Talk of Inflammation has been sweeping the nation. Yes, this autoimmune response has been on the tip of seemingly everyone's tongue in recent months. And for good reason! You see inflammation can serve as smoke, to the fire of a whole host of underlying and serious problems. 

That's because chronic inflammation has been present in patients suffering from a multitude of life-threatening illnesses. Inflammation has been found in patients suffering from cancer, as well as certain autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Now I’m not trying to scare you, but personally, I’m petrified. So much so that I just had to dig in and do some research on what this whole inflammation thing is about. And how much of an impact it can have on our everyday lives. So come with me as we embark on this journey of discovery, to understand how exactly inflammation affects us, and what we can do to stop it.

Let's start from the beginning. First off. What is inflammation? Put simply, inflammation is an immune response your body has when it wants to start the healing process. This can be caused by either injury or sickness. But what is important to note here, is that there are two kinds of inflammation. Acute inflammation and chronic inflammation. You can think of acute inflammation as the way your body normally heals itself. Say you accidentally give yourself a small cut while you’re cooking dinner. Your finger bleeds at first, the blood stops, and then your digit starts to swell. That swelling your finger experiences is acute inflammation. It is the reaction of your body that is meant to aid in healing your finger. This is why acute inflammation could almost be considered the good kind of the two. So of course that got me thinking. Well, then what about the bad? The bad type of inflammation is a different beast altogether. The bad type of inflammation is called chronic inflammation. This is inflammation that for whatever reason just won't go away. It can occur ostensibly anywhere, at any time. And once you have it, it is extremely difficult to get rid of. The really scary part is that not only has chronic inflammation been known as a warning sign of illness. But the inflammation itself can be detrimental to your body. This is because after a while your immune system starts to see this inflammation as a foreign body and starts attacking it. This constant chronic attack starts to damage healthy tissue and has been linked to dementia and heart disease. That's why it’s so important to recognize inflammation early and take proper steps to avoid it. One of the best ways we can do that is through red light therapy as an inflammation treatment.

In our hyper-modern, fast-paced society. It can be difficult to make time for ourselves. Some days it feels like it’s nearly impossible to carve out even an hour of spare time. When you’re running a million miles per minute, you could be forgiven for not paying attention to what you put into your body. Though initially innocent this becomes a problem rather quickly, when we realize that many kinds of chronic inflammation are the direct result of your diet. For instance, there are entire anti inflammatory meal delivery plans. Made specifically just to help you reduce your level of chronic inflammation. These are a godsend for getting on the right track with your diet. Not only is each meal delicious. But as a home chef, there’s a lot you can learn from them. Eventually, you’ll start to intuit what is and is not an inflammatory food. And armed with that knowledge, it's only a matter of time before you start experimenting and start coming up with recipes of your own! Something else to consider about your diet is the frequency in which you eat. Now, I know there’s been a lot of hubbub about intermittent fasting in the last couple of years. But as far as inflammation goes? To properly reduce inflammation you need to eat in smaller, more regular intervals. Take it from me, if you don’t eat for a day your stomach is on fire. You can feel a little ball of cramp resting there like a dumbbell sitting inside your body. The only way to reduce this feeling is to get regular. Smooth out your eating habits and your system smoothes with you. 

For some of my readers, I must sound like a broken record. For you see, I will espouse the benefits of exercise to everyone every chance I get! I’ll talk about the benefits of working out anywhere, and at any time. This is because pound for pound, keeping in shape with a regular exercise routine is one of the absolute best things you can do for your body. Keeping yourself active not only contributes to weight loss, which also reduces inflammation. But it also promotes better blood flow. Which (you guessed it!) also reduces inflammation. Exercise is also linked to the drastic reduction of the chance for various diseases, including heart disease. This makes your exercise routine indispensable in the fight against inflammation. 

Inflammation can seem like quite the gamble. Either it’s nothing, or it’s everything. It's in these moments that you’re desperately looking for anything that will tip the scales in your favor. Well, in the game of health you probably won't find two bigger players than diet and exercise. Keeping a steady and consistent routine in both is your best bet, for a chance to stack the deck!