10 Characteristics of an Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle

Imagine you fall and hit your knee. You’ll feel pain at the site of impact, and will likely notice some redness and swelling. If you touch the skin around it, it may feel hot. Depending on the severity of the fall, it may be difficult to bend your knee. These are all examples of the body’s inflammation response. Inflammation is adaptive! It helps our bodies to heal in response to injury and illness. But like so many things in life, this response can become dangerous if left unchecked.

Incorporating exercise into your daily life is a great way to lower inflammation!

Lowering systemic inflammation is a critical component of preventing or improving chronic conditions, like metabolic syndrome, Type II Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, joint pain, and autoimmune diseases. There are a plethora of diets, supplements, exercise regimes, and wellness companies that claim to help lower inflammation, but what actually helps to lower inflammation? The following list can help you sift through the noise and uncover some common lifestyle changes you can implement today to lower the inflammatory load on your body and feel better. Feel free to read them all or explore the changes you are most curious about!

• Choose foods that come in their whole, unprocessed forms

  To lower inflammation, add more foods that are naturally anti-inflammatory to your menu. Look for a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and clean animal products to incorporate the nutrients and fiber we need to fight chronic inflammation and feel better. Buying these foods in their whole, unprocessed forms, and then preparing them yourself ensures you retain as much of the nutrients as possible and avoid unnecessary additives that can create a more inflammatory environment.

• Introduce foods with more omega-3 fatty acids

  The days of fat being evil are over! Omega-3 fatty acids are a specific type of fat that can be found in foods such as oily fishes, or plant sources like walnuts, flax seeds, or chia seeds. Omega-3 fatty acids play integral roles in the structure of our cell membranes, and are important for the functioning of your brain, cardiovascular, and endocrine systems. The specific types of omega-3 fatty acids found in fish (docosahexaenoic acid [DHA] and eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA] for the nutrition curious out there) are particularly potent and efficient.

• Spice up your cooking!

  Healthy foods don’t need to taste boring! Experiment with adding herbs and spices to your meals. Not only can they bring new flavor to a dish, several herbs and spices can offer health benefits.
  
  For example, turmeric contains many phytochemicals and polyphenols that offer antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Similarly, cinnamon offers anti-inflammatory benefits, and may even have some positive influence over your blood sugar control. There are many benefits to herbs and spices (they are, after all, plant foods), so there’s plenty of reason to get creative in the kitchen!

• Reduce added sugars (including artificial sweeteners)

  Several studies over recent years have illustrated that a diet characterized by excessive sugar intake can induce chronic, low-grade inflammation, and contribute to certain autoimmune conditions. Additionally, moderating the amounts of added sugars you consume can help regulate your blood sugar levels, and ensure you have good sensitivity to insulin, protecting against the development of diabetes.
  
  Check out some of our other blog posts for tips about reducing your intake of added sugars and avoiding artificial sweeteners.

• Remove trans fats

  Industrial trans fats are essentially vegetable oils that have had hydrogen added to them to make them become more solid. They are prevalent in our food system, as they are cheaper to use than high quality fats, and are solid at room temperature, making them more suitable for certain types of processing. However, there are no know health benefits to trans fats. In fact, trans fats have been shown to raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol, while simultaneously lowering your HDL (good) cholesterol, making them a significant factor in the development of cardiovascular disease. Several countries and jurisdictions have banned industrial trans fats altogether.
  
  To find out if the food you’re consuming contains trans fat, check the ingredients label for “partially hydrogenated,” or “hydrogenated oils.” It’s important to note that per FDA labeling requirements, if a serving contains less than 0.5g of trans fats, the food manufacturer is to list the Trans fat content at 0g in a separate line under the saturated fat line. This can lead to misleading situations where there is trans fat in a food, listed on the ingredients label, but the food can be marketed as 0g trans fat. Another reason to read the ingredients label!

• Limit or remove alcohol

  Excessive alcohol intake can lead to inflammation through a few mechanisms. It causes the release of inflammatory molecules in several tissues throughout the body, and can damage the integrity of your gut barrier, leading to problems with gastrointestinal health that drive inflammation. Moderating your alcohol intake, being aware of added sugars in your alcoholic beverages, and being mindful of the ABV content of your drinks are all important factors to consider when deciding whether to enjoy an alcoholic beverage.

• Practice stress-relieving activities

  Similar to the inflammation response, stress can be an adaptive response for our bodies, but when left unchecked, chronic stress can have many negative health effects, including creating a pro-inflammatory environment. Managing stress and improving your vagal tone are important for reducing your inflammatory load.
  
  Journaling, yoga, gardening, exercising, being outside, deep breathing, meditation, and prayer are all great ways to reduce your stress. Feel free to try several – what resonates with you may not be the same as your partner or close friend.

• Engage in proper sleep hygiene

  Research has demonstrated sleep deprivation is associated with an increase in inflammatory markers. Although more research is needed about the specific mechanisms driving this association, some suggest the relationship may be due to loss of protective impact of sleep on your blood pressure and glymphatic system (essentially the housecleaning service for the brain that is most active during deep sleep).
  
  Set yourself up for success by preparing more quality sleep. Habits such as creating a consistent sleep schedule, using a soothing bedtime ritual, avoiding use of electronics before bed, and using your bed for sleep and sex only, can encourage higher quality of sleep.

• Get active!

  Regular exercise has so many health benefits it’s difficult to list them all! Exercising regularly can help minimize the amount of visceral fat, and can create an anti-inflammatory environment in the body. Additionally, regular exercise can also help manage stress, and improves quality of sleep, which as discussed earlier, are critical factors of lowering inflammation.
  
  Exercise is not limited to going on a jog or lifting weights at the gym. Anything that keeps you active can count as exercise – whether it’s dancing, yard work, hiking, biking, or playing with the grandkids. Don’t let a dislike for traditional “exercise,” discourage you from moving your body!

• Quit smoking

  Research has shown that smoking can significantly increase inflammatory markers compared to non-smokers. The inflammation from smoking impacts the whole body, including the heart, lungs, gums, eyes, kidneys, and joints, and the effects become more severe the longer you smoke. This is reason enough to stop smoking, not to mention its links to cancer, lung, and heart disease!

To find out if the food you’re consuming contains trans fat, check the ingredients label for “partially hydrogenated,” or “hydrogenated oils.” They may appear in the ingredients list, even if the product has “0g Trans Fat” on the Nutrition Facts.

We all have underlying genetic predispositions that may make certain chronic conditions more likely, but lifestyle modifications can help stave off these chronic illnesses by reducing the inflammation in our bodies. Every little bit you do makes a difference, so try one (or more!) of these suggestions today! Just remember to have patience, changes to your diet and lifestyle patterns can take several weeks to show their effects, so don’t be discouraged if there’s not an immediate change.