Picture this: You eat well and exercise regularly, yet you still don\u2019t feel 100 percent. Maybe you immediately feel bloated after a well-balanced meal, or you can\u2019t seem to reach your exercise goals despite sticking to a consistent schedule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If this sounds like a familiar scenario, you might be dealing with some emotional inflammation. As functional medicine expert Will Cole, IFMCP, DNM, D.C.,<\/a> author of Gut Feelings<\/em>,<\/a> tells us on this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast<\/a>, your anxiety, shame, and trauma can cause just as much inflammation as a diet full of ultra-processed foods.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below, discover some common (yet sneaky) causes of inflammation Cole sees all the time in his patients. If you feel like you\u2019ve hit a wellness plateau lately, his actionable tips below should help you cross the finish line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Cole, you cannot expect to move forward with your health if you have unresolved trauma stored in the body. It\u2019s an incredibly common scenario: Some estimates<\/a> suggest 70 percent of adults in the United States have experienced some type of traumatic event at least once in their lives\u2014but so many of us brush those experiences under the rug. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey know it wasn’t good, but they don’t realize what it did to their mitochondria. They don’t realize what it did to their nervous system and their inflammation levels,\u201d says Cole. \u201cPeople will just gaslight themselves and say, \u2018Well, I know people that have gone through worse than me.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us be clear: Not all trauma comes from catastrophic events. In fact, it can be quite subtle<\/a> for some. And if you let those emotions accumulate in your body, they can really impact your physical health<\/a>1<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, healing your trauma takes intentional work. Start here<\/a> for some tips to acknowledge and release stuck emotions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When your body is constantly in fight or flight mode, it\u2019s impossible to truly reach your health goals. \u201cOur body is a cellular library, and our thoughts, words, and experiences will be the books that fill up those cells,\u201d says Cole. So when you emotionally suffer, your body feels the effects, a concept Cole calls shameflammation<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere’s a lot of shame around chronic stress in someone’s current life today,\u201d he notes. \u201cMaybe they\u2019re not able to be present with their family because they’re stressed, they’re irritable and snapping at their partner, or not eating foods that love them back because they’re running on the go.\u201d And that shame can affect your ability to stay healthy<\/a>2<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n , Cole adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, managing stress is not a one-and-done venture, but do your best to soothe the everyday stress in your life. You can start with these expert-backed relaxation techniques<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Look, the democratization of health and wellness tools is a very good thing. But with so much information at our fingertips, it\u2019s easy to become anxious and overwhelmed about your health. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI see it play out in patients\u2019 lives all the time, the fear and anxiety around health,\u201d says Cole. \u201cEspecially [when] you felt fine until the stress of it all.\u201d Research has even documented what\u2019s known as the \u201cnocebo effect<\/a>3<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ,\u201d where ruminating about a negative outcome can actually lead to that outcome\u2014sort of like a self-fulfilling prophecy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In short: You can actually worry yourself sick. \u201cThat’s the power of our emotions on our physical health,\u201d says Cole. It\u2019s way easier said than done, but try not to fixate too much on various health \u201cscores\u201d and numbers\u2014it\u2019s easy to fall into a tailspin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s not just about foods that don’t love you back; it’s also about social media accounts that aren’t loving your mental health<\/a>,\u201d says Cole. Yes, social inflammation is very much real. \u201cWhat we expose ourselves to also can impact our nervous systems and inflammation levels, and therefore our endocrine systems or hormonal systems,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Research has even shown that participants who used social media excessively had higher levels of C-reactive protein<\/a>, which indicates chronic inflammation. That\u2019s not to say you can\u2019t even scroll through your social media feeds: \u201cPeople should be vetting the people that they’re following,\u201d Cole says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Try to edit accounts you follow and only keep those that make you feel good. <\/em>That way, \u201cthe algorithm hopefully can stop serving you things that are really not congruent with your wellness,\u201d Cole adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\nUnresolved trauma. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Chronic stress. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Anxiety about your health.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Your social networks. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n