How to Reduce Inflammation | Acute Inflammation |
Chronic Inflammation | Free Wellness Tracker

Hi Gorgeous,

Today we’re tackling an important health topic: reducing inflammation. You’ve probably heard a lot about inflammation recently in wellness spaces. That buzz is justified — chronic inflammation is linked to all sorts of diseases and even speeds up how we age.

Over the past decade, I’ve renovated everything from my grocery cart to my makeup bag to my mind in an effort to upgrade my immune system. And as I moved from a stressful life full of fast food, toxins and bad boyfriends, to a more balanced existence filled with plant-based nourishment, inner growth and conscious living, I started experiencing the perks — my chronic inflammation decreased, and my body started working with me to heal and rebuild.

There are plenty of simple practices you can add to your day that will fight chronic inflammation. Here’s how to reduce inflammation in 5 easy steps.

How to reduce inflammation in 5 Steps

1. Eat more whole, plant-based, nutrient-dense foods

Certain foods can trigger an inflammatory response including processed foods that are high in refined sugar, flour and trans fats, fried foods, and animal products. The easiest way to adopt an anti-inflammatory diet is to add before you subtract. Crowd out inflammatory foods by eating a beautiful cornucopia of whole, plant-based foods. 

Build your next meal around anti-inflammatory food powerhouses like dark leafy greens, tomatoes, nuts, berries (cherries in particular), olive oil and flax oil, hemp seeds, turmeric (or more specifically, curcumin, a naturally occurring chemical with anti-inflammatory properties), green tea, and ginger.

Eating these anti-inflammatory foods on a regular basis will flood your body with the vitamins, minerals, cancer-fighting phytochemicals, antioxidants, fiber and other goodies it needs to reduce inflammation.

A PREDIMED study explored how a Mediterranean-style diet, rich in whole, plant-based foods, can reduce inflammation. Since cardiovascular disease is essentially a low-grade inflammatory condition, researchers tested if this nutrient-dense diet could improve risk factors. Compared to a low-fat diet, the Mediterranean diet significantly reduced inflammation and related markers in participants with a higher risk of heart disease. (Source).

Here are a few of my favorite recipes to tap into those anti-inflammatory effects:

• Turmeric Milk
• Antioxidant Boost Smoothie
• Tomatoes & Herbs
• Crazy Sexy Kale Salad

Oh, and don’t forget to stay hydrated. Proper hydration helps decrease inflammation and can even prevent it from happening in the first place, so drink up, buttercup!

2. Improve your gut health

Your gut holds approximately 60–70 percent of your immune system, so it’s a great place to start if you want to reduce inflammation. If your gut is in bad shape, your immune system might be in some serious trouble.

One easy way to start improving your gut health is by adding a high-quality probiotic to your daily routine. Here are a few of my personal faves:

• The FloraMend Prime Probiotic from Thorne Research
• Jarro-Dophilus EPS from Jarro Formulas
• Ultimate Flora from Renew Life

You can get more tips and resources in my essential guide to gut health!

If you’re experiencing prolonged bloating, gas or other digestive discomforts, taking digestive enzymes with meals can help you get more nutrition out of your food, as well as improving digestion and boosting your immune system.

More >> Check out my resource on digestive enzymes, prebiotics and probiotics!

Another possible cause of inflammatory symptoms is leaky gut syndrome. This condition occurs when your intestinal lining is damaged, allowing bacteria, undigested food and other toxins to literally “leak” into your bloodstream. This kind of leak triggers an autoimmune response with a host of painful inflammatory symptoms. If you think you may have a leaky gut, ask your doc to help you get a test done!

🗓 Living an anti-inflammatory lifestyle is easier when you track your habits. Grab my free Wellness Tracker below to supercharge your daily health routine!

3. Find an integrative MD you trust

Finding the right doctor is a critical part of nipping chronic inflammation in the bud. A good integrative MD takes a holistic approach by looking at your habits and the way you lead your life. Then you can work together to identify and address possible chronic inflammation triggers. Here are two in particular that your doctor is on the lookout for:

Food sensitivities: Gluten, soy, dairy, eggs and yeast are just a few of the common problem foods that might be wreaking havoc on your immune system every time you sit down for a meal.

