Inflammation is a key mechanism of immunity and we are all familiar with it – from a sore throat, an allergic reaction with hives, or a cut on your finger that gets infected and swollen, red and hot.
The inflammatory process is a response to some kind of damage in the cells and tissues. It is a defense mechanism, the body’s inherent immune response and natural defense against illness and infections.
Without inflammation, wounds would just fester and infections could be deadly.
Fever, for example, is how you know your body’s inflammatory system is working correctly when you’re ill.
The immune system is the defender of the body, commonly seen as the body’s army and it is always looking for anything foreign, unwanted, or injurious and will jump to respond within seconds of detecting something wrong. When an invader like a virus tries to enter your body, or you get injured, your immune system sends out its first responders. These are cells of the innate immune system and cytokines (inflammatory molecules of the immune system – substances that stimulate more inflammatory cells). These cells begin an inflammatory response to trap germs or toxins and start healing injured tissue. Inflammation can cause redness, swelling, heat, pus or pain. These are symptoms of inflammation and a sign that your body is healing itself. This process is acute inflammation, a vital part of our first line defenses against diseases.
Once the damage is resolved, healing completed or an infection neutralized, the immune system turns off the inflammation, the body switches to its anti-inflammatory mode and everything returns to normal. The symptoms of inflammation – the heat, redness, swelling and pain go away.
In our bodies, an acute inflammation can actually be generally beneficial, allowing healing and renewal of tissues and it generally disappears in a few days.
However, sometimes an acute inflammation does not resolve things, and the body creates a chronic inflammatory state – for example, in response to a lingering low grade infection. This state does not prompt us to bring out the big guns but is nevertheless depleting.
Processes that normally protect your body end up hurting it, because the inflammatory response was switched on and left on to the point that it causes collateral damage to the body. The immune system stays so activated and remains in such a persistent state of alarm and defense – chronically inflamed.
Chronic inflammation is invisible and doesn’t hurt. It is a hidden, smoldering flame created by your immune system as it tries to fight off a poor and inflammatory diet, rich in sugar, refined carbohydrates/white flour products, trans fats, too many inflammatory omega-6 fats from processed plant oils (such as sunflower, soybean or corn oil), ultra processed foods, artificial sweeteners, hidden food sensitivities and allergies, imbalances in gut bacteria, overgrowth of bad bacteria in your gut, environmental toxins, stress, sedentary lifestyle, even low-grade infections. These triggers all cause an increase in the inflammatory molecules of your immune system, cytokines. They are important in fighting off infections and cancer. But when inflammatory cytokines get out of control, chronic inflammatory diseases of every stripe result.
One of the most significant medical discoveries of the 21 century is that chronic inflammation is the common thread connecting autoimmune and allergic disease and most chronic disease, including heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, dementia, Alzheimer’s, rheumatoid arthritis, depression, for instance.
Of course, which of these factors above is the source of inflammation for you is a key question, and the answer is different for everyone. Once we find the fire, we have to learn how to cool it way down. We must locate all sources of inflammation in our life and stomp it out if we want to avoid or overcome chronic diseases.
However, for most of us, diet plays the greater role. Since of our inflammation is caused by diet and lifestyle, the treatment should start with what we put on our plate first.
What we eat is the most important factor governing inflammation.
