While inflammation is a natural process meant to protect us, unnecessary triggering can damage your body’s tissue. Inflammation in the body can stem from medical conditions, poor diet, and inactivity. Fortunately, addressing these issues and taking action to be healthier can help combat inflammation.
Natural anti inflammatory remedies, like nutrition and exercise, can reduce flare-ups. You can also try anti inflammatory over the counter medications to reduce swelling and ease associated pain. Making small lifestyle adjustments and reviewing treatments can help you manage your symptoms and underlying medical issues.
1 What is Inflammation?
Inflammation occurs when your body uses its white blood cells as protection against infection. This process fights off invaders, like bacteria and viruses, which cause infections.
However, your body can trigger inflammation even when attackers are not present. Diseases and other medical conditions can upset your body’s defense system. When this happens, your body can damage itself by attacking tissue.
Inflammation in the body can be short-lived or long lasting. Short-lived, or acute, inflammation can last hours to days. Chronic inflammation can last for months, years, and a lifetime.
Chronic inflammation can stem from chronic diseases as well as lifestyle choices. If you eat foods that are bad for your health, such as fried foods and sugary drinks, you increase your risk of inflammation as well as other medical conditions.
You could decrease your inflammation practically overnight by changing your diet. The antioxidants and bioactive compounds in salads can ease existing inflammation and prevent new inflammation from occurring.
Alcohol is another component that can influence inflammation in the body. Low and moderate consumption has a few benefits, but daily abuse can be harmful.
Likewise, getting adequate sleep consistently influences how your body works. If you are not getting enough sleep, your immune system and its ability to regulate chemicals could be affected.
If you are looking for inflammation treatment, you can consult your doctor about medications and over-the-counter supplements. Certain prescriptions reduce inflammation in body for specific medical treatments, while other drugs treat general symptoms.
From changing your diet to increasing your activity to taking medication, you have several options to manage inflammation.
Many foods have natural anti inflammatory properties that can reduce swelling, ease pain, and alter your body’s chemical reaction. After all, your body can only use the nutrients from the food you consume as fuel. For this reason, eating the right foods is one of the best way to deal with inflammation.
Anti inflammatory foods and beverages fight the effects of the inflammatory process. Conversely, some ingredients or cooking methods aggravate the body’s immune system and trigger inflammation. You may be able to treat your symptoms by adjusting what you eat.
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Consuming Anti-Inflammatory Foods and Avoiding Inflammatory Foods
Foods that reduce inflammation in body:
- Tomatoes
- Olive oil
- Green leafy vegetables, like collards, kale, and spinach
- Nuts, specifically walnuts and almonds
- Fatty fish, including tuna, salmon, mackerel, sardines
- Fruits, like oranges, cherries, blueberries, and strawberries
You may have heard of turmeric anti inflammatory claims that the spice decreases inflammatory symptoms. The curcumin in turmeric has anti-inflammatory effects.
Nevertheless, turmeric is only three percent curcumin, and you would need to consume more than a gram a day. You may consider ingesting the ingredient as a supplement.
Most ingredients that cause inflammation are already considered bad for your health. Fatty, sugary, and carbohydrate-heavy foods can cause excess inflammation and other medical conditions that increase the risk of inflammation.
Foods that cause inflammation include the following:
- Red meat, like steak, and processed meat, like hot dogs
- Bad fats, such as margarine, lard, and shortening
- Refined carbohydrates from processed breads
- Fried foods, including French fries
- Sugary beverages, like soda
- Coffee
These bad foods can also contribute to weight gain, which worsens inflammation. By reducing bad ingredients and incorporating anti-inflammatory foods, you can begin to reap the benefits of a healthy diet.
If you have joint inflammation, you may not be too keen to go for a run. However, exercise is a natural anti inflammatory technique. Physical exercise triggers the production of a natural anti-inflammatory chemical, which can help alleviate your pain and inflammation.
Moderate exercise reduces your body’s inflammatory response. An active lifestyle can ease your related pain and other symptoms. Continue reading below to learn more about how exercise can help with inflammation/
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Exercise to Decrease Inflammation
While a single exercise session can initially increase your inflammation, regular exercise lowers inflammatory markers and triggers anti-inflammatory agents. So, your first few attempts at establishing an exercise routine may make you feel worse than better.
Easy exercises you can incorporate into your routine include the following:
Walking is a low-impact movement that increases the production of anti inflammatory chemicals. Just 20 minutes a day can help ease the pain associated with swelling.
Yoga is another low-impact exercise that has the additional benefits of lowering blood pressure, reducing anxiety, and decreasing feelings of depression. Try practicing yoga for 30 minutes twice a week to stretch your muscles and ligaments.
Bodyweights help increase muscle, which, in turn, decreases the stress on your joints.
Cycling alleviates inflammation with low-impact movements. Cycling is much easier than running if you have joint inflammation or arthritis. It allows you to get a cardiovascular workout without putting weight on your hips and knees.
Studies have shown that low-impact exercise is especially beneficial for the elderly. Many seniors enjoy water aerobics as a workout. The water’s buoyancy reduces the weight on inflamed joints.
Exercise can also help you lose weight. Less weight on your bones and joints can also alleviate inflammation symptoms.
Anti inflammatory medications can lessen pain, reduce swelling, and ease inflammation. Specific medications treat and prevent inflammatory disease. You may talk to your doctor about your inflammation so they can decide whether medication may help you address and deal with your inflammation.
Contine reading below to learn about common medications for inflammation. Your physician may prescribe a few different types of anti inflammatory medications since there are different types, including the following:
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Medication That Treats Inflammation
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs), which block the production of certain chemicals.
- Corticosteroids, which lower inflammation in the body.
- Antimalarial medications, which reduce a specific chemical that triggers the body’s defense system.
- Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs(DMARDs), which are medications for specific autoimmune disorders.
- Biologic drugs, which are medications made with living organisms.
Many NSAIDs are anti inflammatory over the counter drugs, like ibuprofen and high-dose aspirin.
Supplements to reduce inflammation in the body are also over-the-counter treatments. Supplements can provide additional inflammation treatment in conjunction with a healthy diet and active lifestyle. Some supplements that reduce inflammation in body include:
Alpha-lipoic acid reduces inflammation connected to insulin resistance and cancer as well as liver and heart disorders.
Curcumin decreases inflammationrelated to osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and more.
Fish oil has an anti inflammatory effect on inflammation from exercise. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil are essential for general good health.
Ginger affects inflammation symptoms caused by diabetes, breast cancer, and kidney damage.
Resveratrol is an antioxidant that reduces inflammation in those who have insulin resistance, heart disease, and other conditions.
You should consult with your health care provider before taking supplements, as some can interfere with prescribed medication. For example, you should speak with your doctor before adding a ginger supplement if you take aspirin or blood thinners.
