What Causes Chronic Inflammation and How To Fix It

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

So, what causes chronic inflammation in the first place and what can you do to put your inflammation at bay and find relief in your symptoms? This article will tell you all!

Is Inflammation Good or Bad?

First, let’s clear up the word “inflammation.” The word “inflammation” is all over the health news recently because of the link with COVID…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 once the site heals, inflammation resides and your body functions normally again. Voila.

However, when this inflammation sticks around at the party for too long, not getting the hint that it’s time to go home…well, that’s when issues occur. When inflammation doesn’t “go home” or turn off, it can cause chronic inflammation.

This can happen if there is a certain stressor(s) in the body that your immune system sees as a threat. It’ll call in for unnecessary backup, signaling in inflammatory chemicals constantly.

So, what can cause chronic inflammation, inhibiting it to turn off? Well, in today’s world…A LOT of things!

9 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 do this to you.

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 a “threat” and sends in your immune fighters to attack them, raising your inflammation.

3. Underlying Infections

You could have underlying infections that you are unaware of, that could be causing or contributing to your immune system always being in alert mode. These could be bacterial & viral infections, SIBO, yeast overgrowth, mold toxicities, and parasites. People can go years without knowing they have these issues, except it could be the culprit causing your inflammation-related symptoms.

4. Consumption of Processed Foods

The average American diet is a recipe for inflammation disaster! Unhealthy oils, excess sugars, and a lack of nutrients can alter your gut bacteria which plays a role in your immune system response (70% of your immune system resides in your gut!) Eating processed foods, even “healthy” gluten-free processed food can eventually leads to chronic inflammation.

5. Environmental Toxin Exposure

Glyphosate, which is sprayed over the majority the food crops in the United States, and endocrine disruptors, which are found in everything from plastics to beauty and household products to even our drinking water, can cause damage to your cells and signal your immune system that invaders are in your body and to get them out. Unfortunately, we are exposed to these chemicals every single day without even knowing it, alerting the immune response to ramp up.

6. COVID

Covid and inflammation have been a hot topic these past couple of years. COVID can trigger inflammation and can activate other underlying viruses, like EBV, causing even more chronic inflammation.

7. Hormonal Imbalances

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

8. Constant Blood Sugar Rollercoaster

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

9. Damaged Gut

Poor gut health is one of the most common reasons for chronic inflammation. Whether it’s from dysbiosis, leaky gut, or bacteria overgrowths, they can all trigger inflammation and manifest into other imbalances, leading to even more immune system dysregulation and inflammation.

But don’t worry! There are things you can do to address your 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 whole foods, especially 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, chia/ flax seeds, hemp seeds, seaweed, and walnuts. These are all great sources to reduce chronic inflammation naturally.

3. Eat Organic

By eating organic, you will be avoiding glyphosate and other nasty chemicals that cause damage to your gut and cells, ramping up inflammation. Cooking with organic ingredients is a simple switch that can have significant benefits in the long run. I love ordering from SunBasket, which I found to be one of the best organic meal kit delivery services.

4. Reduce Toxins in the Home

Throw out your toxic products and swap them out with non-toxic products instead. I love Branch Basics for non-toxic home cleaning products and Primally Pure (use code TAYLORDUKES for 10% off) for non-toxic skincare.

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

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.

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 this popular article on 12 Daily Detox Practices to Reduce Inflammation.

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

All of 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 those inflammation levels at bay. There are even options to have these in your home, like an in-home sauna (use code TAYLORDUKES) and the joovv (use code TAYLORDUKES) for red light therapy. If you are an athlete, you’ll especially love these practices because of their recovery benefits.

8. Yoga + Meditation + Deep Breathing+ Stretching to Combat Stress

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

9. High-Quality Supplements

If you see that your inflammatory markers are elevated, you may want to consider taking supplements. Curcumin, Fish Oil, Vitamin D and E, and magnesium are great daily supplements to have on hand. I always recommend buying high-quality supplements to experience the most benefits. My online Fullscript dispensary is a great trusted source with tons of high-quality supplements. Stock up on your anti-inflammatory supplements now there or check out my store HERE.

Get Your Gut Right

If you need access to a stool test, a gut health expert, and personalized protocols, the Get Your Gut Right program might be the right fit for you. This is a very comprehensive program that also focuses on nutrition, detox pathways, nervous system, clean environment, and more. Click HERE to learn more.

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