Do you know inflammation can occur within your body without your knowledge? Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on the circumstance and duration, our bodies do not ask permission to initiate an inflammatory response. Let us break down the terms relating to inflammation, why it is important to understand and how to improve your health and how you feel.
Acute inflammation is a short-term response, and the body often resolves the issue on its own through the immune system. This is a good thing! Acute inflammation is a normal and common response. It helps your body to fight foreign invaders. Our bodies are great at keeping so many diseases and illnesses at bay. One example is mild periodontal disease, [1] also known as gum disease.
Other times, our bodies are overworked and unable to fight off these foreign invaders. Chronic inflammation is generally a slow and long term cycle in which the inflammatory response is not resolved and tissue damage occurs [2]. Chronic inflammation can negatively affect an individual’s health in a variety of ways and often causes us to feel poorly. These negative effects can include difficulty sleeping, persistent fatigue, depression or anxiety, joint or muscle pain, constipation or diarrhea and repeated infections. Over time, a person can develop health problems that stem from chronic inflammation. Some diagnoses include gingivitis, periodontal disease (gum disease), heart disease, arthritis, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, inflammatory bowel disease, repeated infections, autoimmune diseases and cancer. [2 & 3].
Some factors that impact an individual’s health are outside of our control. Let us focus on the steps you can take to lower your risk of chronic inflammation. You have the ability to take charge and improve your health! Where can you start? The best ways to prevent or combat these health problems and decrease chronic inflammation are through oral health, exercise and proper nutrition.[2 & 3]]
Oral Health: Brushing your teeth twice per day, along with regular flossing, can have the highest impact on good oral health. Eliminating tobacco and nicotine products in any form is vital to oral health and prevention of gum inflammation and/or periodontal disease. Tobacco and nicotine cause inflammation and inhibit the body’s ability to fight infection. [2, 3, 4]
Exercise: Moving your body can help decrease stress, which has been linked to chronic inflammation. Additionally, exercise lowers several molecules that contribute to inflammation. Cytokines are one of these molecules. They are a protein which is responsible for creating an immune response. This is appropriate in fighting germs and infections. However, when there are too many cytokines in the body, this creates chronic inflammation. [5, 6].
Nutrition: An anti-inflammatory diet is key in giving the body proper “tools” to fight foreign disruptors known as free radicals. Free radicals are unstable molecules which can cause a number of negative chain reactions in the body because they steal a needed electron from surrounding cells. [7] These foreign invaders are a major cause of inflammation.
3 Nutrition Tips to Prevent or Heal Chronic Inflammation
- Increase intake of foods rich in antioxidants. Antioxidants are amazing in their ability to respond to and neutralize a foreign substance before it negatively impacts your health [8]. They pair well with free radicals because they too have an extra electron.[7] Food sources for antioxidants in your diet are much more effective than supplements in the form of a pill. Great food sources of antioxidants include: broccoli, bell peppers, citrus fruits, almonds, avocados, sunflower seeds, cantaloupe, mango, salmon, eggs, onions and many others. Additional information about antioxidants and their benefits can be here [9]
Eat your veggies! This article by Harvard Health has a great list of vegetables by season which will help keep your grocery bill lower while eating the foods your body needs to stay healthy.
- Decrease the amount of sugar and sweeteners in your diet. [10, 5] It is important to take note of the ingredients in the food you are eating. It can be very confusing to know what food choices are “healthy” and “unhealthy.” Limiting processed or packaged and prepared foods is a simple way to begin. Preparing whole foods yourself limits the preservatives, which decrease the nutrition of the food and increase the things we are hoping to cut out like added sugars, denatured proteins, fillers, etc. Sucralose (sugar) is linked to dental caries, gingivitis, inflammation and a host of chronic inflammatory diseases [11].
- Increasing your Omega 3 fatty acid (anti-inflammatory) intake through food sources provides your body with these essential fatty acids. They are essential because they are used to create cell membranes throughout the body, and our bodies cannot make the types of fat categorized as “essential fatty acids” [12]. Omega 6 is another essential fatty acid, however, most Americans ingest too much Omega 6 and not enough Omega 3. It is important to have them in a proper balance to reduce inflammation and enjoy the benefits from Omega 3 fatty acids [12].
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