Chronic Inflammation

“Living a healthy lifestyle will only deprive you of poor health, lethargy, and fat.” Jill Johnson

Did you know that inflammation is the common link between such debilitating conditions as cancer, Alzheimer’s, digestive problems, heart disease, arthritis and liver disease? Did you know inflammation is thought to be the culprit behind the visible signs of aging? Inflammation is a wellness buzz-word these days, and for good reason. If you reduce inflammation in your body, you'll not only look and feel younger, but you'll significantly lower your risk for chronic disease like cancer!

Inflammation is your body's response to stress - whether from your diet, lifestyle or environment. In the medical field, inflammation is detected by the presence of Pain, Warmth, Redness, Swelling and Loss of function. Think of what happens when you catch a cold. You may experience inflammation in the form of a fever as your body heats up to destroy the effects of the invading virus. The inflammation does its job, gets rid of the virus, and disappears. Generally speaking, acute inflammation is quickly resolved and does little damage. An acute inflammatory response is what happens after a traumatic injury or in response to an infection.

But if your immunity is compromised and your body is constantly stressed, you might experience chronic low-grade inflammation that leaves you more susceptible to illness and disease. When your body's systems experience a constant inflammatory response, you become more susceptible to aging and disease. A chronic inflammatory response happens over a long period of time. This means that you may not even notice the inflammation. Chronic inflammation is caused by a long-term or low-grade infection, by diet, or by immune deregulation, as is what happens in autoimmunity.

Inflammation is also carried out by a series of chemical messages. These messages are alerts for other systems in the body, and they can create a vicious cycle. In other words, the inflammatory response can produce more inflammation. Chronic, low-grade inflammation may seem harmless on a day-to-day basis. This kind of inflammation can show up as an achy joint here or there, a bloated abdomen, brain fog, or even the effects of overtraining at the gym. All these discomforts pass within a day or two. And typically, they are all reoccurring.

The reason why you’d want to break the vicious cycle and limit the inflammation is because it leads to cell death and the break of tissue. This translates into aging and modern day chronic disease such as cancer.