Reducing inflammation

By making healthy lifestyle changes and modifications, you can help reduce inflammation in your body. And, it simultaneously improves your overall health!

1. If you smoke, quit.

2. Practice stress management techniques such as deep breathing to help manage your stress load.

3. Simply being overweight can increase inflammation. Start a sensible diet and exercise plan – it will help with inflammation and your overall sense of health and well-being.

4. Exercise at least 30 minutes per day, three to five days per week.

5. Cut out unhealthy food choices – some of which can actually contribute to inflammation: trans fats, refined carbohydrates, processed foods.

6. Make anti-inflammatory foods a staple in your diet.

7. Practice good oral hygiene: brush after every meal  and floss once a day.

How inflammation affects your body over time

Though you may not see or even feel inflammation, it may be silently burning within your body right now. Over time, this collective damage can spell trouble for the immediate area of inflammation as well as your overall health.

• Heart  Inflammation is believed to contribute to the formation of plaque in blood vessels, as well as the formation of blood clots. When these blood clots break free into the blood, they can block blood flow to the brain or heart, resulting in a heart attack or stroke.

• Brain Inflammation plays a role in Alzheimer’s disease, yet scientists are still uncertain what that role is. However, one theory is that inflammation kicks into gear because  of the plaques and tangles in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. In trying to solve the problem, inflammation just makes  matters worse.

• Joints Long-term inflammation of the joints can result in destroyed ligaments and tendons, damage to joint cartilage and bone and even bone erosion. This leads to pain, deformity and an inability to perform daily tasks – drastically affecting quality of life.

• Mouth and gums  Although dental researchers once thought bacterial infections caused gum disease, it is now thought that some of the more severe symptoms of gum disease are attributable to inflammation. The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the National Institutes of Health, report that inflammation can even break down bone and connective tissue that keep the teeth in place.

• Emotional health Inflammation may even play a role in your emotions! Scientists at the University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign discovered that an enzyme secreted by the immune system caused inflammation-related, depression-like symptoms in mice. Because inflammation is linked with conditions often accompanied by depression – such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease – researchers expect that this study will provide insight into chronic inflammation’s role  in depression.

• Cancer cell growth Although researchers haven’t discovered the exact mechanism of inflammation’s role in cancer, they believe it encourages cancer growth. According to the American Cancer Society, inflammation creates just  the right conditions for cancer cells  to grow and multiply.
 

Drink #Nopalea and Thrive