Inflammation is behind pretty much every disease we know – it’s not just about obvious inflammation from painful conditions like arthritis and muscle pain, although those are significant, I know. Think also: IBS and gut diseases, heart disease, cancer, asthma, depression, eczema, neuroinflammation (brain fog, migraine, anxiety etc), dementia.
Every person has their ‘inflammatory load’ if you like. Our trick is to identify as many inflammatory triggers as we can and knock them out, one by one, thus lowering the total. It’s not just a question of taking anti-inflammatory meds or supplements.
So, here is my top 10 for you – how many can you count, and what can you do about them…?
- Poor sleep – the number one way to lower inflammation is to improve quality sleep
- Poor blood sugar, especially high insulin levels
- Obesity – adipokines (fat cells) promote inflammation
- Essential fatty acid imbalances, ie. balance between omega 6, 3, 9, arachidonic acid etc
- Gum disease
- Bacterial gut imbalance (dysbiosis) and gut infections
- Food sensitivities – especially histamine and mast cell overactivity
- Leaky gut
- Low antioxidants ie. Vitamins A, C, E, CoQ10, glutathione especially.
- Autoimmune responses
Recognise some? Ask me if you need some help working on any of them. In general, try doing the Gut Plan and the Belly Fat Plan, which usually provides a really good foundational MOT for the gut and liver, plus will help you improve antioxidant levels, food sensitivities, dysbiosis, leaky gut, insulin control, plus it removes the key food triggers of autoimmune disease and helps lower body fat.
You can find both plans here, and do also look at the meal plans I’ve added there too for you. For sleep specifically, check out my Sleep factsheet.