Cooling Inflammation

Inflammatory response of the body is important. However, research shows that chronic inflammation is at the root of most disease. Cool inflammation, prevent future disease and complement your life with some simple lifestyle changes.

Reduce chronic inflammation in the following ways and the body will release heat, pain and debilitating brain fog.

Eliminate gluten containing grains. Many eliminate all grains and legumes for a period of time as some of the chemical compounds can irritate the gut lining creating an immune response.

Eliminate night shade vegetables, fruits and herbs. These are part of the Solanaceae family Tomatoes, Peppers (all), Eggplant, Potato, (excluding sweet) Goji and Strawberry. Healthy guts can generally tolerate night shade foods.

Maintain a healthy fatty acid balance. Eliminate all industrial seed oils, Soybean, Safflower, Sunflower, Canola and Corn. Omega 6 fatty acids elicit an inflammatory response. Balance is the name of the game here. Healthy oils include olive oil, butter, ghee, coconut oil, pastured rendered fats. Animal proteins should come from organic, pastured and wild caught animals, fish and fowl. A grain dominant diet is an omega 6 dominant diet and that is a recipe for inflammation.

Maintain healthy blood glucose numbers. Fasting glucose between 70-90, post prandial 140 max with a healthy titrate downward. Reduce carbohydrate in the diet by eliminating processed foods and consuming more fruits and vegetables. Consume your fruits and vegetables with a healthy portion of protein and fat. Try not to drink your calories and eat more salads, soups and stews and less sandwiches, pizza and burritos.

Work on your intestinal health. The majority of the population suffers with some form of intestinal permeability at any given time. Poor intestinal integrity leads to undigested foods in the bloodstream creating an immune response. This, at the root of most auto-immune disease. (Alessio Fassano, University of Maryland) The microbiome matters!

Iron and copper metabolism. Iron and copper that is not bound to carrier proteins cause a great deal of oxidative stress thereby creating inflammation. Check your Ceruloplasmin markers to ensure your iron is getting into the cell.

Slow and gentle detoxification through plant foods, red light, movement and saunas. Turmeric can be a nice addition but do be careful as this can raise estrogen in some people.

Sleep and light are two of the most important factors in human health. You can have everything right but if these two are lacking, so too will your healthy response system.