Everyday tips to reduce inflammation. Inflammation is a part of the body’s natural defense. When a cut swells up and turns red, that’s your body starting the process of healing. But sometimes, our natural response goes into overdrive. This overdrive is caused by a number of factors such as poor diet, obesity, and smoking. This can cause a lot of health problems including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and arthritis. However, there are a number of everyday steps you can take to minimize inflammation in the body. If you suffer from symptoms such as joint pain, stiffness, and swelling, try these tips!
Tip One to Reduce Inflammation: Drink Green Tea
Let’s start out with a simple cup of tea to end your day. Green tea is full of potent antioxidants that help reduce inflammation. Researchers from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock found that green tea can inhibit oxidative stress and the potential inflammation that may result from it. “After 24 weeks, people who consumed 500 mg of green tea polyphenols daily—that’s about 4 to 6 cups of tea—halved their oxidative stress levels,” says Leslie Shen, Ph.D., the study’s lead author.
Two: Give Yoga a Try
When’s the last time you got your Zen on? By practicing yoga regularly, you may be able to lower two key inflammatory markers (interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein). Practicing yoga is extremely helpful in reducing stress responses. Not to mention it minimizes stress-related physiological changes in the body. To start out, try following a guided yoga practice either first thing in the morning or as you unwind for bed.
Check out Yoga with Adriene if you would like to begin practicing. Her channel has a wide variety of practices varying in length!
Three: Try Turmeric
Turmeric is everywhere these days. That’s mostly thanks to curcumin, a compound that aids in anti-inflammatory properties. According to a recent review, curcumin reduces the production of a protein that makes your immune system work overtime. To get enough of the sunny spice, it may be worth it to talk to your doctor about supplementation. Try sprinkling it on roasted veggies or add it to a curry recipe! Or if you’re ready to dive headfirst, try your hand at making a trendy Golden Latte!
Four: Eat Your Greens
Popeye had it right. Green leafy veggies are extremely rich in magnesium. Magnesium is important for a number of body processes including regulating muscle and nerve function, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure. But did you know that most of us aren’t consuming enough of it?
“I encourage anyone who’s susceptible to inflammation to assess their magnesium intake,” says Forrest H. Nielsen, Ph.D., a research nutritionist at the USDA’s Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center in North Dakota. “There’s a lot of evidence that people with high inflammatory markers often have low magnesium levels. Plus, people who have conditions associated with inflammation, like heart disease and diabetes, also tend to have low magnesium levels,” Nielsen says. Need we say more?
Five: Get More Exercise
Let’s revisit elementary physics for a second. A body at rest will stay at rest. And a body in motion will stay in motion. Expanding waistlines are a major cause of inflammation. But you can offset this by amping up your physical activity. A study published in Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise found that the least sedentary people had the lowest inflammation, even if they didn’t lose weight. Even a small increase in activity helps! Especially when compared to being a total couch potato.
Six: And Get More Sleep
Sleep is one of the most important things we do to take care of our bodies. But it’s more than a lack of sleep that causes inflammation. And actually, it’s more so the effect of being tired that can affect our body’s levels of inflammation. In a study from The Ohio State University, inflammation shot up when sleep-deprived couples started squabbling. Inadequate rest may make you more sensitive to stress, which in turn causes inflammation. Not to mention, poor sleep can worsen your mood and drain your motivation to make other healthy lifestyle choices. So, take that nap if you need it! Your body will thank you for it!
Seven: Keep Stress at Bay
And speaking of stress, try to avoid it as much as possible! More and more studies are showing that stress is essentially cancer on the body. A study in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity found that people who have a strong emotional reaction to stressful tasks experience a greater increase in circulating interleukin-6 (a marker of inflammation) during times of stress than those who take stressful tasks in stride. Christopher P. Cannon, M.D., a professor at Harvard Medical School. puts it like this: “Stress increases blood pressure and heart rate, making your blood vessels work harder. Essentially, you’re pounding on them more often and creating damage. If that damage happens over and over, inflammation persists.”
Eight: Get a Massage
A massage isn’t just a treat—it can be part of staying healthy. Receiving a 45-minute Swedish massage can greatly lower levels of two key inflammation-promoting hormones, according to a study in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. “Massage may decrease inflammatory substances by [appropriately] increasing the amount of disease-fighting white blood cells in the body,” says Mark Hyman Rapaport, M.D., co-author of the study. “It may also lower stress hormones. Either way, these results can be seen after just one massage.”
Did you know we also practice massage therapy at Zock Family Chiropractic? Schedule a massage with us today!
If Those Tips Aren’t Enough, Supplement
Furthermore, at Zock Family Chiropractic, we often suggest patients supplement with Nutritional Frontiers products. Nutritional Frontiers has come up with a number of anti-inflammatory supplements to help aid in your health.
Inflam II: The ingredients in Inflam II can reduce the pain, swelling, & inflammation found in arthritis. This formula was designed to help increase mobility. Inflammation is associated with health conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, and autoimmune disease. Inflammation can be acute or chronic. It leads to changes in the cells, tissues, and blood vessels surrounding the inflamed area.
Estrocleanse III: A unique antioxidant formulation designed to enhance detoxification and promote hormone balance in both men and women. It contains anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting ingredients including curcumin, green tea, indole 3 carbinol, and tocotrienols.
X Flame: Several ingredients have been researched and proven to increase mobility and reduce pain and swelling. Inflammation is associated with many disease conditions such as arthritis, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular disease, asthma, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, and more. The nutrients in X-Flame by Nutritional Frontiers have been showed to support conditions associated with inflammation.
Let Zock Family Chiropractic Help!
As chiropractic care becomes more and more popular, why not try this preventive measure out for yourself? Chiropractic care is focused on allowing our spine and nerves to work to their potential. This results in not only allowing our organs to function but for them to function to their best ability. Furthermore, along with helping the optimal functioning of our organs, realigning the spine may also help with increasing our immune system effectiveness and our hormone functions. Contact us today to schedule an introductory chiropractic session. We can discuss your pains and needs as part of my initial chiropractic workup for you as a new patient to our practice!
And for more information on inflammation, come and check out Zock Family Chiropractic’s first-ever Fall Wellness Fair. The event will take place on the evening of Thursday, November 8th. From 6:30 – 8:00 PM. You’ll learn about all things fall wellness including essential oils to reduce inflammation, food, and supplements to reduce inflammation and aid in digestion, and juicing for a body detox! Just for coming, enjoy 10% off featured supplements and essential oils and entry into winning a door prize! But make sure to register for early sitting. Seating is limited! You won’t want to miss it!