The Top Causes of Inflammation: And How to Treat it Naturally

 Inflammation is a natural defense mechanism that can protect us against infection. It’s often triggered by stress, unhealthy habits, or even everyday exposure to toxins. If we are experiencing chronic inflammation, though, it can lead to numerous health problems.

Inflammation is the body’s natural reaction to injuries, irritants, and infections. However, inflammation can become chronic when it occurs over a long period of time and does not disappear with time. Inflammation is the body’s response to infection, injury, and irritation. It can be an adaptive response to help heal an injured area and return it to normal function, but when inflammation persists, the body is damaged, causing pain and discomfort.

From stress to lifestyle choices to nutritional deficiencies to environmental toxins, there are many different reasons why inflammation could be affecting your health. Learn the Top causes of inflammation and how to overcome them with natural remedies.

The top causes of inflammation:

Lack of cortisol

A lack of cortisol — or the stress hormone — is often the root cause of chronic inflammation, according to Dr. Jonathan Ruben Goins, owner and CEO of chiropractic clinic. The following quote from Dr. Jonathan Ruben Goins explains how cortisol affects the body: “When you’re in a state of acute stress, the body produces large amounts of the stress hormone cortisol.

Cortisol is a powerful hormone that’s responsible for maintaining the body’s internal environment, like regulating blood pressure and the immune system. Cortisol also plays a role in building muscle and fat tissue, helping the body recover after physical exertion, and producing energy.

Allergies

Inflammation can be caused by allergies. In the body, inflammation is a response to help the body heal itself. But when inflammation goes unchecked, it can cause a range of health problems. Some examples include pain, stiffness, and difficulty moving. Allergies can be the leading cause of inflammation in the Philippines, according to a recent study. Over a quarter of Filipino’s suffer from hay fever and about 7% experience food allergies.

Acute and chronic infections

The top three causes of inflammation are acute and chronic infections, autoimmune conditions, and environmental toxins, according to Dr. Jonathan Ruben Goins. The number one cause of chronic inflammation, however, is the food we eat, Dr. Jonathan Ruben Goins says.

Acute infections are typically a result of bacterial, viral, fungal, or parasitic infections.

Chronic infections, on the other hand, are the result of immune responses to substances that aren’t necessarily pathogens, such as toxins and allergens.

Gut inflammation (gut issues or inflammatory foods)

What if there were a food or beverage that could actually help reduce the amount of inflammation in your body? Well, according to Dr. Jonathan Ruben Goins the answer is yes.

The foods that actually help reduce the amount of inflammation in your body are probiotics, prebiotics, and omega 3’s. These three nutrients play a critical role in maintaining the health and wellbeing of the human gastrointestinal tract.

The good news is, you can easily add these three nutrients into your diet by incorporating fermented foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, pickles, and tempeh into your everyday diet.

Glucose/sugar

Glucose is a sugar derived from carbohydrates, and the primary source of blood glucose is dietary carbohydrates. The brain uses glucose as its main fuel, but it also needs glucose to synthesize proteins, hormones, and neurotransmitters. Glucose is also required for the synthesis of cholesterol. Most people consume about twice the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of carbohydrates in their diet.

A growing body of research shows that inflammation plays a key role in both the onset and the progression of many chronic conditions and diseases. Inflammation affects nearly every organ system in the human body and can lead to symptoms ranging from headaches to allergies to high blood pressure.

The most common causes of inflammation are stress, too much sugar, poor diet, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, and poor hygiene. In fact, one study found that two thirds of people suffer from mild inflammation, with half of those people experiencing frequent flare-ups.

In fact, the research found that people who were overweight and obese were at greater risk for inflammation than those who were lean and thin.

Fat cells

Most fat cells are not dangerous. However, if a fatty tissue mass becomes inflamed, it could lead to some serious health problems. An inflamed fat cell has a greater capacity to release fatty acids into the bloodstream, which leads to an increased chance of heart disease.

Fat cells cause inflammation in two ways: 1) the fat cells store chemicals such as triglycerides, cholesterol and fatty acids, and 2) the fat cells themselves cause inflammation via chemical reactions.

Inflammation can happen when the body is attempting to repair itself. This is because inflammation causes the body to make chemicals that cause healing and remove debris.

This happens because the body is trying to prevent the spread of harmful substances through the blood stream, and when it detects an inflamed fatty tissue mass, it sends white blood cells to fight the invader. These white blood cells may cause inflammation in other organs such as the liver, pancreas, spleen, lungs, kidneys, and intestines.

Old injuries

Many old injuries such as sprained ankles, pulled muscles, or torn ligaments can lead to chronic inflammation if they aren’t treated properly. Inflammation often leads to pain and swelling, both of which can make it harder to move around.

There are four main causes of inflammation: injury, stress, the immune system, and the central nervous system. These four causes account for over 95% of cases of inflammation in the Philippines. While inflammation can be a normal part of healing, chronic inflammation can take weeks or even months to resolve.

Problems in the bile ducts

In the digestive system, the liver is the center of the action. Here, we’ll explore the process of bile production and what happens when things go wrong. Bile is made by hepatocytes in the liver.

It’s a brownish yellow fluid that flows into the small intestine. Most of it gets processed through the gall bladder. After being stored in the gall bladder, the bile is then secreted into the bile ducts. If something goes wrong with this process, the bile is made too quickly and in too large a volume. This results in the accumulation of toxic substances in the bloodstream, called bile acids.

Cholelithiasis is the most common problem that causes gallbladder inflammation. Gallstones are made up of cholesterol, and they can become stuck in the gallbladder. Sometimes the stones form because of high cholesterol levels in the liver. This can lead to scar tissue build-up and inflammation, which can cause pain.

Bile duct inflammation can also occur. This is a more serious condition that results in gallbladder removal. The bile ducts are small tubes through which bile travels from the gallbladder to the intestine to help digest fats. Gallstones may block the tubes and cause problems.

Low vitamin D

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means it can only be absorbed through the digestive tract. A good source of vitamin D is the sun’s ultraviolet rays, but as our society spend so much time indoors, many people don’t get enough sun.

Vitamin D is a powerful anti-inflammatory. Low levels of vitamin D can lead to a number of chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.

High omega-6 and low omega-3

The omega-6 fatty acids found in common oils such as corn oil and soybean oil increase inflammation in the body. The omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, however, is significantly higher than ideal (10:1).

As I mentioned, the ratio between Omega-6 and Omega-3 is what determines whether your inflammation levels are normal, high, or low. And if you want to understand why that is, you need to know the difference between them. High-Omega-6 oils cause inflammation while high-Omega-3 oils reduce it. In simple terms, Omega-6 increases your inflammation while Omega-3 reduces it.

To prevent the negative effects of inflammation, eat foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids such as walnuts, fish and seafood, leafy greens and flax seeds. Omega-3 fatty acids help prevent heart disease, asthma, allergies, arthritis, cancer and depression.

Environmental toxins

The environment we live in is full of chemicals. These environmental toxins in our air, food, water, and soil are not only damaging to our health but are also responsible for some of the most common inflammatory diseases. Some of the toxins that can cause inflammation include pesticides, heavy metals, plastic, and pollutants from manufacturing and automobile exhaust.