Inflammation 101: How It’s Secretly Destroying Your Body
"Inflammation is a normal response to injury, but chronic inflammation is linked to nearly every major disease, from heart disease to cancer."
—Dr. Paul Ridker
Inflammation is a term you’ve likely heard in various health contexts, from autoimmune diseases to joint pain and even heart disease. But what exactly is inflammation, and why should you care about it? Understanding the difference between acute inflammation and chronic inflammation is crucial for knowing how this immune response affects your body.
Inflammation itself isn’t overly complex, and fortunately, we understand it well. The real issue lies in the mismatch between our modern lifestyle and the one our bodies evolved to thrive in. Sleep deprivation, an inflammatory diet, and limited physical activity all contribute to elevated inflammation levels in the body. While inflammation can sometimes be the cause, and at other times the result, it’s always a clear signal, like a hot, fiery presence, telling us that change is needed.
Today, I’ll break down the biology of inflammation, how it functions as a protective mechanism, and how modern lifestyles can throw it off balance, leading to chronic inflammation that damages your health.
Acute vs. Chronic Inflammation: The Basics
Acute Inflammation: The Body’s Defense System at Work
Acute inflammation is the body’s short-term response to injury or infection. Think of it as your immune system’s first line of defense when something harmful enters your body, like bacteria, viruses, or an injury. Signs of acute inflammation include redness, swelling, heat, pain, and sometimes loss of function. These symptoms are actually a result of increased blood flow to the affected area, bringing immune cells to fight off the infection or repair tissue damage.
Example: If you cut your finger, the area will become swollen and red. This is acute inflammation working to protect the body and promote healing.
Chronic Inflammation: When the Body’s Defense System Turns Against Itself
Chronic inflammation is different. Instead of being a protective response, it becomes a long-term issue that doesn’t resolve. Over time, low-grade inflammation persists in the body, often silently, and can contribute to the development of several chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune conditions. Unlike acute inflammation, chronic inflammation often shows no obvious symptoms, making it harder to recognize until it’s too late.
Example: Conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) involve chronic inflammation, where the immune system attacks healthy tissue, leading to ongoing damage and pain.
The Body’s Original Intent: Why Inflammation Is Necessary
Acute inflammation serves a protective purpose: it’s designed to fight off harmful invaders and promote healing. This is as close as we get to being Wolverine. When you have an infection or injury, your body ramps up its immune system, sending white blood cells to the site of infection and injury. This localized response prevents the spread of harmful pathogens and starts the repair process. Inflammation is a key part of the body’s healing mechanisms.
Without inflammation, infections would go unchecked, and wounds wouldn’t heal. It’s when this process goes haywire, turning chronic, that it becomes a problem. This is one of the reasons I very, very rarely use ice on injuries. It actually impedes the body’s natural healing properties.
How Modern Lifestyles Disrupt Inflammation
While inflammation is necessary for survival, the modern world presents several challenges that can trigger chronic inflammation, leading to a range of health issues. Today, we live in an environment where poor diet, lack of exercise, and chronic stress contribute to persistent inflammation.
Here are a few ways modern lifestyles can disrupt this protective mechanism:
Poor Diet: Highly processed foods, rich in sugar, refined carbohydrates, and seed oils, promote inflammation in the body. Seed oils and sugar are particularly inflammatory, leading to insulin resistance and increasing the risk of diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Chronic Stress: High levels of stress lead to elevated cortisol levels, which in turn increase inflammatory markers in the body. When stress becomes chronic, the body remains in a state of elevated inflammation, which can have long-term health consequences.
Sedentary Lifestyle: Lack of physical activity can lead to an increase in body fat, particularly visceral fat, which is linked to higher levels of inflammatory cytokines. Regular exercise, on the other hand, has been shown to reduce chronic inflammation by improving immune function and reducing oxidative stress.
Sleep Deprivation: Sleep is a crucial period for the body to repair and regulate its systems. Chronic sleep deprivation increases inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), which contribute to long-term inflammation.
The Impact of Chronic Inflammation on Health
Chronic inflammation is often silent but has serious long-term effects, damaging cells, tissues, and organs. Here's how it affects health, with supporting statistics:
Cardiovascular Disease: Chronic inflammation accelerates atherosclerosis, the buildup of plaque in arteries, leading to heart attacks and strokes. People with higher CRP levels are at a greater risk of cardiovascular events compared to those with low CRP levels. One study found that there is a 2- to 3-fold increase in heart disease for those with CRP greater than 1.0 mg. Inflammation also damages blood vessels, increasing the likelihood of heart disease and abnormal blood pressure.
Type 2 Diabetes: Inflammation triggers insulin resistance, a precursor to type 2 diabetes.
Cancer: Chronic inflammation can promote tumor growth and spread. Inflammatory cytokines support cancer cell survival and metastasis. A study linked high levels of CRP to a 20% increased risk of developing the four most common non-skin types of cancer: colorectal, lung, prostate, and breast cancer.
Neurodegenerative Diseases: Neuroinflammation accelerates diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s by damaging brain cells. Chronic inflammation in the brain increases the risk of cognitive decline. Studies have shown that neuroinflammation is a key factor in the development of Alzheimer's, with a 40% higher risk in those with elevated inflammatory markers.
Autoimmune Diseases: Chronic inflammation is central in autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. In these conditions, the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues. In rheumatoid arthritis, inflammation can lead to joint destruction.
