Five Ways To Reduce Inflammation Naturally
What happened the last time you felt pain in your body? Did you reach for an ibuprofen or go to your doctor for a prescription drug? If so, you may have suppressed your single most essential bodily function for healing. Too often we think of inflammation as something to get rid of and instead choose to medicate our pain, swelling, or stiffness with drugs like Advil or Celebrex in an attempt to relieve the discomfort. However, what you might not know is that inflammation is, in fact, a critically important defense mechanism. It's our natural siren to alert us that a body part needs attention -- much like the call from the firehouse, which moves firefighters to action.
Inflammation works in two main ways: primary and chronic. The primary pathway works on detoxification and repair. This is a symptom-less pathway when it is efficient. Every day when you walk, exercise, eat, or breathe the body needs to cleanse and eliminate the build up of toxins and repair any cellular injury that has occurred. When primary inflammation is hard at work, you will not experience any pain or even be aware it is occurring.
When the primary pathway of inflammation falls short, then the secondary pathway steps in. Secondary inflammation, or what you may know as chronic inflammation, is a pathway of protection. It protects your cells from rapid destruction by allowing the tissue to change and adapt to the on-going stress in the area and can cause pain, swelling, stiffness and loss of function that signals to us that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. This is when most patients will self-medicate or come to the doctor for help. Unfortunately, when chronic inflammation remains for long periods of time and is not addressed adequately, it will cause the expression of genes that lead to degenerative conditions such as coronary artery disease, arthritis, cancer and others.
While in many cases, anti-inflammatory medications are prudent and potentially life saving in patients with certain conditions such as cardiovascular disease (for example aspirin has been shown to prevent heart attacks) and auto-immune inflammations (when treated with anti-inflammatory medications, these patients can experience improved quality of life), it is still very common for doctors and patients to take a rather cavalier attitude toward prescribing and consuming these medications. It is important to note that anti-inflammatory medication is not without side effects. One problem is that in suppressing inflammation, the medicine is disabling the body's ability to detoxify, repair, and protect itself. In addition, the medication itself is a toxin that needs to be eliminated through the pathway of primary inflammation, when that pathway would be better spent taking care of the body's natural needs.
Anybody on a prescription anti-inflammatory medication is required by their physician to take periodic liver function blood tests. Why? Because the drugs are suppressing not only the chronic inflammation which causes pain, but also the primary pathway of inflammation, which, as you know is responsible for detoxifying our cells. When the liver is unable to detoxify expediently, then the cells of the liver will become damaged. The result? Liver toxicity. Other common side effects such as internal bleeding and drug interactions must be closely looked for.
It's not that I am suggesting that you live your life in pain. But you can now see, every time we use a medication that suppresses inflammation, we are effectively suppressing detoxification, repair of the cells, and protection of injured tissues. What I am suggesting is that you become a responsible advocate for your own good health. Relying on a lifetime of medication alone will not improve your health. Optimizing your health depends on understanding the mechanisms that are responsible for your body's need to maintain a chronic inflammatory approach. Often, an integrative physician who combines traditional and holistic principles to treat patients can identify these reasons. By ordering certain lab tests as well as examining the patient's diet, lifestyle and environmental influences on health, many mechanisms can be uncovered and addressed.
So what can we do to help our bodies heal without suppressing inflammation? The answer is to decrease the need for chronic inflammation in our bodies.
*Here are just a few suggestions for reducing chronic inflammation:
1. The primary pathway of inflammation is built primarily from Omega 3 fatty acids. Taking supplements rich in these natural nutrients assists the body in having a more profound primary inflammatory response and at the same time, it minimizes the chronic inflammation responsible for pain and suffering. (Nordic Naturals - 1000 mg 3x a day containing a minimum of 300 mg EPA and 200 mg DHA)
2. Taking supplements rich in plant enzymes such as bromelain assist the body as catalysts for the repair of our cells. Taken on an empty stomach, these enzymes can break down the byproducts of inflammation thus clearing the way for cellular repair. (Bromelain Plus 6 - 250-500mg 3x a day)
3. Efficient inflammation depends on a healthy immune system. 70% of the cells of our immune system are found in the gastrointestinal tract. These cells are fed by short chain fatty acids (that do not exist in nature), which are the result of fermentation of complex carbohydrates -- whole grains, vegetables, beans -- by the friendly bacteria (probiotics) of our intestinal lining. So it is essential for anyone suffering with inflammation to take an ample supply of probiotics on a daily basis. (Theralac Probiotic - 20 billion CFU daily)
4. Consuming a diet low in Omega 6-rich foods like meat, dairy, baked goods, flour products, and grains (basically the standard American diet), is also helpful when looking to relieve inflammation. Although Omega 6 fatty acids are essential in any diet because they are the building blocks of chronic inflammation (which helps the body protect itself when it can't repair itself efficiently), it will cause the immune system to bypass primary inflammation and default into chronic inflammation, when consumed in excess.
5. Since we require water to serve as the vehicle for all chemical reactions in the body as well as to flush out toxins, proper hydration becomes paramount (the daily requirement varies from individual to individual, consult your physician for what's right for you). I am not talking about dehydrating liquids such as caffeinated beverages and alcohol, but rather, clean, fresh water preferably filtered, distilled, or from a reliable spring.
There are many things that influence inflammation and many other things that you can do (in addition to these 5 recommendations) to keep inflammation working efficiently in your body and minimizing the uncomfortable and often disabling effects of chronic inflammation.
