What causes inflammation?

Inflammation has become a buzzword in the health and wellness industry. But for good reason. Inflammation is the body’s immune response to harmful stimuli, like pathogens, toxins or damaged cells. It increases your risk of disease, and can be dangerous.

In this article I’m going to explain the basics of inflammation: what it is, where it comes from, and what you can do about it, to improve your holistic health and wellbeing.

What is inflammation?

Inflammation is the body’s immune response to harmful stimuli, like pathogens, toxins or damaged cells. When inflammation happens, neutrophils from white blood cells move into the area with the harmful stimuli - soft tissue of joints or internal organs - as an attempt to remove the harm and heal the body. This process can cause swelling, redness or tenderness in the area, by increasing the flood flow to the area in need.

This is your body’s genius way of keeping you healthy. But unfortunately, it’s not always a perfect process. Studies have shown that inflammation can be triggered without the presence of a harmful stimuli, in autoimmune disorders, or due to poor diet or lifestyle triggers. While most inflammation is acute, this type of inflammation is typically chronic and persistent.

What are the symptoms of inflammation?

Lesser-known symptoms of chronic inflammation may include:

Fatigue
Headaches
Mood disorders like depression and anxiety
Gastrointestinal issues like constipation and bloating
Frequent infections
Weight gain
Sores
Skin conditions like acne or eczema

What causes inflammation?

Unless you have an autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease, inflammation doesn’t just happen out of nowhere. It’s estimated that a large portion of inflammation is caused by lifestyle and dietary habits. In America today, 71.6 percent of the population are overweight or obese, which is a key indicator that we’re not eating a healthy diet or moving enough.

The standard American diet is defined as a high fat, high salt and high sugar diet. We’re living off processed food, and 37 percent of us regularly eat fast food. Plus, 60 percent of us don’t do enough exercise. Our diets and lack of exercise increase inflammation.

For example, some types of fat like omega-6s and trans fats trigger the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines; these types of fat are in a number of foods from salad dressings to coffee sweeteners. A sedentary lifestyle leads to visceral fat accumulation, which is linked to chronic inflammation by increasing senescent cells.

Other lifestyle habits like stress, a lack of sleep and smoking also contribute to levels of inflammation. A study published in 2012 found that when we are chronically stressed, we lose the ability to regulate our inflammatory response due to cortisol dysfunction.

Simply by adjusting your diet, sleeping more, and exercising regularly can naturally reduce inflammation. Do you have inflammatory symptoms? If so, let’s work together. I’m a Board Certified Holistic Integrative Health and Nutrition Coach who can offer holistic nutrition and lifestyle tips to reduce inflammation and help you live happier and healthier for life.