Chronic inflammation can lead to issues like puffiness, pain, fatigue, and bloating.
Biochemically, it affects your body in several ways, disrupting cellular metabolism, hormone balance, and fluid regulation. When you reduce inflammation, you allow your body to recover more effectively.
Let’s look at what happens inside your body when inflammation decreases and the practical steps you can take to reduce it.
What Happens Inside Your Body When Inflammation Decreases:
Reduced Cytokines: These inflammatory messengers lower, reducing pain and swelling.
Decreased Fluid Retention: Blood vessels stabilize, allowing fluids to be reabsorbed, reducing puffiness.
Lower Prostaglandins: This reduces pain sensitivity and fluid retention.
Less Oxidative Stress: Cells repair more efficiently, reducing bloating and boosting energy.
Improved Metabolism: Your body better regulates fat burning and energy use, reducing weight gain and water retention.
Balanced Hormones: Insulin and cortisol levels stabilize, helping with mood, energy, and reducing puffiness.
Chronic inflammation can indeed lead to issues like puffiness, pain, fatigue, and bloating, but it can also contribute to more serious chronic conditions over time. When inflammation persists, it can disrupt normal body functions and lead to long-term health challenges. Here are some of the key conditions linked to chronic inflammation:
1. Cardiovascular Disease
Inflammation plays a significant role in the development of heart disease. Chronic inflammation can damage blood vessels, leading to the buildup of plaque in the arteries (atherosclerosis), which increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
2. Diabetes
Inflammation is closely linked to insulin resistance, a hallmark of Type 2 diabetes. When the body’s cells become less responsive to insulin due to inflammation, blood sugar levels rise, contributing to the development of diabetes and making it harder to manage.
3. Autoimmune Disorders
Conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are driven by chronic inflammation. In these diseases, the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own tissues, leading to inflammation and damage over time.
4. Obesity
Inflammation can contribute to weight gain and make it difficult to lose weight. Adipose (fat) tissue itself produces inflammatory cytokines, creating a cycle where more fat leads to more inflammation, which then leads to further weight gain.
5. Cancer
Chronic inflammation can damage DNA and lead to the growth of abnormal cells, which increases the risk of developing cancer. Certain cancers, like colon, liver, and pancreatic cancers, have strong links to chronic inflammation.
6. Neurodegenerative Diseases
Inflammation has been linked to brain disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other forms of dementia. Chronic inflammation in the brain can damage neurons and contribute to cognitive decline over time.
7. Digestive Disorders
Conditions like Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and more, are marked by chronic inflammation in the digestive tract. This leads to pain, bloating, and digestive issues that can become debilitating if left untreated.
8. Respiratory Diseases
Chronic inflammation in the lungs can contribute to conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It makes it harder to breathe and can lead to lung tissue damage over time.
9. Metabolic Syndrome
This cluster of conditions—including high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat, and abnormal cholesterol levels—has strong ties to chronic inflammation. It raises the risk for heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes.
How to Break the Cycle of Chronic Inflammation
Chronic inflammation can be managed and reduced through lifestyle changes that target the root causes. Improving diet, reducing stress, getting regular exercise, and supporting gut health are some key strategies to lower inflammation and prevent these long-term conditions from developing.
Now, you can you take action to reduce inflammation and feel better!
5 Simple Ways to Reduce Inflammation
1. Optimize Your Diet
Anti-inflammatory foods: Focus on nutrient-rich, anti-inflammatory foods like leafy greens, berries, fatty fish (salmon, sardines), and nuts (walnuts, almonds).
Healthy fats: Incorporate omega-3-rich fats from fish, flaxseed, and chia seeds. Use ghee, butter, or tallow for cooking instead of processed vegetable oils.
Avoid triggers: Reduce or eliminate inflammatory foods like sugar, processed foods, and refined carbohydrates. Stay clear of dairy, gluten, and soy if they trigger inflammation.
2. Manage Blood Sugar
Stabilizing your blood sugar helps reduce insulin spikes, which can drive inflammation. Eat meals balanced with protein, fat, and fiber to prevent large blood sugar fluctuations.
