What's inflammation got to do with it, anyway?
In our almost thirty years of experience in the health industry, we've concluded that inflammation regulation is one of the most crucial keys to a healthy life. Time and time again, we find the focus of our treatment and education of our clients is managing fluid flow in the body, aka inflammation.
Inflammation is a biological response to damage that causes us to swell in order to heal. Acute inflammation occurs when we get hurt or are fighting off an infection. Chronic inflammation occurs over more extended periods of time and is associated with many diseases.
The primary way we develop inflammation is through our diet and gut microbiome. Leaky gut syndrome is associated with an imbalance in the microbiome, causing chronic inflammation.
Inflammation is a biological response to damage, that causes us to swell in order to heal.
Inflammation is a biological response to damage that causes us to swell in order to heal. It's a natural part of our immune system and helps us fight off infection, disease, and trauma. Inflammation is your body's reaction to an irritant—an ankle sprain, for example—to prevent further damage. When you get hurt, damaged tissue can't fully heal until the inflammationresolves itself by removing dead cells and fluids around the wound site so that new tissue can form there instead. Another example is environmental allergens. The allergen enters our body, and our immune system responds with a cascade of chemical reactions to clear the irritant from the system.
There are different types of inflammation: acute (short term - less than two weeks), subacute (medium term - two weeks to three months), and chronic (long term - longer than three months). Acute inflammation typically happens due to injury or infection; it usually lasts just days or weeks before resolving entirely by itself without any treatment. Subacute inflammation occurs in response to low-level irritation over more prolonged periods. Chronic inflammation lasts even longer than subacute but is often caused by long-term exposure to irritants in the diet, poor lifestyle choices, stress, damaged tissue, or environmental irritants.
Dr. Robert H. Shmerling, medical editor of Understanding Inflammation from Harvard Health Publishing and an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, says, "Inflammation is like a car's dashboard engine light. It tells you that something is wrong. But your response is not to take out the bulb because that's not the problem. Instead, you look at what caused the light to turn on. It's the same with inflammation," "It's telling you that something bigger is going on that requires attention."
Chronic inflammation occurs over more extended periods of time and is associated with many diseases.
The focus of this blog is on chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation is a condition that can lead to many different diseases, and these include:
Heart disease
Type 2 diabetes
Cancer (including breast cancer)
Autoimmune Disease
insulin resistance
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Osteoarthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis
A variety of factors cause chronic inflammation.
Some of them are:
Diet - A diet high in saturated fats and trans fats, refined carbohydrates, and refined sugar can contribute to chronic inflammation. Another source of inflammation is omega-6 fatty acids. These irritants are the primary sources of cooking oils from seeds, such as canola, soy, safflower, sunflower, corn, and generic vegetable oil. Omega-six fatty acids promote the production of arachidonic acid, which causes chronic inflammation. Ultra-processed foods are also major sources of inflammation and often have seed oils. Ultra-processed foods have been heavily processed and contain many artificial ingredients, including added sugars, saturated and trans fats, and preservatives like non-naturally occurring food colorings. They are often high in calories and low in nutrients and may contain additives such as flavorings, dyes, preservatives, and texturizers. It is estimated that 60% of Americans only eat an ultra-processed diet! Examples of ultra-processed foods include:
Frozen meals (e.g., frozen pizzas, microwaveable dinners)
Sodas and other sweetened beverages
Instant noodles and soups
Processed meats (e.g., hot dogs, bacon)
Pre-made sauces and condiments.
Fast foods
Foods that contain high fructose corn syrup
In general, foods that are found in plastic containers or wrapping.
Chronic psychological/emotional stress also promotes chronic inflammation because it has been shown that certain hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline (our most common stress hormones), stimulate pro-inflammatory cytokines (chemical messengers). These hormones can stimulate the production and release of white blood cells from the bone marrow, where they are produced, into the bloodstream. This increase in white blood cells can help the body fight off infection or injury in the short term, as white blood cells are a key immune system component. These hormones can also promote inflammation, which helps in the healing process of injuries. When the stress is chronic, the body never gets the signal to stop the production of inflammatory chemicals, resulting in systemic inflammation. When these chemicals are used too often over time, they become destructive agents instead of healing agents, resulting in chronic pain, tissue weakness, and vulnerability. Lifestyle choices such as lack of sleep, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, etc., also contribute to an increased risk of developing chronic illnesses and pain caused by increased production levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Gut microbiome- Our gut microbiome comprises bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in our digestive tract. These microbes play an important role in digestion, immune function, and even mental health. Changes in the gut microbiome can change how specific genes are expressed (i.e., turned on), making people more likely to develop chronic inflammation and diseases like cancer or diabetes as they age.
Diet can affect chronic inflammation in the gut microbiome.
If you're trying to reduce chronic inflammation, consider what's on your plate. Diet is the primary influence on the gut microbiome, which could be why certain foods are linked with inflammation.
