Is Inflammation Messing With You?

Today’s busy lifestyles makes it is easy to brush off an occasional headache, muscle pain, constipation, or chronic allergies. What most don’t understand is that these may be symptoms of chronic inflammation. Chronic inflammation drives over 95% of all diseases including heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

The body is essentially a machine with built in mechanisms to keep all the systems balanced, when things become unbalanced for too long the body will deliver warning signs. It’s important to be alert for signals the body is trying to show you. Sometimes these signs can be weird, and not all signs mean something serious, but a sign is a sign none the less.

Excessive oil and dead skin cells can clog pores and mix with bacteria to cause pimples. It has been shown that long before a pimple can be seen on the skin surface inflammation at the cellular level is at work. Skin is the largest organ of the body, generally when something manifests on the skin it may be a symptom of something happening deeper within. Acne issues could mean that you are consuming foods that are causing inflammation, typical culprits to this are dairy, gluten, sugar, and oils/grease. If the trigger can be identified and removed from the diet changes will most likely been seen in complexation and overall health.

About 85% of menstruating women experience some form of PMS every cycle, most likely in the form of what can be intolerable cramping, back pain, bloating, mood swings, cravings, and breast pain. A study has shown that these women have higher inflammatory proteins in their bodies, to reduce overall inflammation and symptoms it is suggested to: reduce sugar intake; stay fit; avoid consumption of processed high fat unhealthy foods; and avoid smoking.

Although occasional constipation is fairly common if it occurs on a regular basis it is worth taking a closer look at. 14+ million Americans suffer from constipation of that the majority of which are women. Changing the diet to include more fiber and water should help if not inflammation may be to blame. Eliminating added sugars, starches, processed foods, and dairy while adding plenty of fruits and vegetables to the diet should help. If you are following a healthy diet and still have issues it may be inflamed thyroids, it is worth consulting your physician for proper diagnosis.

Sensitive teeth may be a sign of inflammation at play. Poor oral hygiene can result in inflammation, and inflammation in the body can also lead to tender gums, sensitive teeth, and bone loss around the teeth. Type 2 diabetes often manifests in the mouth first which is inflammation induced.

Too much inflammation within the body can lead to increased fat stores resulting in weight gain. Eating a healthy diet and maintaining an active lifestyle are important, but getting stress under control is equally important. Stress causes the body to produce hormones that increase inflammation contributing to increased fat stores. Lack of sleep contributes to stress, make sure you get enough sleep to help ward off stress. To help reduce stress take some time each day to relax and unwind, make an effort to breathe deeply and slowly when you can. Things such as yoga, journaling, painting, music, and going for a walk can help to reduce stress which in turn will lower the amounts of stress hormones that trigger fat storage.

The body is very much like a machine, when something goes wrong, even something small, it will try to let you know. Inflammation is unseen and sneaky, it is known as the silent killer. While not all signs are critical there are warning signs you need to pay attention to, take time to assess how you feel and learn how your mind and body are doing.