Inflammation Debunked
Inflammation has become a popular buzzword in the health space. Everything you read warns you of the “dangers of inflammation” and how it can “lead to disease.” Let’s dive into what inflammation actually means, and more importantly, let’s tease out the difference between acute inflammation (the healthy kind) and chronic inflammation (the bad kind).
When you cut your finger, stub your toe, or break a bone, your body responds with an acute inflammatory reaction. This is healthy and essential for survival. The pain, redness, swelling, loss of function, and heat you feel at the site of the injury is your body’s way of protecting you and repairing the damage done to the tissue. Acute inflammation is short term and quick, as your body quickly activates mechanisms that destroy invading microbes and repair damaged cells.
Inflammation becomes problematic when the acute response no longer works, and inflammation becomes chronic and prolonged. Chronic inflammation is now becoming recognized as the root of many autoimmune diseases, diseases that crop up as a result of being chronically inflamed.
These autoimmune diseases are conditions such as Hashimoto’s disease in the thyroid, Eczema and Psoriasis in the skin, Asthma in the sinus’, Type 1 Diabetes in the pancreas, Rheumatoid Arthritis in the joints, and Crohn’s disease or Inflammatory Bowel disease in the gut.
A viable first step is to learn how to minimize inflammation in the body. To some degree, we are all experiencing low levels of chronic inflammation when we’re stressed, when we’re not sleeping enough, when we’re not eating well, and when we’re exposed to environmental toxins in everyday products, and when we don’t move our bodies enough. This can build up over time, over years of burning the midnight fuel, and not taking care of ourselves– this can lead to the onset of autoimmune disease.
How do you know if you are experiencing inflammation? Many signals come from GI tract, skin, and joints. Ever notice you break out when you’re stressed when you’ve eaten a certain food, or when you’ve used a certain skin product? This is your body’s way of letting you know that something is off. Further, ever wonder why everyone you know complains about stomach aches, bloating, poor digestion, or constipation? This is another way in which your body is telling you that your gut is inflamed. Joint pain is another common indicator of inflammation, as your joints become inflamed in order to protect themselves from the inflammatory response in your body. Additionally, psychiatrists are now recognizing the inflammation to the brain, which can result in brain fog or mental illness. Dr. Charles Raison notes:
“We now know the immune system and the brain have everything to do with each other: really, they are best understood as part of one larger system with causal influences that move in both directions. Brain states that produce mental illness also tend to activate inflammation. And inflammation is equally capable of producing depression, anxiety, fatigue, and social withdrawal.”
It’s clear here that the link between gut health and mental health is extremely strong. Dr. Ruvini Wijetilaka, a functional MD, notes that 90% of serotonin is produced and released in the gut, so when your gut is inflamed, serotonin won’t be released properly, which can lead to depressive symptoms.
So, now, I realize that I’ve been dealing with inflammation. How can I begin to reduce inflammation in my body? Check out this article here for tips on reducing inflammation.
