5 Steps to a Healthier Inflammatory Response

Many people think that their chronic health problems are fixable with a simple magic bullet. While there is no such easy-button way to get to a healthier inflammation response, there are basic steps that you can take if your suffering motivates you enough. Let’s look at what causes inflammation and talk about action steps to take care of these issues. And, if you don’t tolerate a lot of medications or the drugs make you feel even worse, your body is telling you to pay attention. With that reality check in mind, here are 5 steps to healthier inflammatory response:

1. Clean up your personal environmental act.

Drink filtered water, eliminate major chemical exposures such as pesticides, toxic cleaners and solvents, and synthetic materials from your home and work environments, use air filters, buy organic cotton clothes and bedding. Many people with inflammatory conditions have chemical sensitivities and allergies. If you want relief, you are likely to have to look at not only dusts, molds, pollens, and grasses, but also pollutants in and around your home and workspace. Not sure where to start? Discover how to replace toxic products and medications in your life with over 215 healthier natural alternatives with this living natural plan.

Stop having routine pesticide treatment of your home. Find natural nontoxic alternatives to herbicides for dealing with keeping your yard in good shape. Buy real wood, glass, or metal furniture, not pressed board. Install tile rather than carpet. Do you commute on a congested freeway for hours every day? Live near a freeway? These kinds of things can make a big difference in your long term health.

Ask your medical doctor or naturopathic doctor to test you for heavy metal toxicity. If your levels of lead, mercury, cadmium or others are too high, find a health care provider who is experienced in helping people detox heavy metals safely with natural approaches. You may want to add in a program of bentonite clay or zeolite in water or cranberry juice to catch the toxins in your gut and carry them out of your system.

If you do not do this and hope that supplements alone will be enough, you are sadly wrong. It would be like not bathing for a month and expecting a high quality cologne or perfume to make you smell OK.

2. Revamp your daily diet.

This is not a crash diet. You have to find out which foods are your personal triggers and get them out of your diet. And you want to replace them with healthier foods that promote a healthier pH in your system that will countact the inflammation-causing effects of the junk foods and pollution that you do encounter. It will probably mean a gluten-free, sugar-free existence, but if you check things out, you are likely to discover many good alternatives to these types of foods. In the end, you will not feel deprived – you will just feel healthier. And if you happen to need to lose some weight, it will happen as a delightful “side effect” of eating healthier.

3. Boost your vitamin C levels.

While there are many outstanding antioxidants out there these days, vitamin C is a fundamental building block. If you have trouble with diarrhea if you try to take enough to matter, then look for either of two different forms of vitamin C that are easier on your GI tract. Those include buffered vitamin C (Ester-C is one good brand) and a special form that lets you get in thousands of milligrams per day – Bio Energ C. People who want to support their system with vitamin C every day through the challenges of a bout with cancer may need to try the special form.

4. Add a multi-herb antioxidant-antiinflammatory supplement.

Many companies offer products of from one to a dozen different herbs that have both antioxidant and anti inflammatory effects on many different tissues of the body. You want whole herbs when possible to take advantage of the fact that herbs are different from drugs in many ways. A key difference is that herbs can gently modulate the function of more than one biochemical function at a time. In other words, you get a bigger bang for your buck. One of the best such combination herbal supplements for inflammation is a brand called Zyflamend. You will find all of its ingredients in lists of beneficial antiinflammatory herbs. This is a natural supplement by a well-established company that has a commitment to putting out a good product. Another option is also based on a combination of several well-known herbs in a natural anti inflammatory product – it is called Defense Anti-Inflammatory Support Dietary Supplement.

5. Support your gut health with probiotic supplements.

Even mainstream doctors are beginning to recognize the importance of the good bacteria in our guts for maintaining immune and inflammation health. Most of the better products need to be refrigerated to keep the bacteria alive until you take them. There are many different good products on the market for this purpose, but likely you will want to take over 20 billion live good bacteria in a mix per day. Some are formulated specifically for children, seniors, pets, or people with certain types of GI disorders. If you have a serious inflammatory condition such as inflammatory bowel disease or Crohn’s disease, you may want to look into the medical probiotic supplement called VSL #3. Odd name, but a solid product with research related to its effects — and it delivers one of the highest amounts of good bacteria found in these types of products. This may be particularly important if you have any of a number of GI and related health problems associated with a “leaky gut” because of the losses of nutrients and beneficial bacteria that your health problems may cause.

Concluding Thoughts

If you think this is all optional, then the program is not for you. But if you are suffering from chronic pain, GI problems, fuzzy thinking, low energy, allergies and/or autoimmune conditions, including hypothyroidism, then your body has already made the choice for you. You can take more drugs and burden your liver and kidneys with the drugs themselves, or you can work through a drug-free program at your own pace – and notice the difference.

Given yourself 3-4 weeks and see how you feel. Then ask yourself what price you pay for saying that changing your daily habits is “just too hard.” It is up to you. You can do this. Get started today.