Hi Gorgeous,
Trying to decode the signals our bodies send us can feel like a giant puzzle sometimes. Why do we feel great some days and crappy on others? And what do those nagging symptoms really mean?
I know how frustrating this kind of uncertainty can be. You want (and deserve!) to feel great. And you can. It all starts with connecting the dots between your lifestyle choices—the foods you eat, how much sleep and exercise you get, the stressors you face on a daily basis—and your overall well-being.
Because the truth is, those internal and external influences have the power to nourish us, but they can also trick our bodies into thinking they’re under attack and send our immune systems into total chaos. That’s the root of chronic inflammation, which is exactly what I want to talk with you about today!
Over the past decade, I’ve renovated everything from my grocery cart to my makeup bag to my mind in an effort to upgrade my immune system. And as I moved from a stressful life full of fast food, toxins and bad boyfriends to a more balanced existence filled with plant-based nourishment, inner growth and conscious living, I started experiencing the perks—chronic inflammation decreased and my body started working with me to heal and rebuild.
Want to start connecting the dots in your own life? First, let’s learn about acute and chronic inflammation, since they play very different roles in our everyday health.
What is inflammation?
Acute inflammation is your body’s natural and helpful immune response to tissue damage. When you fall off your bike, the cut swells, reddens and feels… inflamed! These are all signs that your immune system is busy at work sending white blood cells to the site of your injury to repair the tissue. In this situation, inflammation is our friend—we couldn’t live without it.
Chronic inflammation is your body’s confused and damaging immune response to a barrage of environmental, physical and mental invaders, which come in the form of things like poor diet, toxic chemicals and stress. I’ve written about chronic inflammation in all of my books because it’s such a major (and often unrecognized) factor in our health challenges. It’s also the type of inflammation we’re focusing on today. Here’s chronic inflammation in a nutshell from my cookbook, Crazy Sexy Kitchen:
…There’s a silent (yet violent) kind of inflammation that can take place without you even knowing it. What you eat, drink, and think (stress!), environmental toxins, smokin’, booz- in’, and even a couch-potato lifestyle can create a fiery cascade of inflammation in your body. When your body hits an inflammatory overload, your defense system gets so overwhelmed and confused that it literally doesn’t know the difference between the invader and you. As a result, your well-meaning immune system turns on itself, destroying healthy cells, tissue, and everything else in its wake. It’s like when Al Pacino played Tony Montana in Scarface. He mows down everything in sight, yelling, “Say hello to my little friend!”
The dangers of chronic inflammation
Over time, chronic inflammation wears out your immune system, which may lead to chronic diseases and other health issues, including cancer, asthma, autoimmune diseases, allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, osteoporosis and even (gasp!) appearing older than your years. Unfortunately, these challenges are often only treated with drugs and surgery, which may provide temporary relief from the symptoms, but do not treat the root of the problem. In addition, these drugs (and their side effects) sometimes only add to your health problems.
Could it be that many of the pills in your cabinet are just band-aids and that the key to health lies in your daily diet and lifestyle choices? That’s certainly what I’ve found to be true.
But I’ve got good news! There are plenty of simple practices you can incorporate into your daily life to fight chronic inflammation. Here are my top 5 anti-inflammatory tips to get you started.
5 simple ways to kick chronic inflammation’s butt
1. Eat more whole, plant-based, nutrient-dense foods.
Crowd out the foods that cause inflammation (refined sugar and flour, processed junk, animal products, etc.) by eating a beautiful cornucopia of whole, plant-based foods. Dark leafy greens, tomatoes, nuts, berries (cherries in particular), olive and flax oil, hemp seeds, turmeric (or more specifically, curcumin, which is a naturally occurring chemical with anti-inflammatory properties), and ginger are all anti-inflammatory powerhouses. Eating them on a regular basis will flood your body with the vitamins, minerals, cancer-fighting phytochemicals, antioxidants, fiber and other goodies it needs to recover from chronic inflammation.
