When it comes to maintaining good health, certain truths are taken at face value and may not be well-understood by the general population. For me, inflammation is one of them. People may generally understand that inflammation is bad, but why is it bad, what is the relationship to heart disease, and what can we do about it? We’ll peel the onion a bit in the post below to help shed some light on the topic. Oh, onions are anti-inflammatory, so reading this article should be good for your health!
What is Inflammation?
Inflammation is the body’s natural response to harmful stimuli where it sends white blood cells to the affected area to support the healing process. There are two types of inflammation – acute and chronic. Acute inflammation is the type you might experience from a bee sting where you might encounter one or more of the cardinal signs of inflammation as outlined by the NIH: redness, swelling, heat, pain, and loss of function. This also happens with infections and without this inflammatory response, an infection could turn deadly. So, much like the previous article where I talked about good and bad stress, there is also good and bad inflammation.
Chronic inflammation on the other hand is what happens when the immune response lingers even if there is no infection or injury, leaving your body in a state of alert. Chronic inflammation is cause for concern as it can lead to or be a marker for negative health outcomes, including heart disease.
What Risk Factors Contribute to Chronic Inflammation?
Various risk factors are associated with chronic inflammation, some of the leading ones include:
Age – The older you are, the more likely you are to have inflammation. Inflammageing is the term that describes the inflammation that develops with age and is observable by high levels of inflammatory markers in blood and tissues.
Obesity – There is a positive correlation between weight and chronic inflammation. It is also a circular relationship in that obesity can cause chronic inflammation. Conversely, inflammation can lead to obesity by interfering with metabolism and hormone function.
Diet – Related to the previous point, a diet high in processed foods, trans fats, saturated fats, refined sugar, and refined carbohydrates is associated with high inflammation.
Stress / Poor Sleep – These go hand-in-hand. Chronic stress can lead to elevated cortisol and other stress hormones. A good night’s sleep helps to restore your body and reduce cortisol levels. Poor sleep impedes the body’s ability to regulate the stress hormones which contribute to chronic inflammation.
Smoking / Alcohol Abuse – These habits irritate your body’s tissues and organs (liver/pancreas) and trigger an inflammatory response.
What are the Symptoms of Chronic Inflammation?
Chronic inflammation can be hard to detect because its symptoms can be subtle and are not evident until one is diagnosed with a serious illness. However, some common symptoms are associated with chronic inflammation:
Body pain – especially those that affect the muscles, joints, or nerves
Chronic fatigue and insomnia
Depression, anxiety, and mood disorders
Gastrointestinal complications like constipation, diarrhea, and acid reflux
Weight gain or weight loss
Frequent infections
Should you be experiencing anything of the above, be sure to consult a medical professional and inquire as to whether inflammation may be playing a role. Common tests for inflammation include C-reactive protein (CRP), Ferritin, Fibrinogen, and Erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Consult your doctor about these and other tests for inflammation, however, it is important to note that these tests don’t distinguish between acute and chronic inflammation and the best approach is to adopt healthy habits and get routine medical care that can identify and treat the conditions that contribute to harmful inflammation, according to Harvard’s Robert H. Shmerling, MD.
What is the Relationship to Heart Disease?
Chronic Inflammatory Diseases (CID) such as Cancer, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Dementia, Asthma, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Psoriasis, and Diabetes are all diseases in which inflammation plays a key role. In the context of heart disease, chronic inflammation may promote the growth of plaques, loosen plaque in your arteries and trigger blood clots — the primary cause of heart attacks and strokes So understanding the risk factors and taking steps to manage chronic inflammation are key to your long-term wellbeing and risk of heart disease.
How do I Manage Inflammation?
The best way to manage inflammation is by eliminating or minimizing the risk factors noted above:
Sleep – Adopt healthy sleep habits, and aim for a minimum of 7 hours of quality sleep per night.
Diet – What you consume has a profound impact on your health. Processed foods, fast foods, and foods that are high in added sugars or refined carbohydrates (for example white bread, white rice, sugary breakfast cereal) cause inflammation whereas whole foods are anti-inflammatory. Focus on eating fruits, and vegetables (note: think twice if french fries are your vegetable of choice!), leafy greens, olive oil, and fatty fish. A Mediterranean diet closely follows the tenets of an anti-inflammatory diet, as noted by Harvard Health.
Exercise – Exercise can help reduce stress and maintain a healthy weight, both of which are key to managing inflammation.
Smoking/Alcohol – The negative health outcomes of smoking and consuming alcohol are well known and they are both associated with high inflammation. Though it has been reported that red wine can have anti-inflammatory effects, those findings have largely been debunked. If you are interested in optimizing your health, which includes minimizing inflammatory effects, your best bet is to eliminate both.
Hopefully, this provides you with a better understanding of inflammation, its association with heart disease and health in general, and ways to optimize your lifestyle to minimize its effects. Now don’t forget to eat your onions!