If you think you might have a sensitivity or allergy, start paying close attention to what you’re eating and how it makes you feel. If your symptoms persist, fill your doc in on what you notice— they may suggest a blood test or elimination diet. You can find more info about food allergies and sensitivities here.

Chronic infection: Bacteria, viruses, yeast, parasites—oh my! These guys could be hiding out in your body under the radar and dragging your immune system down. If chronic infection is a suspect in your inflammation mystery, your doc may ask for blood work and/or a stool sample to analyze. Yes, your poop has a lot to say about what’s going on inside, so listen up!

And if doctors make you nervous, here are some helpful tips to face that fear and get the care you deserve. You’ve got this!

4. Get more rest and relaxation

Your body works hard to repair and restore your glorious cells while you sleep. Most doctors recommend 7–8 hours of sleep per night. If you’re cutting corners in the snooze department, you’re cheating your immune system, which means it needs to kick into high gear in an effort to keep you well (hello, inflammation!).

Stress goes hand in hand with a lack of sleep and a laundry list of demands in our daily lives. Unfortunately, when you’re stressed out all the time, you’re also producing more of the hormone cortisol—inflammation’s BFF. You can reduce inflammation by reducing stress. Get more sleep, try yoga or meditation, take long walks, use less technology, or take a much-needed vacation. You know I love to take every opportunity I can to remind you to take a chill pill!

5. Reduce toxins in your food, home and personal care products

Your body’s alarm system goes off when you absorb toxic chemicals and pesticides through your digestive tract and skin—inflammation station, here we come! Luckily, there are some small, simple changes you can make to start protecting yourself right away. And please don’t feel like you’ve gotta throw out everything in your house and start from scratch—each and every baby step goes a long way.

First, check out EWG’s Clean Fifteen/Dirty Dozen charts before your next trip to the grocery store. It will help you prioritize which produce to buy organic (and when it’s OK to go with conventional). Those lists change yearly, so be sure to check back often. EWG also has you covered with their Skin-Deep database of non-toxic personal care products. Finally, I put together a resource to help you steer clear of yucky chemicals in your household cleaning products.

Remember, small steps lead to big change! That’s especially true when it comes to fighting chronic inflammation. Start connecting the dots to better health by trying one of these suggestions and see how you feel.

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What is Inflammation?

Acute inflammation

Acute inflammation is your body’s natural and helpful immune response to tissue damage. For example, when you fall off your bike, the cut swells, reddens and feels…inflamed! These are all signs that your immune system is busy at work sending white blood cells to the site of your injury to repair the tissue. In this situation, inflammation is our friend—we couldn’t live without it.

Chronic inflammation

Chronic inflammation is your body’s confused and damaging immune response to a barrage of environmental, physical and mental invaders. What you eat and drink, the thoughts you think, toxins, smoking, booze and even being a couch-potato can all trigger a fiery cascade of inflammation throughout your body.

When your body hits inflammatory overload, your defense system gets so overwhelmed and confused that it literally doesn’t know the difference between the invader and you. As a result, your well-meaning immune system turns on itself, destroying healthy cells, tissue, and everything else in its wake. It’s like when Al Pacino played Tony Montana in Scarface. He mows down everything in sight, yelling, “Say hello to my little friend!”

The dangers of chronic inflammation

Chronic inflammation can be incredibly damaging over time, wearing down your immune system. This opens the door to autoimmune disorders, chronic diseases, and a number of other health issues – cancer, asthma, heart disease, allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, osteoporosis, and even (gasp!) premature aging.

Unfortunately, these challenges are often only treated with drugs and surgery. These may provide temporary relief from the symptoms, but don’t get to the root of the problem. In addition, these drugs (and their side effects) sometimes only add to your health problems.

Could it be that many of the pills in your cabinet are just band-aids and that the key to health lies in your daily diet and lifestyle choices? That’s certainly what I’ve found to be true.

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Your turn: Do you struggle with chronic inflammation? Which one of these tips will you try? Or, if you have inflammation fighting tips of your own, tell me all about them!

Peace & immunity,