Chronic Respiratory Conditions: In diseases like asthma and COPD, inflammation of the airways reduces lung function. Chronic inflammation is linked to worsening symptoms and increased hospitalization rates. In COPD, patients can experience rapid lung function decline due to inflammation.
Kidney Disease: Chronic inflammation contributes to kidney damage and CKD (chronic kidney disease). A study showed that high CRP levels were associated with an increased risk of kidney failure in patients with diabetes, making it a key factor in kidney health deterioration.
Skin Disorders: Inflammation plays a major role in the health of your skin. Chronic inflammation is a primary factor in conditions like psoriasis and eczema. Inflammatory cytokines drive skin cell turnover, leading to scaly patches or rashes. In psoriasis, chronic inflammation increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by 50% due to ongoing systemic inflammation.
Practical Tips to Reduce Chronic Inflammation
Managing chronic inflammation doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s how to make impactful changes in your daily routine:
Eat Anti-Inflammatory Foods: Focus on fruits, vegetables, and lots of dark, leafy greens, which are rich in antioxidants. Incorporate omega-3 fatty acids from fatty fish and anti-inflammatory spices like turmeric and ginger into your meals. These foods help regulate inflammation and protect against chronic disease. Consider supplementing if you don’t get enough of these antioxidants and omega-3s in your diet already.
Avoid Inflammatory Foods: Cut back on processed foods, refined sugars, and seed oils found in snacks, fried foods, and sugary drinks. These foods increase inflammation by promoting oxidative stress and insulin resistance. Swap refined carbs with whole grains and opt for natural sweeteners.
Get Tested and Check Your CRP Levels: Have your CRP levels checked with a simple blood test. A level below 1 mg/L is ideal for reducing inflammation-related diseases. If your levels are higher, it's a signal to take action with diet and lifestyle changes.
Exercise Regularly: Moderate exercise, such as walking or swimming, lowers systemic inflammation. Aim for a minimum of 30 minutes most days of the week. Regular movement helps reduce oxidative stress, improves circulation, and lowers CRP levels.
Manage Stress: Chronic stress drives cortisol production, which fuels inflammation. Practices like yoga, meditation, or even deep breathing can lower cortisol levels and reduce inflammation. Prioritize relaxation time every day while also focusing on cultivating practical mindset improvements like controlling the controllable, cognitive flexibility, and maintaining healthy boundaries.
Get Quality Sleep: Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep nightly. Poor sleep increases inflammatory markers like CRP. A consistent sleep schedule, stopping caffeine intake by noon, and sleeping in a blackout room with a sleep mask can have a profound impact on your overall immune function.
Avoid Smoking and Limit Alcohol: Smoking and excessive alcohol increase oxidative stress and inflammation. Quitting smoking and moderating alcohol intake can significantly reduce your body's inflammatory response and support long-term health.
Incorporate Probiotics and Fiber: A healthy gut microbiome helps regulate inflammation. Include probiotic-rich foods like yogurt, kefir, and fermented vegetables. Fiber-rich foods, such as legumes, fruits, and vegetables, support gut health and help lower systemic inflammation. Here are the minimum recommendations for fiber by age and sex, which most people don’t come close to consuming. Many functional medicine practitioners, however, recommend getting at least 50 grams of fiber a day if you’re an adult.
Women 50 years and younger: 25 to 28 grams
Men 50 years and younger: 31 to 34 grams
Women 51 and older: 22 grams
Men 51 and older: 28 grams
Cold Exposure and Heat Therapy: Cold showers or ice baths have been shown to lower inflammation and speed up muscle recovery. On the flip side, sauna sessions (about 15-20 minutes) can reduce inflammation, improve circulation, and promote detoxification. These are classic forms of hormetic stressors, short bouts of stress that improve your body’s function.
What I Do
Inflammation often acts as the canary in the coal mine for broader health issues, so I make sure I use consistent strategies to keep it in check and stay ahead of potential problems.
Management often comes down to sticking with the basics for a generally healthy lifestyle. Since inflammation is so systemic, affecting many parts of the body, the rule of thumb is: if it’s good for your overall health, it’s likely reducing inflammation, too.
My diet is 90%+ anti-inflammatory, packed with fiber through seeds, 1-2 large salads a day, extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), and a wide variety of plants (many of which I grow myself using my Gardyn). I also use a Supergreens powder to make sure I’m getting all my micronutrients. I avoid the Standard American Diet (SAD), which includes fried foods, seed oils (which are in everything!), excessive sugar (and I try to take a walk afterward if I do eat sugar), gluten, and industrialized foods like factory-farmed meats. Instead, I choose the healthiest options—pasture-raised eggs, wild-caught S.M.A.S.H fish, and grass-fed meats.
I make sure to check my CRP levels regularly to ensure they aren’t creeping up, and I make adjustments as needed.
Exercise is part of my routine—I practice various forms of hormesis (cold exposure, saunas, HIIT, etc.), stretch often to relieve stress, and make meditation and quality sleep a priority. I also limit how much alcohol I consume in one sitting.
Takeaway
Inflammation plays a vital role in protecting the body, but when it becomes chronic, it can lead to severe health problems. Modern lifestyles filled with processed foods, stress, and sedentary habits often disrupt the body’s natural inflammation process. By making conscious choices—like improving your diet, exercising regularly, and managing stress—you can reduce chronic inflammation and reduce your risk of long-term health issues.
Remember, it's about balance: inflammation is necessary for healing, but chronic inflammation is a condition you can control with the right lifestyle changes.
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