Low glycemic foods: Choose foods that have a low impact on blood sugar, like non-starchy vegetables, legumes, and lean proteins.
Tracking your glucose levels is a great way to monitor your body’s response to different foods. Consider using a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) or Keto-Mojo to track your blood sugar data and adjust your diet accordingly.
3. Support Your Gut Health
Gut inflammation is a common source of overall body inflammation. Consider incorporating bone broth or meat stock, fermented foods like sauerkraut or kimchi, and prebiotic-rich foods like garlic and onions to improve gut health.
Take a quality probiotic to support a healthy microbiome, which can reduce inflammation.
4. Move Regularly
Gentle movement such as walking, swimming, or yoga helps reduce inflammation by promoting circulation, lymphatic drainage, and stress reduction. Regular exercise also reduces levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Avoid overexertion, which can increase inflammation. Instead, focus on consistent, moderate exercise that you enjoy.
5. Manage Stress
Chronic stress increases cortisol, which can trigger inflammation. Practices like meditation, deep breathing, and mindfulness can lower stress and inflammation.
Set aside time for activities that help you relax, whether it's reading, taking a walk, or spending time with loved ones.
By following these simple strategies and tracking your glucose, you can effectively reduce inflammation and improve your overall health.
How Chronic Inflammation Develops
Chronic inflammation is often the result of long-term, low-grade triggers that the body struggles to recover from. Some common causes include:
Poor Diet: Eating a diet high in processed foods, sugar, trans fats, and refined carbohydrates triggers ongoing inflammation. These foods cause blood sugar spikes, stress the gut, and generate free radicals that damage cells.
Chronic Stress: When we are stressed, our bodies produce more cortisol, which in small doses is anti-inflammatory. However, chronic stress keeps cortisol levels elevated, eventually leading to inflammation and immune dysregulation.
Sedentary Lifestyle: Lack of movement leads to poor circulation and lymphatic drainage, allowing inflammation to build up. Regular, moderate activity keeps the body's systems functioning optimally, reducing inflammatory markers.
Poor Gut Health: A compromised gut barrier, often referred to as "leaky gut," allows undigested food particles and toxins to pass into the bloodstream, triggering an immune response and ongoing inflammation.
Environmental Toxins: Exposure to pollutants, chemicals, and toxins in our environment adds stress to the body's detoxification systems, causing inflammation as the body tries to cope with the overload.
Infections or Autoimmunity: Long-term infections or autoimmune conditions can cause the immune system to stay active unnecessarily, leading to tissue damage and inflammation.
The good news is, inflammation can be managed and reduced with the right lifestyle changes and support. Making small, consistent adjustments in your diet, activity, and stress management can have a big impact on your health and how you feel.
Supplements to Consider for Reducing Inflammation
Curcumin (Turmeric extract): A potent anti-inflammatory that reduces cytokine levels and oxidative stress.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids (EPA and DHA): Found in fish oil, these help lower inflammation and improve heart health.
Magnesium: Aids in muscle relaxation, reduces stress, and supports insulin sensitivity, all of which reduce inflammation.
Vitamin D: Low levels are linked to higher inflammation, so ensure you're getting adequate Vitamin D from the sun or supplementation.
Sleep Matters
Getting quality sleep is vital in reducing inflammation. Poor sleep increases cortisol and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Aim for 7-8 hours of sleep per night and establish a calming evening routine to help wind down.
Hydration
Drink enough water throughout the day to help flush out toxins and support healthy circulation, reducing water retention and inflammation.
The Takeaway
Reducing inflammation is key to helping you feel better, reducing puffiness, and supporting overall wellness. By optimizing your diet, managing blood sugar, supporting your gut, staying active, and reducing stress, you can lower inflammation and see real changes in how you feel and look. Small, consistent steps will help you regain balance and vitality, allowing your cells to recover and thrive.
If you’d like personalized support in reducing inflammation and getting back to feeling your best, I’d love to help. You can book a free 15-minute discovery call here to discuss your goals and how we can work together to make lasting changes.
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