Inflammation is the new hot topic in the health space. Fatigue, weight gain, acne, cancer, Alzheimer's, can they all be caused by inflammation? Is an anti-inflammatory diet the new keto? As usual, let's take a step back and start with the basics:
What is inflammation?
Inflammation in the simplest sense is our bodies' natural response to injury and illness, and it is what initiates the healing process.
Upon injury or infection, a series of reactions begin in our body which release all kinds of substances that allow the processes of healing and recovery to occur. Think about what happens when you get a paper cut or stub your toe: there is redness, and maybe swelling. This is inflammation! Your body has released chemical substances to drive blood flow to the area. This blood will contain chemicals to create clots and start repair at the damaged sites, cells that will trap and kill bacteria or other foreign substances, and cells that will remove other damaged or dead cells.
Without this process, healing would not occur. There would be no scab or new skin at your paper cut, and the bruise from your stubbed toe would only get worse as the damaged blood vessels underneath the skin are never repaired.
When we get an infection, whether systemic like a flu, or local like cellulitis, inflammation is what sends white blood cells out to fight the foreign invaders to our body, whether its bacteria, virus, or mycotoxin. We might get things like a fever or a runny nose; these are other ways our body fights off these substances. Without the inflammatory response, these invaders would be left to take over.
Okay, So Why is it Bad?
The issue occurs when the inflammatory process does not stop and there is continuous release of inflammatory substances in the body. Described above is what we call acute inflammation, and it occurs in response to an injury or infection, and subsides as healing and recovery occur. When there is a continued inflammatory response, which we call chronic inflammation, there is potential for harm to various systems in the body. In time the chronic inflammation can make us sick on its own, or it can make it more challenging to overcome illness or injury.
How Can Inflammation Occur if We're Not Sick or Injured?
As we've discussed, inflammation is a byproduct of the immune system. If the immune system suspects that something is off, it will initiate an inflammatory response to try and find the offending substance or area of damage. Chronic inflammation occurs when this response is ongoing at a low level, and over time the chemicals of inflammation cause damage to our bodies' tissues. Let's take a look at some of the factors that can make our body throw up it's defense systems and create this response:
Diet
There are so many foods that can cause an inflammatory response in the body. Having them once in a while can be perfectly fine, but if they are a regular in our diet, they can cause that consistent low-grade inflammatory response. These kinds of foods include things like ultra-processed foods, foods excessively high in saturated fats and sodium, foods high in refined carbs (think white flour), and dairy.
2. Stress
This includes physical and emotional stress. Physical stress includes anything that puts stress on you physically, whether intentional (e.g. a planned workout) or not (e.g. and injury.) While physical stress is necessary for our bodies to get stronger and more resilient, if we are not letting our body fully recover from physical stress, then that inflammatory process is not stopped, and this can contribute to chronic inflammation.
Emotional stress can be just as detrimental as physical stress. Even though there is nothing physically wrong with the body, a threat is still perceived, and that initiates the inflammatory response. This can happen both with moments of large emotional stress, such as when receiving bad news, but also with stress that is of a lower magnitude, but consistent, such as from an intense job or an unhealthy relationship.
3. Environment
So now the environment is out to get us too? Our environment is full of chemical substances that can trigger inflammation in the body, and while we may not always have control over our exposure to these chemicals, it is important to be aware of them and their potential. Environmental exposure to harmful chemicals can come from air pollution, skin care products and makeup, off-gassing of furniture in your home or office, household cleaning supplies, and some feminine hygiene products.
4. Lifestyle
Certain lifestyle factors have been shown to contribute to inflammation. Aside from a diet high in inflammatory foods as discussed above, regular consumption of alcohol and tobacco can also contribute to chronic inflammation. While too much exercise can contribute to inflammation, a sedentary lifestyle, where an individual does not spend much time in their day moving, let alone exercising, is shown to detrimental as well. With today's commuting, desk work, Netflix, and smart phones, this is becoming all too common of a lifestyle issue.
Sleep, or rather, a lack of sleep, can also contribute to inflammation in the body. Our bodies function in our circadian rhythm, or our daily internal clock. The circadian rhythm governs the cycle of hormone release throughout the day, telling us when to wake up and have energy, and when to become sleepy. When we do not sleep well, stay up late, sleep in past the sun rise, get all day exposure to blue light, or do shift work, we can throw off our circadian rhythm. This change in our bodies' routine can then create inflammation.
5. Underlying Infections
Sometimes, we can have infections in our body that may not produce symptoms the way we usually expect, like we talked about in the start of the blog. Consistent low level infection can cause consistent low level inflammation in the body. This can potentially look like fatigue, brain fog, acne or rashes, weight gain or inability to lose weight, bloating, gas, or constipation, depending on the body systems most affected. Infection can be bacterial, for example untreated Lyme disease, or small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO); it can be via a mycotoxin, such as from repeated exposure to mold in the home or workplace; or it can be viral, like a chronic hepatitis B infection.
How Do I Know if I'm Inflamed?
There are so many things that can contribute to chronic inflammation in the body, and we know that some level of inflammation is necessary, so how do we know if we are chronically inflamed and if it is affecting our health?
Subjectively, we can reflect on how we feel day to day, and consider the factors present in our life contributing to inflammation. If you are bloated, constantly feeling fatigued but have trouble falling asleep, but you also have one to two drinks every night and only work out once a week, there can be an educated assumption that there is inflammation present. If you're working out every day, eating packaged diet foods, but are struggling to lose weight, there can be an educated assumption that there is chronic inflammation present!
Objectively, your doctor may order tests to measure markers of inflammation in your body. C-reactive protein is a marker of inflammation and can be measured via blood tests. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate or plasma viscosity tests are other ways of testing for inflammation; they measure the amount of protein in the blood, as protein breakdown is indicative of inflammation.
Regardless of whether you have access to testing or not, there is relatively little risk in taking steps to decrease inflammation in the body. There is so much we can do to support our bodies, it's going to be own blog post coming soon.
Don't want to wait, book a nutrition counselling session with us!
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