Our topic for today is, as James Bond might say, “Pain, chronic Pain!”
Chronic pain is no picnic. AND, it causes us to lose our precious grey matter faster than we would otherwise, but what can you do?
There are several steps that you can take to reduce chronic pain caused by inflammation. Inflammation is your body’s natural response to things that harm it, like infections, injuries, and toxins; it’s how your body defends itself.
When some injury damages your cells, your smart immune system releases antibodies and proteins, and increases blood flow to the damaged area. In the case of an injury, this process lasts only a day or so.
Chronic inflammation happens when this immune response lingers, leaving your body in a constant state of alert. Over time, chronic inflammation can have a negative impact on your tissues and organs.
Autoimmune disorders like MS, Rheumatoid arthritis, or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis cause your immune system to mistakenly attack healthy tissue, causing inflammation that may go on for months or even years.
Many major diseases that plague us—including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, depression, and Alzheimer’s—have been linked to chronic inflammation.
Doctors are learning that one of the best ways to reduce inflammation is not a pill to be prescribed, but the food that we eat! What we eat plays an important role in calming our immune system response.
Foods like spinach and kale, strawberries and blueberries, oranges and cherries, fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and sardines, nuts like walnuts and almonds, and olive oil offer many benefits, including reducing our inflammatory response. So do spices like ginger, garlic, cayenne, turmeric, cinnamon and black pepper.
The foods that we need to stay away from are refined sugars, refined carbohydrates like bread and pastries, soda, margarine, fried foods, and processed meats like sausages and hot dogs.
In addition to helping us reduce inflammation, an anti-inflammatory diet can also help us to lose weight. Yay!
Here is a delicious recipe for salmon that you might like. If salmon isn’t your favorite, try it with another fish!
Moderate aerobic exercise like brisk walking can also help reduce inflammation in our body. Yet another reason to get out there and walk or hike!
Best of Health,
Kathi
