It seems that everyone is dealing with some sort of unwanted inflammation. We have even deemed it a bad reaction in the body. However, it is the body’s first response to injury, our innate response for protection and healing. Inflammation brings blood to the area of concern and helps muscle repair. We all want that.
Problems occur when we have poorly regulated control of our inflammation response. The body has natural pro and anti- inflammation responses. When we supply the proper nutritional elements the body can both inflame an assaulted area for protection and repair, and then initiate an anti-inflammatory response to bring us back to homeostasis.
There are two main causes for poor inflammation control.
The first is dehydration. Lack of water in the body causes histamine response so the cells swell and try to allow more water in. It is our body’s way of trying to take care of itself. As rough estimate, every person need 1/2 their body weight in ounces of water. So a person that weighs 180lbs will need 60 ounces of water, daily. Now we add to that if you are drinking a diuretic such as coffee, tea, soda, fruit juice….. Try to replace these ounce for ounce. With enough water, your body is not fighting itself for protection.
The second cause for poor inflammation control is poor fatty acid balance. The physiological process is pretty complex, our bodies are amazing, but in simple terms we need to be aware that prostaglandins in our body control the pro and anti- inflammatory responses. Prostaglandins are made from fatty acids. This is where balance comes in- we need all fats. Most people get an overabundance of omega 6 and saturated fats so we need to focus on getting omega 3 for the anti-inflammatory responses. Omega 3s come from fish oil and flax oil among other things. Because they are not stable, they are not beneficial if they are cooked or processed in other ways. We want get our omegas in cold, unaltered forms.
If we can supply the body these nutrients, we can support it’s natural inflammation control.
Lisa R. Spencer, Ed.D., NTA
Nutritionist
