10 ways to reduce inflammation

Dia duit agus fáilte – that’s Irish for hello and welcome – to my blog all about rheumatoid arthritis autoimmune diseases and chronic pain. If you want to reduce symptoms of RA, it is essential to reduce inflammation; learn how below.

So happy you are looking for ways to reduce inflammation, learn about its causes and its role in rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases; I hope you find the information and inspiration you most need today.

Knowing the leading causes of inflammation gives us the power to avoid them. In this post, you will learn the worst causes of inflammation, how to avoid them and 10 ways to reduce inflammation in your body.

A woman recently asked me if there was something I could have done to prevent rheumatoid arthritis and the answer is, unequivocally, yes. Had I known and been willing to make the changes necessary, I believe 100% that I could have avoided developing a chronic autoimmune disease.

Given that the propensity to autoimmune disorders is genetic, I try to encourage our kidlets to make the necessary changes to prevent following in their mother’s footsteps. But, let’s be honest, it’s really hard to make dramatic changes in the absence of a compelling reason.

When I had my compelling reason, I made dramatic changes; my hope is that this article and having the tools you need to stop inflammation now might prompt action that prevents the onset of an autoimmune disease in even one person.

Keep reading to learn how to stop inflammation naturally.

What is inflammation?

Inflammation lies at the root of most diseases; it’s like the one bad apple in the barrel. And the bad news is that, if we live in modern, western society, then we have inflammation by default.

That’s the way inflammation works. It builds and spreads over time and slowly affects everything it touches; in some bodies, it might show up as rheumatoid arthritis, in others as cancer or diabetes. And while it is almost impossible to root out every inflammatory trigger, the great news is that we can dramatically reduce our exposure to the top causes of inflammation and make changes in our lifestyles to reduce their impact.

Inflammation is the immune system’s way of addressing a perceived threat. Some inflammation makes perfect sense – it is your body’s biological way to protect you. Acute inflammation occurs when you scrape your arm in a tumble or twist your ankle while hiking.

The immune system cleverly deploys its healing arsenal (mostly white blood cells) to the affected area and you may notice one or more of the following:

Chronic inflammation occurs when there is constant exposure to low levels of irritants or triggers.

Inflammation only becomes a problem when it is chronic. The immune system stays on constant alert, ready to attack any perceived threat. And those perceived threats are everywhere in our lives – from the food we eat to the air we breathe.

So, let’s look at the leading triggers of inflammation, including the top inflammatory foods, in order to know better how to avoid them as much as possible.

Top 6 causes of inflammation

Emotional/Mental stress

The immune system perceives psychological stressors as the enemy, just like a cold virus and jumps in to protect the body. It rallies the troops and builds up the supply of white blood cells for the fight. This would be fine if it were an infrequent event but many of us live with constant emotional and mental stress in our lives.

Emotional and mental stress is triggered by our jobs, the demands of life, family and friends as well as “silly” things like traffic, the news and lousy weather. Read The Emotional Impact of RA.

Psychological stress can be addressed in several ways.

• Can you remove the stressor?
• Is there a person you can turn to for support?
• Cognitive Behavior Therapy can be very effective for learning to manage stressors.
• Meditation can ease stress and soothe the immune system.

Physical Stress

Easy examples of physical stress that may cause chronic inflammation are heavy training for a marathon or a crash diet.

But regularly disrupted sleep, sitting in an uncomfortable position at your desk or in the car or even mild chronic dehydration can produce a stress response in the body. It is often easier to reduce or remove a physical stressor. Using the mentioned examples, you could:

• Improve your sleep by changing your sleep habits.
• Take regular breaks from your desk or carpool.
• Carry a bottle of water with you.

Chemicals

Toxins are everywhere and are a common cause of inflammation. Ingredients in personal care and cleaning products are just the tip of the iceberg but we can reduce our exposure to these chemicals by changing our habits. Learn how to make your own, natural, non-toxic cleaning products here. It is harder to avoid air and water pollution in everyday life but we can fight to change laws and push for more environmentally friendly energy sources.

Skin irritants

Synthetic fibers, including latex, polyester and plastics, regularly trigger inflammation in people with skin sensitivities. Symptoms range from blistering and redness to dry skin and itching. With an acute response, it is easy to identify and remove the cause.

However, what we put down to dry skin could actually be the immune system’s response to chronic exposure to an allergen. We can slather as much lotion on as we please but without removing the irritant, we will never heal our skin, or our immune system.

I make my own body products with food grade carrier oils and essential oils to avoid the harsher chemicals present in even the “natural” skin care products. Read here.

Food Allergies

Allergic reactions and inflammation are both the result of an overactive immune system. Many allergies are identified in childhood but, because food allergy symptoms are produced by IgE antibodies that form from previous exposure to an allergen, it is possible for allergies to develop in adults.

True food allergy responses are more severe and thankfully less prevalent than food trigger responses. That said, many people experience inflammation and other painful symptoms after eating trigger foods (e.g. bloating, gas, skin rashes and pain.)

The top inflammatory foods:

I have written about diet and rheumatoid arthritis and recommend you begin with this article for more info.

10 Ways to Reduce Inflammation

Pay attention

Since my diagnosis with RA, I have been much more attentive to myself; I have learned to pay better attention to how certain experiences, foods, and other elements affect my body.

