5 Healthy habits To Keep Inflammation At Bay.
5 Healthy Habits To Keep Inflammation At Bay.
“When you have your health, you have everything” Augustin Burroughs.
These five healthy habits, when done daily, may help keep inflammation at bay and help keep you healthier.
We know that inflammation can be a good thing. It helps us heal from injury and is an important part of our immune response. We all experience signals from our bodies that they are under stress – this is unique to each of us. Last year I decided to take heed of these signals a little closer and use them as makers or key indicators of when my system needs more support. Noting flare ups of symptoms with regular journalling and taking the time to slow down and notice more my cycles has been hugely impactful in allowing my body to heal and restore balance.
That’s a simple nod to my personal thoughts, but equally as important is the overall benefits we can all gain from a few healthy habits that can help keep us healthier for longer.
A diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, with healthy oils, like olive and seed oils, is very useful. But the more healthy habits you practice, even simple ones, the better chance you’ll have at reducing chronic inflammation and disease in the long term.
So how can Oily fish (Omega 3), a good night’s sleep, reduced stress, regular exercise, good oral hygiene and introducing simple habits into our daily lives now, help us not only feel better but also help fight chronic inflammation in the body in the future?
What is inflammation?
What is the inflammatory response and why is it important? Normally, inflammation is part of how the body responds to threats such as injury or invading microbes. The body sends out special cells to attack and isolate invaders, clean up debris, and heal tissue and organs. It’s an important system that kicks into high gear when needed and returns to normal when health is restored.
But sometimes the immune response continues indefinitely, fuelled by unhealthy lifestyle habits, much like an overactive Sympathetic Nervous system response can play havoc with our hormones, sleep and other systems in the body. A constantly active immune system does more harm than good. It damages tissues and organs and increases the risks for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, heart disease, dementia, weigh gain, heart attacks and strokes.
Eating foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids can reduce inflammation. "Omega-3s disrupt the production of chemicals that cause inflammation by certain immune system cells. They may even help lower the risks for stroke and for the type of brain inflammation associated with Alzheimer's disease," says Dr. Robert Shmerling, a rheumatologist and medical editor of the Harvard Special Health Report Fighting Inflammation (/ui). So foods such as oily fish twice a week, or flax seed oil and pumpkin oil (because I don’t eat farmed fish like Salmon) so seed oil is an easy alternative, with lots of other benefits too, like the trace minerals magnesium and zinc, and vitamins A, E and K .
Gut Health is a really good place to focus attention too. Knowing inflammation is an immune response and that 70% of our immune system is located in the gut. What we eat affects the immune system, we want variety & diversity to support good bacteria. Eating foods that support a healthy digestive system can help maintain a healthy immune system fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi or Kombucha and pre & pro biotics in the form of vegetables rather than supplements if possible. Reducing processed foods and sugars, caffeine and alcohol are also helpful.
Good Oral health can help reduce inflammation by keeping bad bacteria at bay. Its as simple as that brushing twice a day and flossing once a day can help sweep away bacteria that if left can inflame the gums and lead to infection and make their way into other parts of the body "Evidence suggests bacteria can travel to the heart, lungs, and even the brain. Inflammation in the gums also is strongly associated with diabetes," says Dr. Tien Jiang, a prosthodontist in the Department of Oral Health Policy and Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.
Getting Exercise
This one is also pretty simple, a brisk walk to raise your heart rate, making a point of taking the stairs, regular gardening or growing your own veg and carrying heavy shopping are all every day activates that are relatively simple to incorporate. Regular exercise helps keep body fat at healthy levels, as adipose (body fat) tissues contain inflammation-promoting substances. Exercise may also increase the production of hormones that help keep inflammation in check, and it is helpful for bone density and muscle mass, which is so very important to nurture in midlife.
Stress Reduction. Chronic stress, the kind that’s on going, can really affect every aspect of your life and your body and mind and it promotes inflammation and is linked to several chronic inflammatory conditions, including cardiovascular disease, depression, high cholesterol and risk of stroke. Thankfully as part of my community you have Yoga and Deep Breathing as a simple habit that can really help reduce stress.
Practicing relaxation inducing practices like yoga, breath work and Yoga Nidra (Deep relaxation/ aka yogic sleep) can be very beneficial in reducing stress . "Studies have found that people who take part in those types of exercise have less stress and fewer inflammatory markers in the blood," Dr. Shmerling says.
A simple breath practice to follow is sitting comfortably with feet flat on the floor and tall spine. Inhale slowly through nose for a count of 4, pause at top for count 7, and slowly exhale through noise for a count of 8, continue for 5 minutes. Is especially good when practiced before bed – to help support a healthy nourishing nights sleep.
Which brings me to healthy habit number five - Sleep.
Sleep is the corner stone to health. It has taken me until age 45 to honour this knowledge fully – its fundamental to both physical and mental health and we generally need more than we think. I now have a regular sleep wake cycle that includes simple 5 mins of yoga and breathwork before bed and at least 9 hours sleep. This is different for everyone, the key is to find what your body needs. It has been a game changer to how I feel, function, recover after training or heal from illness. "Even one night of disturbed sleep can spark inflammation," Dr. Shmerling says. "It increases inflammatory substances in the blood. Regularly missing sleep contributes to obesity, which is also linked to inflammation."
Prioritizing a cool, dark quite bedroom builds a good foundation.
Small changes add up over time. Making small healthy changes part of your every day habits adds up. You don’t need to do it all at once but taking time to look at these aspects of your day-to-day and choosing one or two to start with and knowing how small habits built up over time can make a big difference.
Reference Article: By Heidi Godman, Harvard Health Publishing online: