Inflammation within your body is not something that you want or need...It is linked to almost every disease known to man, everything from cardiovascular disease, arthritis, different types of cancers, and many more...So it’s sufficient to say that inflammation is definitely something that you should be thinking about.
Inflammation has actually been branded as a 'silent killer', as it often builds up within your body over a number of years without any tell-tale signs if it is given the chance. Likewise, having chronic inflammation levels can shorten your lifespan and cause you pain throughout your daily life.
That's why today we're going to be telling you all of the handy tips you can start doing to keep inflammation at bay...Some of them might surprise you!
What causes inflammation?
Inflammation can be caused by many different things. Bad nutritional choices, high sugar diets, fast food, microwave meals, smoking and excess alcohol consumption can all increase the amount of inflammation within your body.
Likewise, having elevated stress levels and cortisol levels (your stress hormone) and a lack of exercise can also promote inflammation within your body.
What can I do about it?
Now that you know what inflammation is and why it’s so serious, you’ll probably want to know how to reduce it!
First of all you will want to rid your diet of any kind of trans fats. Trans fats are those which interfere with your body's ability to process natural fats (which are good for you and also help to lower inflammation). The most common place to find trans fats is in processed foods and take-aways, so that should be the first place you look!
To reduce the amount of trans fats in your diet, start cooking your own food, preparing everything that enters your mouth from scratch - if you don't do this already. One great place to start is to eat more fish! Oily Fish such as salmon, sardines etc are full of all kinds of beneficial fats that help reduce inflammation in your body.
If you are not a seafood lover, invest in some high quality pharmaceutical grade omega 3 fish oil. Just be aware that you get what you pay for with supplements, and taking a cheap fish oil (which may contain impurities and toxins) may make things worse.
The DVCC has produced its own optimised fish oil, so that our clients need not worry about finding the best quality fish oil, we have brought it to them :)
Another great nutritional tip to reducing inflammation is to eating berries! This is because berries, particularly blue, purple and red berries are very low in sugar and have a low glycemic index, and many different antioxidants, which help to reduce inflammation and discourage the enzymes which cause arthritis.
The final (and biggest) tip for reducing inflammation is resistance training!
Whilst focusing on your nutrition is incredibly important when trying to reduce the level of inflammation in your body, there is no better solution than introducing 2 intense resistance workouts into your week! There have been many studies which show that resistance training is very effective for reducing inflammation as well as improving your longevity of life!
So next time you are worried about the silent killer, turn down that Chinese and opt for some delicious salmon instead! Your body will thank you for it!