Is Inflammation just a buzzword?

Inflammation is frequently discussed, but often is not considered a key health concern unless you have joint pain or irritable bowels. Inflammation does impact your joints - if you have pain, stiffness, or creakiness, reducing inflammation will make you feel smoother, more fluid.  For your digestion, reducing inflammation will decrease allergies, autoimmune disease, and gastric upset.  

But inflammation matters even more than that. So much more!

What’s the number one cause of mortality that begins to develop in your 30s (actually, based on military autopsies it can begin even earlier)? Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease aka heart disease, high blood pressure, and stroke.

The causative agent in heart disease is inflammation.  Inflammation plays a key role in both the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis which eventually leads to heart attack and stroke. Causative agents are not only the intiatiants of disease, but they are also the areas you can correct now that will make the biggest impact.  

What can you do?

1. Excess sugar and carbohydrates directly provoke inflammation by elevating LDL. Excess sugars are packaged as triglycerides which spill out into the blood in the form of LDL - sticky molecules that adhere to arteries. To protect the body, an inflammation process ensues to create a “scab” along the artery wall to sequester the LDL molecules.  This is the plaque within the arteries. Lowering sugar and carbohydrates will reduce LDL levels and thus plaque levels, and inflammation. Also if you are pre-diabetic, diabetic type 2, or have elevated A1C - lower sugars and carbohydrates to reduce inflammation.
2. Eat anti-inflammatory foods that calm the immune system and promote cell recovery and healing.  These include tomatoes, olive oil, green leafy vegetables, nuts (especially almonds and walnuts), salmon, berries, turmeric, ginger, and cooling spices.
3. Take 15 minutes to slow down daily for systemic stress reduction. This is to recalibrate your nervous system. Resetting the nervous system not only reduces stress in the moment, but lowers how your body registers stressful conditions throughout the day.  Daily slow down activities could be a walk, sitting in quiet, reading a pleasure book, stretching, a bath, a cup of tea, deep breathing, meditation, coloring, drawing, playing a game. 

By eliminating the causative agent, inflammation, you reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease in addition to other diseases linked to inflammation such as - colitis, pancreatitis, arthritis,  and colon, pancreatic, and liver cancers. 

This coming week our food delivery menu will focus on anti-inflammatory foods.  Kick start and boost your health with a week of jolieLife in addition to following the recommendations above.

Julia
​xo