Diet can have a significant impact on the health of the microbiome and, in turn, on chronic inflammation. A diet high in processed foods, added sugars, and saturated fats can lead to an imbalance in the gut microbiome, promoting inflammation. On the other hand, a diet rich in organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fermented foods can help promote a healthy balance of gut bacteria, which can help reduce inflammation.
One of the biggest challenges we face as a society is the poisoning of our food supply.
Glyphosate (commercially known as Roundup), a herbicide used in farming, has been found to impact the gut microbiome and can lead to inflammation. Glyphosate is still legal in the U.S., while numerous European countries have banned it. It is found in many processed and non-organic foods. Glyphosate can disrupt the balance of gut bacteria and may lead to an overgrowth of harmful bacteria. Studies have shown that exposure to glyphosate can increase the risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other gut-related disorders.
Other lifestyle factors that can influence the microbiome are:
Environment: The environment in which a person lives can also influence their microbiome. For example, people who live in more rural areas tend to have a more diverse microbiome than those in urban areas. People who spend more time outdoors have a more diverse microbiome. Gardening provides exposure to tons of beneficial bacteria in the soil. Getting your hands dirty can have a significant benefit!
Antibiotic use: Antibiotics can alter the microbiome by killing off certain types of bacteria. This can lead to an imbalance in the microbiome and may increase the risk of many health problems.
Birth method: How a person is born (e.g., vaginal delivery vs. cesarean section) can also influence their microbiome. Babies born via vaginal delivery are exposed to bacteria from the mother's birth canal, which may help to establish a healthy microbiome.
Aging: The microbiome changes over time. As a person ages, the diversity of their microbiome may decrease, increasing the risk of many health problems. In particular, we see a decline in a specific bacteria called Bifidobacteria.
Leaky gut syndrome is associated with chronic inflammation.
Leaky gut syndrome, also known as intestinal permeability, is a condition where the lining of your intestines becomes inflamed from chronic exposure to inflammatory irritants like ultra-processed foods, seed oils, and glyphosate. Several factors, including psychological and emotional stress, diet, and infections, can cause this. Some medications, such as antibiotics, can also cause it to flare up since the job of an antibiotic is to wipe out bacteria. When we develop a leaky gut, the permeability of the lining of the intestines allows bacteria, proteins, toxins, and other under-digested food substances to leak through the lining of the intestine into the bloodstream. Once those proteins enter the bloodstream, they provoke our immune system to respond with inflammation in an attempt to clear the "pathogen" from our blood. Once the inflammation is chronically present in our blood, we have the breeding ground for autoimmune diseases and other illnesses.
Additionally, as inflammation circulates chronically in the blood, it affects other critical protective barriers in our body, like the brain and lungs. Those organs have a natural protection mechanism that prevents foreign substances from entering from the bloodstream. Still, under chronic inflammation, they, too, become permeable and allow the inflammation to develop in both the brain and lungs. While it's another blog post all to itself, it's our opinion that Long COVID and numerous neurocognitive diseases result from leaky gut syndrome.
Arthritis - chronic inflammation
Another type of chronic inflammation that affects our joints is arthritis.
Arthritis is a chronic inflammatory process in the joints of the body. The term arthritis refers to conditions that affect the joints, such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Arthritis affects over 30 million people in the United States alone. While many people think that arthritis is joint pain or pain due to injury, it's actually much more than that: it's a condition where inflammation affects the joints and surrounding tissues. This inflammation can lead to pain, swelling, stiffness, and loss of function in your joints—and it doesn't stop there! Your whole body may suffer from chronic systemic inflammation when it affects the connective tissue (like tendons, ligaments, muscles, and cartilage).
Chronic inflammation weakens all tissue in the body, making them less resilient to stress and more likely to be injured from trauma. We have seen over and over in our careers that certain people have multiple joint replacements and chronic injuries and are dealing with chronic, systemic inflammation.
Given all ofour injuries and surgeries, we're living examples of this process. It's taken us almost twenty years to figure this out, and the amount of suffering we've had during those injuries and subsequent recoveries has forced us to look deeper than the mainstream medical options provided.
Suppose we had followed what the doctors we have worked with for our injuries suggested. In that case, we'd be addicted to pain medication, taking sedatives to calm us down to allow us to sleep, and sitting on the couch trying to protect ourselves from further decline!
Conclusion
Inflammation is a natural process that our bodies use to fight infections and heal wounds and injuries. It happens when cells release chemicals called cytokines in response to injury or illness. These cytokines cause blood vessels to widen, bringing more white blood cells from the bone marrow into the affected area so they can fight off harmful invaders. But when the body's natural process gets out of control and inflammation becomes chronic from leaky gut syndrome, we make ourselves more susceptible to chronic disease and pain. In our next blog, we'll discuss probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics and what you can do to minimize the permeability of the intestinal lining and thus decrease systemic inflammation to improve our overall health and feeling of well-being, reduce pain, and improve mental health.