Here are a few of my favorite recipes with some of those inflammation-fighting ingredients:
- Turmeric Milk
- Classic Green Lemonade
- Antioxidant Boost Smoothie
- Tomatoes & Herbs
- Crazy Sexy Kale Salad
There’s more where that came from—my cookbooks, Crazy Sexy Kitchen and Crazy Sexy Juice, are both packed with delicious anti-inflammatory recipes!
Oh, and don’t forget to stay hydrated. Proper hydration helps decrease inflammation and can even prevent it from happening in the first place, so drink up, buttercup!
2. Get down with your gut!
Your gut holds approximately 60-70 percent of your immune system, so it’s a great place to start if you want to reduce chronic inflammation. And if your gut is in bad shape, your immune system might be in some serious trouble. One easy way to start improving your gut health is by adding a high quality probiotic to your daily routine. The FloraMend Prime Probiotic from Thorne Research, Ultimate Flora from Renew Life and Jarro-Dophilus EPS from Jarro Formulas are some of my personal faves. And if you want more tips and resources to help you take care of your gut health, check out my post here!
If you’re experiencing prolonged bloating, gas or other digestive discomforts, taking digestive enzymes with meals can help you get more nutrition out of your food, as well as improving digestion and boosting your immune system. Check out my blog here for more info on digestive enzymes, prebiotics and probiotics!
Another potential explanation for inflammatory symptoms could be leaky gut syndrome. This condition may occur if your intestinal lining is damaged, therefore allowing bacteria, undigested food and other toxins to literally “leak” into your bloodstream. The leak triggers an autoimmune response and a host of painful inflammatory symptoms. If you think you may have leaky gut, ask your doc to help you get a test done!
3. Find an integrative MD you trust, and work together to identify potential food sensitivities and chronic (or hidden) infections.
Speaking of doctors, finding the right one is a critical part of nipping chronic inflammation in the bud. A good integrative MD will take a holistic approach by looking at your habits and the way you lead your life, then helping you identify and address possible chronic inflammation triggers. Here are two in particular that they might be on the lookout for:
Food sensitivities: Gluten, soy, dairy, eggs and yeast are just a few of the common problem foods that might be wreaking havoc on your immune system every time you sit down for a meal. If you think you might have a sensitivity or allergy, start paying close attention to what you’re eating and how it makes you feel. If your symptoms persist, fill your doc in on what you notice— they may suggest a blood test or elimination diet. You can find more info about food allergies and sensitivities here.
Chronic infection: Bacteria, viruses, yeast, parasites—oh my! These guys could be hiding out in your body just under the radar and dragging your immune system down. If chronic infection is a suspect in your inflammation mystery, your doc may ask for blood work and/or a stool sample to analyze. Yes, your poop say has a lot to about what’s goin’ on inside, so listen up!
4. Relax and rest more.
Your body is hard at work repairing and restoring your glorious cells while you sleep. Most doctors recommend 7-8 hours of sleep per night. If you’re cutting corners in the snooze department, you’re cheating your immune system, which means it needs to kick into high gear in an effort to keep you well (hello, inflammation!).
Stress goes hand in hand with a lack of sleep and a laundry list of demands in our daily lives. Unfortunately, when you’re stressed out all the time, you’re also producing more of the hormone cortisol—inflammation’s BFF. You can reduce chronic inflammation by focusing on stress reduction, whether it’s through more sleep, yoga, meditation, long walks, less technology or a much needed vacation. You know I love to take every opportunity I can to remind you to take a chill pill!
I will absolutely be trying that vegan penna la vodka.
