When you get a small cut or a bruise, the area tends to get inflamed. This is the body’s natural way of fighting off infection so that the area heals as fast as possible. However, there are times, when your body tends to have inflammation, which is chronic. This is when the trouble arises and if you are not aware of the source of inflammation or the part of the body that is constantly inflamed, you might as well end up contracting certain lifestyle diseases and ailments like heart problems, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and hypertension.
Studies done by well educated registered nurses have proved that your body tends to stay chronically inflamed in the event the dosage of Omega-6 fatty acids exceeds that of the mount of Omega-3 fatty acids in your body.
How to tame inflammation – Lifestyle changes
Research has proved that ideally you ought to derive not more than 2% of the calories on a daily basis from omega-6 fatty acids. This is because although omega-6 fatty acids is good for health but only to a certain extent. In fact, they are responsible for so called “pro inflammatory” hormones in the body. So, you can keep a check on your diet and reduce the intake of omega-6 fatty acids depending on the requirement.
Processed foods are partially responsible for causing inflammation in your body. So, you can reduce your inflammation by curbing the intake of processed foods. However, just by consuming these foods will alone not contribute to the inflammation in your body.
Culprits identified!
While majority of the people attribute inflammation in the body to dairy products as well as gluten, there are a number of other ingredients in the food and food products that can be held responsible for the same. These are given below.
- Sugar- If you are fond of taking foods that contain higher amounts of processed sugars, cytokines can play havoc with your body by causing inflammation. These are messengers of inflammation.
- Refined carbohydrates – Food products made of white flour, white potatoes are classical examples of refined carbohydrates. Consuming them can produce AGE or advanced glycation that causes inflammation.
- Gluten – Gluten as well as casein are also held responsible for causing inflammation. So, you can limit intake of these ingredients.
- Artificial sweetener (Aspartame) – Being a neurotoxin, it adversely affects the brain triggering the release of inflammatory agents in the body.
- Trans fats – It causes systemic inflammation and is found extensively in fried foods, doughnuts, cookies, crackers, margarine, and foods products that are frozen and mainly eaten for breakfast.
Aside from the food ingredients mentioned above, few others that cause inflammation in the body include the following-
- Saturated fats
- MSG or Mono Sodium Glutamate
- Alcohol
In order to reduce your inflammation, it is best to work out a diet plan with your medical practitioner so that you can consume just the right amount of these food ingredients or totally avoid them depending on your body’s requirement. It may be mentioned here that no two individual will have the same rate of metabolism. As such, the diet regime will also differ in accordance.
