You know the drill, you get a splinter or cut and the area gets red, swollen, and painful.
This is due to an immunological bodily response known as inflammation.
While inflammation is the body’s natural way of dealing with injuries or bacteria and helps us to heal, chronic inflammation can do the opposite and significantly increases your risk for heart attacks, Alzheimer’s disease and even cancer.
Ways to treat inflammation
With doctors all over the world making the link between inflammation and all kinds of illnesses, just as much research is being done on different treatments available.
One trip to your local pharmacy and you’ll find countless medications that treat upset stomach (usually caused by excessive stomach acid) and pain relievers (that are usually NSAIDS or non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Doctors are now even looking into the theory that part of how blood pressure medications control hypertension is lowering the levels of certain inflammation producing factors that help to constrict blood vessels in the body.
Preventing inflammation has shown to decrease risk of Alzheimer’s as well as the development of precancerous growths.
Some of the best ways to prevent inflammation can be done easily as part of your daily routine.
Diet
One of the best ways of fighting inflammation is watching what you eat.
A diet heavy in saturated fats such as those found in red meat and dairy have been shown to significantly increase inflammation in the body. While a diet rich with fish and vegetable oils have had just the opposite effect by maintaining a more alkaline environment inside the body.
Fruits and vegetables that are rich in color tend to have the most antioxidants, which is essential in combating inflammation. Inflammation produces free radicals in the body and the antioxidants found in these foods will make quick work of them.
Exercise
Diet combined with proper exercise is not only good for your over all well-being but this one-two punch combo is great at reducing your body’s inflammation.
Just 30 minutes of daily exercise can help burn fat cells.
Fat cells produce inflammatory cytokines especially as you gain weight, burning these fat cells with daily exercise can help guard against the chronic inflammation that can lead to diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
Good oral hygiene
There is a reason your dentist lectures you about the importance of brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing at least once.
Gum disease is one of the most common sources of chronic inflammation in people of all ages. And the best way to treat gum disease is preventing it in the first place by maintaining optimal oral hygiene.
Most of the time inflammation is your body’s natural response to help you.
It’s your body’s natural way of reacting to any bacteria, virus, parasite or foreign substance in order to best protect you. Like most things in life, however, inflammation is best in moderation and not as a chronic condition.
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is something you can do today to make sure you stay healthy tomorrow.
The benefits of naturopathic medicine
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