Thank you for posting about inflammation!!! I’ve been swollen for nearly the last 10 years of my life because of food and environmental allergies I didn’t know I had. I found an amazing allergist that takes a whole body approach – reduce the intake of allergens AND we do frequent blood panels to measure levels like thyroid, kidney, liver function. He put me on a rotation diet to reset my body’s reaction to foods I’m allergic to – it’s gonna take from 2 to 3 years, I believe my future self will thank me. I was wanted to share with you a few great tips about inflammation and some of the stuff I’ve learned along the way. Yeast is a body beating beast!!!! An easy way for removal (after I started eliminating processed sugars) I took a spoonful of oregano oil every night for a few weeks before bed. I’ve also heard grape seed oil helps kill it in the body, too. As for probiotics, I Enzymedica (Digest Gold + Probiotics). I don’t take it daily, though, only when my stomach isn’t feeling great or even before I eat food someone else has prepared to help smooth digestion in case they’ve used something I’m allergic to. Again, THANK YOU FOR THIS ARTICLE!!!! I blog about this very thing that I’m fighting in my own life and having a community to refer back to is a blessing. 🙂 My blog also is http://allergyfeet.blogspot.com – I have lots of recipes for food and homemade products to reduce any and all inflammation from allergic reactions.
YES! YES! YES! After TWO straight years of CHRONIC pain and inflammation, I finally found someone who could give me an answer!! PARASITES, LEAKY GUT AND YEAST! Which also led to my autoimmune disorder. Finally on the way to healing this thing and hopefully getting out of pain once and for all! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
What a great article! I have had fantastic success over the past year with #5 – reducing toxins in my personal care products. I have struggled with cystic acne since age 9 (I’m now 36), but no doctor ever shared with me how the products they were recommending (Cetaphil, Purpose, Clinique, etc.) could actually do more to exacerbate and inflame my acne versus make it go away. It was EWG’s Skin Deep database and a good friend that led me to start using Ava Anderson Non-Toxic’s skin care line, and my acne has been reduced to a point where it is nearly gone. No more cystic acne for me! The transformation has finally given me the self-esteem I had always longed for! I’m starting to use more and more of Ava’s products and each one that I purchase replaces a toxic product in my home. My skin is more radiant and my home has never been cleaner. I am so happy! Less inflammation AND less clutter sure are a win-win for me.:)
I am struggling with the acne thing too..did you do anything else to heal this aside from using these skin products? I use organic skin products and am very careful to read up on toxic ingredients- but may have to try this one.
I have an issue with acne, but it’s entirely hormonal – it occurs at a certain time during the month – and I can feel my face feeling greasier. It’s like clockwork. Every month. I had another problem that I looked up a home remedy for – they said to try apple cider vinegar. It cured the issue I had originally taken it for, but I also noticed the monthly acne blowup didn’t happen this month. It’s only been a month, going to wait and see what else happens. Hope this is an ongoing cure for me. Too soon to tell though.
Hi Leanne,
I read Loren Cordain’s Paleo Diet book a year ago and have been off all grains, dairy and sugar since reading the book. Changing my diet has had a wonderful effect on my skin and I have had very few breakouts. I have noticed in particular that dairy has a devastating impact on my skin. When in transit on holidays recently I had to make do with a salad that had feta in it. The next day I had two pimples emerge. My skin had been perfection for months and months. My skin is very scarred as a result of acne and I wish I had known the link between dairy and acne 30 years ago when I was a teenager. I have found getting stressed about things is definitely a trigger for acne too. I would definitely recommend giving up dairy/grains/sugar and see what happens.
My rheumatoid arthritis is gone and psoriasis is almost gone too. I find anything that raises my blood sugar levels really impacts on my inflammation levels/pain in my joints…it can be something as seemingly natural and harmless as a cherry or lychee so I’ve had to keep my fruit levels low too. I also try to stick to low saturated fat meats like fish, chicken and turkey as I find fatty meats impact on inflammation as well.
I’ve had furuncles (mostly on my butt) since I was very small, not much more then a baby. I had them all the time and often several at a time. They are something I got from my mothers father, who died age 42, when he was so ill from furuncles, the doctors decided to operate him. They shouldn’t have done that. Any way, I had them for many, many years, untill I was in my mid thirties. At that time I realized that I always got furuncles when I ate pigs meat and that they started to heal when I did not eat anything with pig in it. So I stopped eating pigs meat and ta da! No more furuncles. That’s about 20 years ago now and I have been fine ever since.
