In very general terms, inflammation is the body’s immune system’s response to some sort of irritant, such as a virus, bacteria or foreign object. Say, if you smack your little head on the pavement, your head can become inflamed as your immune system’s cells start activating themselves at high levels to heal your head wound. That would be considered good acting inflammation, but inflammation isn’t always a good thing.
Inflammation can cause your immune system’s cells to act even when you are not actually sick or injured. In that scenario, your immune system’s cells start moving around your body and attacking healthy cells, and depending on what healthy cells your immune system’s cells attack, you can become really sick and potentially diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.
There are ways to try to keep your immune system’s cells from acting during the wrong times though. One way is by avoiding or limiting your intake of inflammatory foods, and below is a short list of those that should be avoided.
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1. Sugar: processed sugars trigger the release of inflammatory messengers
2. Saturated and Trans Fats: saturated fats trigger adipose (fat tissue) inflammation, and trans fats trigger systemic inflammation; try avoiding hydrogenated oils
3. Refined Carbohydrates: refined carbohydrates fuel the production of advanced glycation end products that stimulate inflammation
4. MSG: MSG triggers chronic inflammation, including shrinking your brain and affect liver health; note that there are many variations and different names for MSG, but they are all a problem
5. Gluten: gluten sets off an autoimmune response that damages the small intestine and sometimes causes joint pain
6. Aspartame: some people are sensitive to aspartame, and if so, your immune system may attack it in your system, which will trigger an inflammatory response
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It is important to keep in mind that the immune system starts in your gut, and nutrition, the intestinal microbiota, the gut immune system, and autoimmune issues are related and interconnected. So, what we eat and our digestive tract’s health are strongly connected to our immune system. Some studies even suggest that autoimmune issues can be managed and even reversed by healing your damaged and irritated gut. This is because people with autoimmune diseases or those with damaged guts have been discovered to have higher-than-normal levels of a “mimic protein” that is produced by Bacteroides fragilis; Bacteroides fragilis is a member of the human gut microbiome, and this specific microbe produces protein molecules that copy a human protein. These protein molecules cause the human defense system to attack its own cells by mistake.
I don’t know about all of you, but if I can manage my autoimmune disease and potentially even reverse it by healing my damaged gut and lowering inflammation, sign me up. So, the question becomes, how do you heal your gut? One way to heal your gut is through certain probiotics, and there are even some probiotics that are geared specifically towards gut repair. It is unfortunately sold out right now, but I have been taking Dr. Axe’s Gut Restore by Ancient Nutrition for a few months now. The pills are literally like horse pills, but once you get past that, they can be really helpful in restoring your gut health.
Additionally, if you are just looking to add in some anti-inflammatory foods, spices and vitamins, the following is a short list that you should considering eating or taking regularly: (1) leafy greens, (2) fruits with antioxidants, (3) fatty fish (that is high in omega-3 fatty acids), (4) avocados, (5) nuts and seeds, (6) turmeric, garlic, and ginger, and (7) Vitamin D3. Here’s to fixing our gut!
