflammation

Inflammation is a vital part of our immune response. It is the body’s way of healing itself after an injury, repairing damaged tissue, and defending itself against pathogens. Looking at is from that way, inflammation is advantageous. But, inflammation can also be damaging to your health. Learning what causes inflammation can help you protect yourself.

There are two types of inflammation, acute and chronic.

• Acute inflammation is your body’s natural defense against damaged cells, viruses and other harmful invaders. It starts quickly and helps the body heal itself.
• Chronic inflammation is systemic, low-grade inflammation that lasts for months or years. It is the common cause of many health issues.

An inflammatory diet, blood sugar imbalances, and leaky gut syndrome can cause chronic inflammation. Sleep loss, chronic stress, environmental toxins, and chronic infections are added factors that can lead to chronic inflammation. It is vital to understand and address these factors to attain optimal health.

8 WAYS CHRONIC INFLAMMATION CAN DAMAGE YOUR BODY

1. Memory loss & cognitive decline
2. Increased cardiovascular risk
3. Abnormal growth of healthy cells
4. Compromised digestive function
5. Loss of muscle tone
6. Weight gain
7. Accelerated skin aging
8. Joint pain and loss of mobility

Here are seven leading factors that can cause inflammation in the body. Many of these causes are related to diet and lifestyle and can be modified.

1. Eating inflammatory foods
   1. Sugar
   2. Refined carbs (white flour, white rice, white potatoes)
   3. Gluten
   4. Conventionally-raised meat and dairy
   5. Farm-raised fish
   6. Processed meats
   7. Trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils)
   8. MSG and other food additives and preservatives
   9. Highly processed vegetable and seed oils (canola, corn, sunflower, peanut, grapeseed, and safflower)
   10. Artificial Sweeteners
       
       
2. Blood sugar imbalances
   Consuming high glycemic foods, such as refined sugars and carbohydrates, causes our blood sugar to rise rapidly. When blood sugar rises, insulin is released from the pancreas to move the sugar from the blood into the cells. This spike in insulin leads to a quick drop in blood sugar and a rise in cortisol. This rapidly fluctuating pattern causes inflammation by producing inflammatory cytokines.
   
   
3. Leaky gut syndrome
   Leaky gut syndrome is a condition in which the cell lining of your gut is damaged and loses its ability to regulate what does and does not pass through. This damage is due to many different stressors, often including the consumption of GMO foods, pesticides, chlorinated water, antibiotics, and processed foods. As a result, the tight junctions become loose and larger, undigested food molecules can enter the bloodstream.
   
   
4. Chronic stress
   Chronic stress causes inflammation by modulating key inflammatory pathways. These pathways include oxidative stress, sympathetic activity, transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB), and pro-inflammatory cytokine production.
   
   
5. Poor sleep habits
   Numerous studies on the effects of sleep loss have shown that mediators of inflammation are altered by sleep loss. Sleep loss induces a systemic, low-grade inflammation characterized by the release of several molecules, including cytokines and acute-phase proteins
   
   
6. Environmental toxins
   We live in a very toxic world. Environmental toxins are found in the food we eat, the air we breathe, the products we use, and the water we drink. Personal care products, household cleaners, medications, heavy metals, smoke, and mold exposure are all environmental toxins.
   
   
7. Chronic infections
   Chronic infections result from a variety of pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi . They are either persistent or latent infections with a host. Pathogens escape from our immune system by modulating, or regulating, our immune response. This causes inflammation that can persist if the infection goes unresolved.
   
   

Here some healthy options that can be anti-inflammatory:

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