Nobody ever told me that pigs meat could do that (although the German word for furuncles is “Schweinsbeule” which means pigs furuncle and that probably should give you a hint), but I can’t imagine that my grandpa and I are the only ones reacting to pigs meat in that way, so if you have furuncles, see if you can get rid of them by not eating pig.
It seams like I can’t post any thing on your site. First I got at message about an internal error and now I get a message that it looks like I’ve already posted my comment. But it doesn’t show up. So here it comes again:
As a comment to Erins comment I would like to share my experience: I’ve had furuncles (mostly on my butt) since I was very small, not much more then a baby. I had them all the time and often several at a time. They are something I got from my mothers father, who died age 42, when he was so ill from furuncles, the doctors decided to operate him. They shouldn’t have done that. Any way, I had them for many, many years, untill I was in my mid thirties. At that time I realized that I always got furuncles when I ate pigs meat and that they started to heal when I did not eat anything with pig in it. So I stopped eating pigs meat and ta da! No more furuncles. That’s about 20 years ago now and I have been fine ever since.
Nobody ever told me that pigs meat could do that (although the German word for furuncles is “Schweinsbeule” which means pigs furuncle and that probably should give you a hint), but I can’t imagine that my grandpa and I are the only ones reacting to pigs meat in that way, so if you have furuncles, see if you can get rid of them by not eating pig.
Thank You so much Kris, You are an angel from heaven .
Great article. My husband is a chiropractor and I work in the office. I can’t count the number of patients who come in with severe inflammation. I will pass this on.
Kris I teach parents who have children (very young to late teens) that have learning, behavior and mood challenges how to help their children overcome this without prescribed drugs.
Parents are amazed to learn about the role that stress and inflammation plays in triggering these problems. They also delighted to discover that their child does not have a ‘disorder’ – a word that mainstream doctors use too often for children who struggle to learn, feel good or behave in appropriate ways. Unfortunately doctors are treating the external symptoms and not the underlying root causes and so millions of children are being medicated, rather than looking for what is causing the stress and inflammation. Once we find and treat the root cause/s, the so-called ‘learning or mood or behavior disorder’ goes away. I am so glad that you are informing others about inflammation. I love the way you write and the amazing information you share. Thanks!
Wow..the Universe has been sending me many messages lately about inflammation (this article being one of them!), and I see myself with many indicators this could be behind some of my unresolved health issues. I have done so many things to heal around diet, cleaning up my thoughts, and growing spiritually, and still some issues hang around, and new ones are popping up. I just got tested for food allergies with my Naturopath, I suspect I may have some food intolerance’s/allergies that are hindering my healing. Allergies=inflammation. I hope I am onto something!
I listened to your podcast with Gabrielle Bernstein yesterday about Meditating in the kitchen. Loved it so much…love your teachings, you are a true inspiration!
Negative emotions like fear, anxiety, anger, hatred, jealousy, bitterness, unforgiveness, guilt and self-hatred all raise stress hormones in the body. And chronic stress suppresses your immune function and promotes inflammation.
Dealing with negative toxic emotions is critical to healing, along with a massive diet and lifestyle change.
Also biopsies and surgery can be a double-edged sword.
50% of cancers (including skin) are cured by surgery alone, but the other 50% aren’t.
As it turns out, the inflammation created by the body to heal a surgical trauma can also be a highly permissive terrain for cancer.
Research at John Wayne Cancer Institute in 2004 demonstrated that breast cancers that are biopsied several weeks before removal resulted in a 50% greater incidence of metastases in sentinel nodes, than those who had no biopsy, only surgery.
This may be the result of cancer cells leaking out of the biopsied tumor which are then fueled by inflammation response of the the would healing process.
