What Is Inflammation, and What Is It Doing to My Health?
Inflammation is a buzzword that has been thrown around a lot lately.
Although inflammation can be harmful when it lasts too long, small amounts of inflammation are absolutely necessary to help your body heal, fight infections, and stay healthy.
This article explains what inflammation is and how it affects your health.
What is inflammation, and how does it affect my health?
Inflammation is a natural process that helps the body heal and fight infections.
When the body triggers inflammation, it makes more white blood cells, immune cells, and chemicals called cytokines. Together, they work to help fight infections (1).
The most common visible signs of inflammation are redness, pain, heat, and swelling.
Unfortunately, inflammation can persist for longer than necessary. This is called chronic inflammation and is linked to many diseases.
A few harmful diseases linked to chronic inflammation include (2, 3):
- Diabetes
- Insulin resistance
- Heart disease
- Liver diseases
- Cancers
Chronic inflammation can also occur when people are stressed or overweight (4).
Eating too much of certain foods has been linked to inflammation, including (5, 6, 7):
- Alcohol
- Refined sugar
- Artificial trans fats
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Processed meats like bacon, sausage, hot dogs, canned meats, and salami
If your diet contains a lot of these foods, it’s time to cut back and take back your health.
Instead, choose more anti-inflammatory foods such as:
- Avocado
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- Fatty fish like salmon, herring, mackerel, and sardines
- Colorful fruit like grapes, cherries, tomatoes, and all berries
- Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, arugula, and bok choy
Aside from your diet, other lifestyle changes you can make to fight inflammation include (8):
- Exercise at least a few times per week
- Get 7–9 hours of restful sleep each night
- Certain supplements like fish oil, green tea, curcumin, spirulina, and resveratrol
Summary
Inflammation is a natural process that helps the body heal and fight infections, but when it becomes chronic it may increase the risk of diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Follow the suggestions above to help fight chronic inflammation and take back your health.
