What Causes Chronic Inflammation and How To Fix It

Do you struggle with insomnia, anxiety, exhaustion, frequent illnesses, or have digestion issues like constipation or diarrhea? Chronic inflammation could be to blame!

In this blog, we’ll cover:

• What causes chronic inflammation in the first place
• What you can do put your chronic inflammation at bay and find relief from symptoms

Is Inflammation Good or Bad?

First, let’s clear up the word “inflammation.” The word “inflammation” is a buzzword, especially …but is inflammation itself a bad thing? Not exactly.

Inflammation is a normal and healthy part of your immune response. It’s how wounds heal, broken bones recover, and how some infections are overcome by the body. Inflammation plays a role in increasing blood flow to the site of infection to pump in immune cells like white blood cells, to restore the specific area or fight the infection. Typically healing happens, inflammation resides, and your body functions normally again. 

However, when this inflammation becomes chronic, …well, that’s when issues occur. This can happen if there is a certain stressor(s) in the body that your immune system sees as a threat. So, what are these stressors and causes of chronic inflammation? 

8 Top Causes of Chronic Inflammation

1. Stress

When you are chronically stressed, whether mentally or physically, your body releases inflammatory cytokines, contributing to your overall inflammation. 

Financial stress, toxic relationships, a hectic job, or a go, go, go lifestyle can all play into stress-induced inflammation. Even good stresses such as weddings, exciting trips, children’s milestones and more can be perceived by the body as stress.

2. Food Sensitivities

Gluten, eggs, sugar, and dairy are some of the most common foods that can cause an immune reaction in individuals. 

Food sensitivities are when your body recognizes certain food particles as “threats” and sends in your immune fighters to attack them, raising inflammation. 

If you’re not sure if you have a food sensitivity, you can have testing done to determine. I offer the exact one I’d run on my private practice patients through the TDW Community membership.

3. Underlying Infections

Underlying infections may be causing or contributing to the immune system always being in high alert mode. 

These could be bacterial or viral infections, SIBO, yeast overgrowth or mold toxicities, Lyme or EBV, or parasites. People can go years without knowing about these issues, and they could be the very culprit behind widespread inflammation. 

4. Consumption of Processed Foods

The average American diet is a recipe for inflammation! 

Unhealthy oils, excess sugars, and a lack of nutrients can alter your gut bacteria, which play a role in your immune system response (70% of your immune system resides in your gut!). Eating processed foods, even “healthy” gluten-free processed foods, can eventually lead to chronic inflammation.

5. Damaged Gut

Poor gut health is one of the most common causes of chronic inflammation. 

Whether it’s from dysbiosis, leaky gut, or bacteria overgrowth, they can all trigger inflammation and manifest in other imbalances. This can lead to even more immune system dysregulation and inflammation.

If you’re not sure if you have a gut issue, I recommend doing a stool test via a functional medicine provider or you can get access to the exact test I ran on my private practice patients through my TDW Community membership.

6. Environmental Toxin Exposure

Endocrine disrupting chemicals are found in everything from plastics to beauty and household products to even our drinking water. 

For example, glyphosate, which is sprayed over the majority of food crops in the United States, is an endocrine disruptor. And they can all cause damage to cells, signaling to the immune system that it should fire up. 

7. Hormonal Imbalances

If you have elevated cortisol levels or estrogen dominance, it can lead to increased inflammation throughout your body. 

To learn more about the nuances of estrogen dominance (as well as how to combat it!), read this article here. To learn how to balance your hormones naturally, read 10 Ways to Naturally Balance Hormones.  

8. Constant Blood Sugar Rollercoaster

High blood sugar fluctuations can not only manifest into metabolic issues and diabetes, but can cause underlying inflammation in the body. 

If you struggle with blood sugar, you’ll want to check out the in-depth guide I have on this topic in my TDW Community membership.

The reasons for inflammation are far and wide. Our modern-day living sadly poses many contributing factors to chronic inflammation. But don’t worry! There are things you can do to address chronic inflammation and experience relief in your symptoms…and prevent chronic illnesses while you’re at it!

9 Ways to Reduce Chronic Inflammation Naturally

1. Eat the Rainbow

Ditch the processed foods, and focus on eating real whole foods. Especially focus on increasing your intake of anti-inflammatory foods like berries, salmon, greens, turmeric, and olive oil.