I started making changes about 2 months ago. I have mixed connective tissue disease and therefore I don’t need to eat anything that can increase any inflamation, so far I’ve eliminated all dairy except for 2 things and I need to find a replacement for them, I still use half/half with my coffee and I use whey protein powder. I stopped using sugar substitute, I use agave instead, and started with green juice and green smoothies. I now use seltzer water instead of diet soda. I’m working on making all the right changes, I’ve also started buying organics but I’m having a lot of trouble finding organic cucumbers.
Hi Kris!
Thanks for your great articles. What do you believe/know about our ability to heal from food intolerances/allergens? I read your article on healing our gut recently, thought you might have some insight into this. If we were to heal our gut through a plant-based lifestyle, can we eliminate food intolerances?
Kind regards,
Dana
Please check out my website. This type of gardening will change the world. President Clinton is an advocate of The Tower Garden!! Thank you.
Spot on with your advice Kris. If I follow these tips in my daily lifestyle, my asthma and eczema are significantly better. As soon as I get out of this routine for whatever reason, things can flare up again. The more we can integrate this good practice into our usual lifestyle the better equipped we will be to resist the times when this is less easy to follow.
Hear, hear. I’ve been shocked to realize the role that stress alone was playing in my health. I don’t think I ever *really got* how powerful it is until now. Briefly, I have some congenital spinal issues. They are not very serious in the scheme of things; some naturally fused vertebrae and a spinal curve so mild it doesn’t even rate at scoliosis. But, all my adult life, I have become used to some degree of pain. In the past few months, it seemed I’d taken a step function down: I was in serious pain all the time. I have a very, very clean diet and do all of the things Kris says here except for… stress. I was still working 50-60 hours/week at a doomed start-up, an emotionally toxic environment.
Well, I just up and quit my job. Didn’t change anything else. I spent a month not working and now have a contracting job that I have self-limited to 32 hours/week. And guess what? No pain. None. This is the first time since age 18 that I have NOT worked crazy hours and the first time in my adult life with no pain. If that’s how stress was manifesting on the outside of my body, think of what my cells looked like! I don’t care if I make less money; I’m not selling my health (literally selling my body, if you think about it) ever again. I cannot believe the difference just working less and having more control over my time has made in my health.
Now I just have to work on my bruised ego from not being in a “powerful tech” position in organizations that hire me – which is far easier than living in pain, let me tell you! 😉
Great stuff. Thanks, Kris!
I am trying to figure out which probiotic to try out. I currently use an over the counter one but would like to try a better one from the list without suffering any side effects. I tried the Dr. Ohirra pills in the past and I was doubled over in cramps/discomfort for days. So if I have a more sensitive stomach which of the above is best?
Great summary. Low grade inflammation triggered by wrong foods is not yet recognized by the mainstream, we neet to get this information out.
I could have sworn I posted this comment yesterday, but my question is this: Is it still worth it to juice if I can’t juice organically? My husband and I are really trying to save more in other areas so that we can spend more comfortably on all the healthiest of foods, but I hate paying retail and frankly right now I buy what’s on sale, organic or not. Is it still better to juice than not juice if some produce is organic and some is not? I’m always on the fence about this and *hoping* the negatives of conventional produce are outweighed by the positives of juicing, but I’m never 100% sure. Thanks!
Hi, great article on something I’m trying to learn more about. Thanks so much for doing a post about this!!
I already know I have thyroid issues and adrenal fatigue. I suspect I have inflamamation and food allergies too, and am trying to get all this stuff under control. I just moved to a smaller town and am having a hard time finding a doctor to help me with this, much less an integrative type physician. Any ideas are welcome. I went to the metametrix site, but it looks like these are tests your doctor has to request. Is this right?
I am suffering from chronic inflammation, my sister was just diagnosed with lupus disease which we know is an autoimmune issue, my mom has gout, my grandmother had arthritis and I have had aunts uncles and cousins with numerous kinds of cancer..so I know that I need to get my diet and health under control asap…
I just want to say I am so glad I found your website it has been very helpful in my journey to becoming an icon of health for my family
Thank you for this article
Tonya Wallace. . . . AKA Skinnygirl2013