Add a social component to your exercise by joining a fitness class or finding a workout buddy. You’ll incorporate two major components that fight inflammation: socializing and exercising. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
Tamping down inflammation is a must for people with a chronic inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus.
But you can be exposed to damaging inflammation without having a specific medical condition.
Inflammation prevents the body from adequately reacting to stressors and puts the aging process on an unwanted fast track, increasing the likelihood of problems like heart disease.
The negative effects of inflammation can be so significant that leading researchers from the University of Bologna in Italy coined the phrase inflamm-aging.
So making anti-inflammation lifestyle choices is good for everyone.
How to avoid inflamm-aging
Eat a heart-healthy diet focusing on foods like fatty fish, fruits and vegetables. Keep in mind that sugar is highly inflammatory.
Get active with moderate cardio exercise. Remember: Good health guidelines call for 30 minutes a day on at least five days per week.
Lose excess weight, especially if you’re carrying those pounds around your middle.
Avoid exposure to all forms of secondhand smoke and, of course, if you smoke, quit.
Limit alcohol to one drink per day if you’re a woman, two if you’re a man.
Clock seven to eight hours of sleep every night. Some people need more, others need less, but this is the sweet spot between not enough and too much.
Manage stress. Stress is often unavoidable, but you can minimize its effects with techniques like deep breathing and meditation.
Stay social with strong connections to friends and family.
Also, talk to your doctor about ways to boost heart health and any other steps appropriate to your needs to counter inflammation.
Beat chronic inflammation—and all of its side effects—with a vegan diet. And if that won’t work, there are other options. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
As it relates to biological processes within the human body, inflammation is often considered a necessary process.
When the body recognizes a threat from something foreign—an invading bacteria or virus—it activates the immune system to protect itself. Much benefit is derived from the inflammatory process, but only when it truly alerts the body to fight the foreign invaders.
Chronic inflammation is another story altogether. It often presents itself in well-known inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune disorders and ulcerative colitis, among various other illnesses.
But chronic inflammation has even a darker side, according to Thomas Boyden, MD, medical director of preventive cardiology with Spectrum Health.
Chronic inflammation can cause coronary artery disease and contribute to the process that causes heart attack and stroke, Dr. Boyden said.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution to help reduce the harmful effects of chronic inflammation: Eat a healthier diet.
In a society where the penchant for meats and over-processed foods runs high, it is admittedly no easy feat for most people to follow a proper diet.
But the most ideal way to reduce chronic inflammation is, in fact, to follow a plant-based diet, Dr. Boyden said. Basically, you would eat nothing that was once alive and moving, such as red meat, poultry, pork or fish. Stay away from animal products such as dairy.
Those who can accomplish this vegan regimen could reduce their risk of heart attack, stroke, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, depression, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, Dr. Boyden said.
Realistically, this type of diet doesn’t work for most people, so he highly recommends the Mediterranean diet as the best alternative.
“You can eat fish, poultry and dairy, but it is basically a plant-based diet that allows you to eat small portions of animal-based foods,” he said.
A workable diet
The Mediterranean diet is an entirely accessible, achievable solution for eating.
“I always find it interesting to hear the different reasons that people want to join the program,” Franowicz said. “We’ve had a lot of success with weight loss, lowering blood sugars and cholesterol. Besides these factors, I also have people join because they may have Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis or cancer in their families, and they want to reduce their risks.
“I think people have great success with long-term weight loss because the diet is sustainable, delicious and satisfying,” she said.
Another reason people often find success with the Mediterranean diet: It emphasizes good fats such as olive oil, nuts, seeds and omega-3 fatty acids. These types of fats are not only delicious and satisfying, they also keep people from feeling deprived of food.
Better still, these fats help fight inflammation.
To reduce inflammation, it’s generally smart to avoid animal products as often as possible, Dr. Boyden said. Avoid saturated fats, too, which are often found in those products.
And more specifically: Stay away from foods that are fried, sugary or processed.
You should avoid artificial sweeteners, too. They’re made from chemicals—and why would you want to put a synthetic chemical in your body?
“They are not healthy,” Dr. Boyden said, explaining how artificial sweeteners can actually stimulate the brain to tell you you’re hungry. They can also make you gain weight.
“Truthfully, if you change your diet, you really do change your life,” Dr. Boyden said.
Dr. Boyden and Franowicz listed some of the obvious foods that exacerbate inflammation, as well as those that help fight it.
Foods that cause inflammation:
Butter and margarine
Fast food and fried foods
Red meat (burgers, steak) and processed meat (hot dogs, sausage)
Refined carbohydrates such as white breads, sweets and pastries
Sodas and sweetened beverages
Foods that fight inflammation:
Olive oil, nuts and avocados
Fatty fish like salmon twice a week
Tomatoes and greens like kale, spinach, swiss chard
