Chronic Inflammation

Chronic inflammation is a root cause contributor to many more diseases and conditions than we traditionally give credit.  Inflammation in general is an adaptive response from our immune system.  This is a good thing in acute settings and helps us to heal or respond to infection, trauma, and wounds.  This acute response is what inflammation is designed for.  Chronic, low level of inflammation though, is not our intended steady state, but is unfortunately very common, largely due to dietary, lifestyle stressors, and toxin exposures.  On a cellular level, chronic oxidation contributes to arterial, various organ, and joint damage.  Chronic inflammation contributes to cardiovascular disease, chronic fatigue, neurological disease (Alzheimer’s), type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, autoimmune disease, and Lupus. 

Symptoms of chronic inflammation can be vague and difficult to identify.  These include various gastrointestinal disturbances, chronic fatigue, depression and anxiety, food cravings, skin disorders, difficulty losing weight, headaches, and allergies.  We often in modern medicine will attempt to treat these symptoms without considering any modifications towards the underlying inflammation causing them.

The modern standard American diet (SAD) is unfortunately hyperinflammatory.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, literature suggests reduced systemic inflammation on Mediterranean and Paleo diets with a common denominator being reduction in ultra-processed foods and an emphasis on whole foods. Epidemiological studies have suggested that over 60% of coronary heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes could be avoided with a Mediterranean like diet, physical activity, and not smoking.  An anti-inflammatory, whole food diet will stabilize blood sugar and correlating insulin levels which alone will have far reaching metabolic benefits.

Gluten is also nearly ubiquitous in our diet, and studies have shown that, even in the absence of true gluten allergy as in the case of Celiac disease, gluten can be inflammatory and injurious to our gut.  Not surprisingly, studies have demonstrated reduced fat levels, inflammatory markers, and levels of insulin resistance on a gluten free diet.  Some authors have even suggested leaky gut and inflammatory downstream changes related to gluten consumption to be possible triggers for certain autoimmune conditions and cancers.

Toxins which can disrupt cellular function and metabolic pathways have also become ubiquitous in our modern world.  BPA, food and insect pesticides, parabens, flame retardants, and heavy metals are everywhere!  Fear not though as some basic lifestyle changes can have a vast impact on toxin exposure – minimizing plastics and non-stick chemicals (cookware, Tupperware, etc.) and choosing organic produce can go a long way.

While a lot of this sounds gloomy and ominous, dietary and lifestyle changes can have a vast impact at reducing your inflammation levels.  A clean diet emphasizing whole foods, wide varying colors (anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals and polyphenols!) significantly reduce chronic inflammation and disease risk.