For example, my sleep suffers if I watch intense TV thrillers within an hour of going to bed. That makes sense, right? But, I also learned that going out for a meal causes stress and the truth is, I prefer to enjoy most meals at home. That observation shocked me!

Paying attention can be challenging and remembering my observations even more so. It helps me to take notes, use apps to track moods, pain, food etc…, I write Morning Pages daily and I have enlisted Tom’s help.

Reduce stress

Yes, I know, everywhere we turn, we see exhortations to reduce stress; it’s bad for us. We know!

Do you even know what causes you stress?

• Is it your job or is it actually the daily interactions you have with that colleague who subtly undermines you every chance he gets?
• Is it the commute or is it actually the news you listen to in the car? This was me. Now, I listen to audio books most of the time – much less stress, plus it’s educational/entertaining. Win, win!
• Is it the messy house or is it that you seem to be the only one who cares?

When you know the true cause of the stress, you can properly address and reduce it. Removing stressors is one way to stop inflammation naturally.

Practice yoga

Practice meditation

Meditation is a non-religious way to calm the mind and reduce stress. Here is a simple meditation that you can practice anywhere. I use this method in doctor’s offices, the bus and in the car when I need to soothe my soul. Even 5 minutes can work wonders.

• Sit up with the spine tall, feet flat on the floor.
• Drop your shoulders down your back, soften your cheekbones and close your eyes.
• Slowly say to yourself as you inhale: “I am breathing in” and on the exhale: “I am breathing out.”
• Watch the physical sensations in your body – the cool air at your nostrils, how the belly fills and empties.
• When you notice your mind has wandered, gently bring it back to those same words.

Walk

Beyond a doubt, walking and yoga are how I heal. Walking is a gentle way to exercise, it requires little in the way of special equipment other than comfy shoes and can be done pretty much everywhere.

My favorite place in the world to walk is along the ocean but I walk anywhere and usually avoid buses in order to walk, especially when I’m home in Dublin. If you’re not much of a walker, start small – walk for 5-10 minutes 2 or 3 times a day until you find a rhythm and time that best suits you.

I prefer to walk without headphones and music; the silence keeps me in my body and that’s a good place to be.

If you want to stop inflammation now, lace up your shoes and head out the door.

Lift weights

If you are new to weight-lifting and have access to a local gym, working with a personal trainer is a great investment. Prefer to stay home? Check out Amanda’s workout without weights or gym.

Become a label reader

Knowledge is power. Do you know what is in the food you are eating? What about the contents of your shampoo or air freshener?

We detoxed our home of typical cleaning products many years ago and I make most of our skin/body care products, all because I started label reading when I trained as a certified aromatherapist.

We shop mostly at farmers’ markets or around the perimeter of the grocery store.

When we do buy processed foods, we try limit ourselves to items with fewer than 3 ingredients. All of which I must recognize!

I read once that we should only eat ingredients your Nana would recognize! (No more Doritos or M&Ms) and while that sometimes feels restrictive, it certainly keeps me away from the top inflammatory foods.

Detox

Yes, it is important to detox our bodies and environment but I also mean detox in the general sense – give your life a good spring cleaning! When you remove stuff that no longer serves you, you are creating space for better “things” to appear. Read Reduce Toxins post.

Discover and remove your trigger foods

If you have rheumatoid arthritis or another autoimmune disease and are making major lifestyle changes in order to address your symptoms naturally and holistically, then your diet will definitely shift.

When I first began my healing journey, I adhered to a strict 4-day rotation diet and removed gluten, alcohol and GMOs. After 6 months, I felt like a new person and returned to a fairly “normal” diet though I no longer eat gluten or GMOs and only occasionally enjoy a glass of wine. That said, over the years, I have noticed that certain foods do, in fact, trigger my immune system.

Soy causes bloating and gas while pork triggers a mild RA flare-up. I would not have noticed either of these if I didn’t pay close attention and track my health and diet. I am happy to avoid both of these foods in order to stop inflammation.

But I also learned that sugar in the evenings disrupts my sleep and leads to a “hangover” which was a very sad turn of events because I love dessert in the evenings! I experimented and discovered I can enjoy a mug of coconut milk hot chocolate made with a teaspoon of maple syrup – body and soul are both happy with this compromise.

When you discover your trigger foods, you will be able to make informed decisions that allow you to reduce inflammation and become healthier.

Improve your sleep

The body needs adequate sleep to function optimally. No matter how clean your diet or how often you walk and meditate, if you are not getting good quality sleep, your immune system will continue to misfire and cause inflammation and other ill effects.

Read this in-depth article on sleep and RA but, for now, here are 4 simple steps to better sleep:

Final thoughts

Inflammation is the root cause of many chronic diseases; if we reduce inflammation, we reduce our chances of developing chronic diseases.

I was considered healthy by any standard before I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis but apparently, I was a bubbling cauldron of inflammation slowly working my way to a debilitating chronic disease.

Despite working in health and wellness, I had no real clue about the insidious nature of inflammation and continued taking the “healthy” path until it smacked me upside the head.

I practiced some of what I write about in this RA blog – yoga, meditation, exercise, I ate “properly” and didn’t have any “bad” habits – and I still find myself living with rheumatoid arthritis.

Since then, I have learned that we should not measure ourselves against the standard/conventional health standards; it is up to each of us to decide what being healthy actually means and being “better than most” is not always enough to remain truly healthy.

My hope in writing this article is that you have some of the information you need to make better decisions for your health and future.