Some researchers now believe that low-grade inflammation is associated with everything from heart disease and diabetes to Alzheimer’s and Arthritis, and may even be the cause of most chronic diseases. The simple logic is if you eliminate the inflammation, you will eliminate the disease. Here is a list of some of the things you can do to help eliminate inflammation in the body:
Diet plays an important part in inflammation. Select foods based on how they can help your body maintain optimum health. Your diet should provide energy, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, dietary fiber, and protective phytonutrients to reduce inflammation. You can find a list anti-inflammatory foods online.
Look at Glutathione (Glue-ta-thigh-on) or GSH. It is a tri-peptide. GSH is the master antioxidant, immunity booster and detoxifier. Basically, the master inflammation stopper. It is made from things we get in our diet, except for cysteine, which we do not get enough of. Glutathione supplements do not work as well as Glutathione through an IV.
Next, alkalizing the human body can help reduce inflammation. Lemon juice and cayenne pepper do the best, even though they are acidic. Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate (or Alkaseltzer), also does this, but through a different mechanism.
As an example of chronic inflammation, Arthritis is easily a 7 on the Richter scale for measuring inflammation. Some patients are told to eat one raw beet a week. The beet root has methionine, which converts homocysteine (bad for your heart and a better indicator for heart attack risk than cholesterol) into cysteine, the thing we need to make glutathione to fight the inflammation of Arthritis.
The next thing to consider….the histamine response. Histamines are chemicals released by cells of the immune system during the inflammatory response, which is one of the body’s defenses against infection. An effective way to control allergic symptoms is to disable the histamines with antihistamines which prevent the allergen from exerting their effects on the tissues.
A third area…the gut. Irritable Bowel Disease, Ulcer Colitis, Diverticulitis, all are problems caused by inflammation in the gut. Here is where it gets even more interesting. Many of the forms of inflammation are simply a sign and symptom of chronic fluid and electrolyte deficiency (not enough salt and not enough water). One study in New York City found that those on a sodium restricted diet had an increased risk of heart attack. Case Study: A 52 year old woman sitting in a car had chest pain. Nitro did not work; however, they gave her a pinch of unprocessed sea salt and a bottle of water and within seconds of finishing the water, the chest pain was gone. Salt (dissolved in the mouth) and drinking water does so much more.
Finally, there is a blood test for testing inflammation. The CRP test has been in use for some time. It costs less than $50 and can be done when your cholesterol levels are checked. One version of the test, called the highly sensitive, or hs-CRP test, is indeed helpful in people who have already had a heart attack, since high levels indicate risk of a recurrence.
Sharon Olsen’s education is in Communications and Journalism. She has over 15 years of experience in sales and marketing, and she has over 6 years of experience in the medical field. Sharon has worked for a Naturopathic Doctor / Iridologist for over two years. She is completing her Certification as a Medical Assistant, as well as Certification in Herbal Therapy. Ms Olsen has a strong interest in Integrative Medicine, and is in the process of building a medical and holistic clinic. She continues her education by taking additional holistic classes.
