Hundreds of illnesses are caused by chronic inflammation. Rather than recognizing and correcting the sources of inflammation, modern medicine has classified them as unique and unrelated, when in fact they are all products of the same underlying imbalances in the body. Illnesses such as fibromyalgia, lupus, MS, rheumatoid arthritis, and others stem from inflammation.
“Inflammation is your body’s response to stress — whether from your diet, lifestyle or environment.” “Think of what happens when you catch a cold. You may experience inflammation in the form of a fever as your body heats up to eradicate the effects of the invading virus.” “This kind of inflammation is good, but the modern epidemic of chronic, low-grade inflammation destroys the balance in your body. When your body’s systems experience a constant inflammatory response, you become more susceptible to aging and disease.” (Source 2006 article by Body Ecology.)
Some of the primary causes of chronic inflammation:
– Excessive stress
– Poor diet that lacks fresh fruits and vegetables
– Vitamin and mineral deficiencies (can be created from consuming synthetic vitamins)
– Environmental toxicity
– Not drinking enough CLEAN water ( link to Ideal Earth Water™ )
– Lack of sleep – Lack of exercise
– Overwork – Medical drugs
– Unhandled allergies to food or other substances
Are you drinking enough water? A good way to tell if you are getting enough water is by the color of your urine, which should be a pale straw color. Are you drinking water that will help your body, rather than cause other problems? I am not talking about distilled water, tap water, or reverse osmosis water, which comprises 90% of the bottled waters.
I mean fluoride-free, chloramines-free, and chlorine-free water that is rich in minerals. Water is the most basic and yet one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory things you can give your body. Learn more about good water. (link to Ideal Earth Water™ )
Eat fermented foods. It is easy to start your day with yogurt or kefir, and you should eat real sauerkraut (made only with cabbage and salt) and drink Kombucha tea. Fermented foods and beverages help your immune system by balancing your flora. I like to make Kombucha tea from time to time. Below are the ingredients you will need and a link to start the process of making the tea at home. (http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-brew-kombucha-double-fermentation-method/)
2 gallons of sweetened tea 2 kombucha mothers (AKA “scobies,” or “mushrooms”) (where to buy a kombucha starter culture)
2 large 1-gallon glass jars
1 thin kitchen towel
15 oz of fruit juice 6 quart sized jars with lids (any size bottle or jar will do, so long as you\’ve got enough to hold 75%-80% of your brewed kombucha).
Consume probiotics daily. Rest Easy™ and Inner Garden™ are full spectrum fermented liquid probiotics that when taken on a daily basis help to reduce inflammation, populate your gut with beneficial bacteria, and ensure that your digestive tract remains healthy and well-functioning.
Eat healthy saturated fats! Many people have been misled into believing that all saturated fat is bad for you. Saturated fats that are found in raw butter, milk and fat from grass-fed animals and from coconut oil are beneficial for your health. Avoid processed carbohydrates and too many omega-6 fatty acids, as they cause inflammation and often lead to many different types of disease. Susan Allport, the author of The Queen of Fats (University of California Press, 2006) did an experiment. She used herself as a case study to observe what happens in the body after 30 days on a diet high in omega-6 fatty acids.
Allport was consuming a desirable balance of omega 3s and 6s. She switched to high omega-6 spreads and oils. For example, canola-based mayonnaise was replaced with mayo made with soybean oil. Olive oil-based salad dressings were replaced with a mixture of safflower, sunflower, corn, and soybean oils. She also replaced grass-fed dairy products with traditional dairy foods. Importantly, Allport continued to eat fish twice a week, as recommended by the American Heart Association.
The changes after only 30 days were remarkable. 30 days on a high omega-6 diet stiffened Allport’s arteries, slowed her metabolism, and increased her belly fat.
Omega-3 (blood) Index protective level is 8% or higher; under 4% indicates high risk for heart disease. Susan Allport’s Omega-3 Index dropped from 8.3% to 4.7%. Her heart disease risk went from low to borderline high in only 30 days.
Her body weight remained the same, but her body fat increased in the abdominal area and her lean body mass decreased.
Her resting metabolic rate dropped, lowering her daily calorie burn at rest from 1367 to 1291.
Finally, Flow-Mediated Vasodilation (FMD) showed that her artery dilation decreased by 22%. FMD measures blood flow after the release of a blood pressure cuff around the upper arm. Her arteries were also stiffer, based on an ultrasound scan. Taken together, these readings indicate that her blood vessels were less able to expand and contract.
These changes took place even though Susan Allport complied with the standard advice to eat fish twice a week.
Your best bet is to skip the low-fat diet, start eating healthy fats and whole foods.
Get outside and have some fun! Vitamin D from sunlight exposure plays a big part in regulating your immune function and is one of the most powerful and natural ways to deter inflammation. If you can’t get outside as much as you should, take a good vitamin D3 supplement.
Allergies, especially to foods and environmental substances can also produce inflammation – chronic coughs, mucus, and asthma. Leaky gut syndrome stems from food allergies – often to dairy and gluten, the substance found in wheat flour. Due to GMO wheat, more and more people are experiencing allergies to gluten than ever before in history.
The bottom line is that the water you drink and the food you eat could be causing inflammation in your body and this is the possible reason why the body is starting to break down and you just don’t feel as good as you used to.
Take the steps to start drinking or eating fermented products, take full spectrum probiotics like Rest Easy or Inner Garden, make sure your water is clean and you’re drinking the right amount (generally 1 gallon per day), adjust your diet so your body is getting the proper nutrients, get good sleep, get some exercise, and enjoy the sunshine!
Sources for this article include:
http://www.naturalnews.com/035069_low_fat_diet_myths_weight_loss.html
http://www.naturalnews.com/036722_inflammation_disease_prevention.html#ixzz22sdimfgJ http://bodyecology.com The Queen of Fats by Susan Allport (University of California Press, 2006)