2. Increase Omega 3 Intake

Add more omega 3s to your diet by eating more mackerel, salmon, sardines, anchovies, chia, flax seeds, hemp seeds, seaweed, and walnuts. 

These are all great sources that help to reduce chronic inflammation naturally. You can also supplement with a high-quality omega 3 like I do such as this one.

3. Eat Organic

By eating organic, you will avoid glyphosate and other harmful chemicals that cause damage to the gut lining, inciting inflammation. 

Cooking with organic ingredients is a simple switch that can have significant benefits in the long run. Lots of recipe inspo for you on my blog.

Remember, perfection is impossible (especially if trying to live better on a budget). I encourage you to use the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists to know which produce to prioritize buying organic vs. non-organic.

4. Reduce Toxins in the Home

Throw out your toxic products and swap them out with non-toxic products instead.

I love Branch Basics (use code TAYLORDUKESWELLNESS) for non-toxic home cleaning products and Primally Pure (use code TAYLORDUKES) for non-toxic skincare.

It’s also vital to get a high-quality water filter (I use Aquasana) to avoid toxins, bacteria, and microplastics in your drinking water. A quality home air purifier, like Austin Air, reduces mold and/or toxins floating around in your home.

If you want more guidance on non-toxic swaps and trusted brands, I rounded them all up in this free guide. You can also read about Hidden Toxins in Your Home (and how to get rid of them!). 

5. Utilize Functional Lab Testing + Treat Imbalances

Testing can help identify underlying food sensitivities, gut infections, viral titers and hormonal imbalances, mycotoxins, Lyme, parasites, nutrient deficiencies, and more. 

This is how you can truly get to the ROOT cause of your inflammation. You can even test your inflammatory levels to see where they are at and how your lifestyle changes are paying off and improving your levels.

One of the perks of TDW Community membership is having access to the best of functional medicine lab testing. My team also offers 1:1 consults to review results, so you never lack clarity around how to optimize your health. While lab work can be an investment upfront, it can save you money in the long run by knowing exactly what your body needs.

6. Support Your Detox Pathways

When your detox pathways aren’t working optimally, it can allow excess estrogen hormones and toxins to accumulate in your body, adding to your inflammation. 

Supporting your detox systems, like supporting your liver with supplements, or encouraging bowel movements can help reduce your toxic burden. 

Read my popular blogs: What Causes Poor Detox Pathways? 10 Tips on How to Open Detox Pathways and 12 Daily Detox Practices to Reduce Inflammation.

7. Jump in the Sauna + Use Red Light Therapy + Ozone

These research-backed practices can reduce inflammation in the body. 

Using one or a combination of these each week is a great way to keep inflammation levels at bay. There are even options to have these in your home, like an in-home sauna (use code TAYLORDUKES) and/or LUMEBOX (use code DUKESWELLNESS) for red light therapy. If you are an athlete, you’ll especially love these practices because of their recovery benefits.

8. Meditation + Deep Breathing + Stretching to Combat Stress

We can’t always control our stressful environments, but we can control how we manage our stress. 

Meditation, deep breathing, and stretching are all wonderful ways to calm down and release stressful thoughts and emotions. The more you do these, the better stress-relieving results you will see. So keep with it! Read my article on How to Naturally Support Your Nervous System. 

9. High-Quality Supplements

If you see that your inflammatory markers are elevated, you may want to consider taking supplements. 

Turmeric is one of the most powerful anti-inflammatory superfoods, but you’d have to ingest a lot to really reap the benefits. That’s why I love Inflammation Support – it’s made only with whole-root turmeric and has a more powerful concentration than just curcumin-based supplements or ingesting raw turmeric root.

Other great supplements to fight inflammation: Omega, Vitamin D, and magnesium. I always recommend buying high-quality supplements to experience the most benefits. I get most of my supplements from either the TDW Shop or my online Fullscript dispensary. 

For an easy guide to supplements, check out my Ultimate Supplement Cheat Sheet, where I match common symptoms with supplement solutions. 

Get to the Root Cause of Your Inflammation

If you want to unlock the exact clinical knowledge I’d share with my private practice patients, my TDW Community membership might be right for you. 

I have hours worth of guides and videos on how to approach your health issues from a root cause. You also get access to functional medicine lab testing, expertise, personalized guidance, and a community of fellow wellness warriors.