My next blog: 5 more things you need to know about inflammation.
*If you are taking any prescription medications or anti-coagulants, check with your physician before following any of these recommendations.
Follow Dr. Robert A. Kornfeld on Twitter: www.twitter.com/holfoot153
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why all the combat? what are you combatting
Look, folks...th
Besides, they don't call it a medical PRACTICE for no reason...
The best natural fix I've found for inflammation is serratiotpeptidase (also known as serrapetase). That long name refers to a natural protein enzyme that the silk moth uses to break down its cocoon. It works throughout the body to break up cellular debris left over after inflammation has subsided. This debris collects and can reaggravate inflammation. I like Nutri-Health's AthroZyme, which contains serratiopeptidase.
- Anna M
http://blo
so... let me get this straight! I should ORDER as quick as I can, these supplements you advise.. WHICH YOU PROBABLY OWN A HUGE STAKE.... GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!!!!!
You should check the links. They direct you to places you can buy the supplements directly from the companies. Dr. Kornfeld does not own any stake in them at all!
Got pain? Got inflammation? High Blood Pressure? and more? many aches and pains, chronic ailments can be greatly minimized or even done away with drinking the proper amount of pure water every day
visit www.waterc
PS: mainstream docs will try to convince you otherwise because of millions of Americans knew this info and really did, our health care costs would drop significantly (and if we all ate less of the processed food etc.)
Thank you for your post Dr. Kornfeld on inflammation. It gave me some insights and I've enjoyed reading the comments from your readers. Looking forward to learning more about inflammation on your next blog post.
I thought you'd find this new take on omega-3s interesting: http://www
An osteopath practicing classical manipulative medicine will do a whole lot more to reduce chronic inflammation than these suggestions (which certainly will help some). Chronic inflammation results when the normal healing response is trapped -- 9 times out of 10 by a scar, which resulted from a surgery. Doctors are more harmful than germs. http://www
This is completely nonsensical and has zero basis in human anatomy and physiology.
Andrew Taylor Still, MD: “… order [structure] and health are inseparable …when order in all parts is found, disease cannot prevail. …”
Still, MD, Andrew Taylor. Philosophy of Osteopathy. Inter Linea™ eBook ed. (2005). Still Project. Kirksville, MO: A.T. Still, 1899. http://www
Three layers of human tissue development, interrelated, and they are called the GERM layers. We would not take physical form without them. Ectoderm, mesoderm, endoderm.
if classical osteopathy has no basis in human anatomy, can you explain why the skull is made up of more than 20 bones that are hinged together?
What a misleading and one-sided article. Supplement
You're simply wrong about supplements. Most people don't eat a healthy, plant-based diet, so they need to supplement. Plus, the food grown today does not have nearly the level of nutrients found in foods even a few decades ago. And people with health conditions simply need higher levels of nutrients than they are likely to get even in the healthiest diet. Look up any vitamin or mineral in the National Library of Medicine database - Medline - and you'll see that there's plenty of research backing up their use. Now, whether or not all manufacturers are producing good supplements is another question, but the need for them really is not.
At this point, there is no evidence that healthy individuals need supplements, with the _possible_ exception of vitamin D, and the jury's still out on that. Vitamin E, which was touted for years as a valuable anti-oxidant, has recently been shown to actually be harmful. From the American Cancer Society cancer.orgg):
"Another large clinical trial published in 2005 also found no risk reduction for heart disease or cancer overall. It even suggested that heart failure was slightly more common among people taking vitamin E. A 2007 review of 68 studies of antioxidant vitamin supplements found that people taking vitamin E supplements had a shorter life expectancy than those who did not take these supplements. "
Speak for yourself.
I rely on Nordic Naturals' Omega 3-6-9 to help manage chronic pain in the area of my c-spine and shoulders from two auto accidents; two hemi-corpectomies; a discectomy; arthrodesis; and myalgia I will probably have to live with the rest of my life.
I chose Nordic Naturals upon my spinal doctor's recommendation, and after researching my options.
As a post-menopausal woman, I also enjoy its cardiovascular benefits.
I agree. If your diet isn't providing you enough omega 3 or probiotics change your diet. Because there is no regulation regarding supplements, how do you know what your putting in your body?
I thought whole-grain bread or pasta is good for you, but now they're part of the evil omega-6 gang? I'm so frickin' confused.
No. Whole grains are good for you. And if you bake, use stone ground which contains even more omegas.
It's the refined white flours and grains that are bad. The bleach flour and white rice.
While sugar isn't good for you, honey is better than refined white sugar. And everything is better than High Fructose Corn syrup. Avoid that stuff.
Cooking from scratch at least allows you to monitor the amount of not so good stuff you consume. If you're going to eat bread, better a whole grain home made one than a refined white one from the store.
BTW, check you fridge. You'll fine HFCS in your ketchup, your yoghurt, your bologna. And it's in your bread. It's not just in the cookies. To avoid it try Kosher, imports and organic natural but still read the label.
The only evidence-based recommendation in this article is the omega-3 fatty acid supplement, which probably is beneficial to many individuals, although its effect on inflammatory activity may or may not be the mechanism by which it works. The rest of the advice is based on speculation and is not properly validated scientifically. On the other hand, it probably isn't harmful, and you may get a good placebo buzz from it.
A search for bromelain and inflammation in Medline produces 71 studies. Do you make these pronouncements off the top of your head? Is that what you consider "evidence based"?
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