Tips for an Anti-Inflammation Lifestyle

Controlling inflammation can help with a whole lot more than just allergies.

A little inflammation is healthy and natural. It shows the body’s immune response has been activated to fight infection, irritation, or injury. Excessive inflammation, however, is not healthy and can actually be harmful. With allergies, this is often painfully clear:

• Sinusitis sufferers experience inflammation of the sinus tissues
• Asthma sufferers experience inflammation of the airways
• Skin allergy sufferers experience inflammation of the skin

However, there are many other types of inflammation that may be operating in your body unnoticed. These kinds of chronic inflammation have been linked chronic diseases, including:

• Alzheimer’s
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Certain cancers

Tips for Controlling Inflammation

Allergy sufferers are not the only ones who can benefit from an anti-inflammation lifestyle! Anyone’s health and well-being can be benefitted by the following tips:

• Maintain a healthy weight: By tracking levels of a marker for inflammation called C-reactive protein (CRP), research has shown that being overweight leads to higher levels of inflammatory compounds in the body. By maintaining a healthy weight, you can reduce the levels of these compounds.
• Exercise: Even if you are at a healthy weight already, getting at least 30 minutes of continuous moderate exercise every day can help lower your CRP levels.
• Get enough sleep: Research from Harvard Medical School has linked poor sleep with higher CRP levels, so getting enough rest should be a key feature of your anti-inflammation lifestyle.
• Eat the right fats: Not all fats are actually bad for you. True, some fats like trans fats, saturated fat, and omega-6 fatty acids do contribute to chronic inflammation. But healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids (found in cold-water fish) actually exert an anti-inflammatory effect.
• Enjoy anti-oxidant rich foods: Free radicals may contribute to chronic inflammation, but by eating lots of foods that are high in anti-oxidants (such as blueberries or green tea) you can neutralize these free radicals.
• Quit smoking: Considering that smoking is basically inhaling poison, it should come as no surprise that it triggers inflammation. Do your immune system a favor and quit now.

Don’t Forget Allergen Avoidance

If you do have a known allergy—or a suspected allergy—naturally allergen avoidance will also need to be factored into your anti-inflammation lifestyle. If you need help identifying your allergic triggers or coming up with a feasible plan for allergen avoidance, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology Medical Group. We will be happy to schedule an appointment for allergy testing with one of our expert allergists.