How to Deal with Inflammation

Everybody gets hurt – be it during sports or when we fall down. And when we get hurt, our body tries to cure itself, which leads to a familiar swelling or puffiness that’s called acute inflammation and is essentially the body’s way of repairing itself after it gets injured. Unfortunately, sometimes even the body doesn’t know when to turn this biological response off and it can lead to quite a few problems.

Even though inflammation is supposed to go down after a few days, sometimes it can remain. This is what’s known as Chronic Inflammation and, according to James Marion, M.D., a gastroenterologist, it happens when your brain keeps sending distress signals to the area of your body that was hurt. Even though the area has already recovered, your brain keeps thinking that it’s still hurt and thus, it never turns off the acute inflammation switch.

This could end up having the opposite effect on the body, as the constant inflammation can eventually cause problems for the organs in the body and even lead to infections. The worst part is that since everything happens inside your body, unless you’re constantly checking on the inflamed area, you won’t feel a thing about what’s going on.

Chronic Inflammation doesn’t come from just that though, it can also be a lead-in to other diseases like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. All of this can lead to deterioration in the body’s health and then an even worse outcome.

But while it’s still up in the air as to how Chronic Inflammation can be prevented, there has been a lot of research done on how it can be diminished. Of course, the result of this can vary from person to person and, again, none of it has been fully established as viable solutions for every case.

So how can you reduce inflammation in your body?

One of the best ways to reduce the risk of inflammation is to try and get rid of vices like smoking, since those can also lead to chronic inflammation. Other than that, leading a healthy diet will also improve your chances of diminishing or protecting against it. Eating foods rich in probiotics (such as yoghurt, kimchi or kombucha etc) or antioxidants will help keep the balance within your body.

However, if you’re too busy to remember what to eat (or not to eat), there are supplements to help you. Especially for probiotics, where the amount of viable bacteria is essential to maintain gut health and therefore regulate your digestive system. Unless you eat yoghurt, kimchi and other fermented foods regularly, you might want to consume a supplement such as Bios Life’s Probionic. With 5 billion cells per 100g, you can be assured that you’re getting sufficient amounts to maintain good flora in your intestines.

The reason why vegetables help with inflammation is not the fibre per se but also the chlorophyll present. Chlorophyll cells mimics the body’s natural red blood cells and therefore, when consumed, the chlorophyll cells help to transport oxygen and waste through the blood to the organs for detoxification. Thus, if you’re having any sort of inflammation, it helps to boost the chlorophyll intake with Chlorophyll Powder and help fight any infections.

Antioxidants have been talked a lot, especially for its cancer prevention properties but similarly, antioxidants help alleviate inflammation by working on the inflamed muscle tissues. We really like Jeunesse’s Reserve, which is made up of completely natural ingredients such as cherries, grapeseed, aloe vera and grapes and delivered in a gel that is quickly absorbed because the receptors in our mouth think of the gel to be similar to that of our saliva.

While chronic inflammation can appear suddenly and there still isn’t a clear reason why, doctors advise to keep its effects in mind and as our experts have mentioned in our weekly Expert Views, stretching and exercise is also very important in the treatment of inflammation and pain. This is all the more reason why we have to constantly be mindful of what’s going on with our bodies so that we can react and take care of it before things become complicated. So, if you’re someone who suffers from chronic inflammation, we recommend taking a look at the products but also do consult your doctor on what foods to eat or what treatments could help you.

Photo Credit: Woman to Woman, Garma on Health, Jeunesse, Health.com