The word inflammation is everywhere. It’s well-known as a hashtag on social media and used to cover up brain fog to weight gain. What is this condition that everyone is so afraid of?
Inflammation is not a disease. It is actually a completely normal part of the healing process. If you cut yourself or sprain your ankle, your immune system will produce acute inflammation to heal the wound.
This is a proper, normal reaction. The actual issue occurs when the process causes chronic inflammation.
It’s a huge health problem that strikes millions worldwide. It doesn’t discriminate, but it significantly affects anyone suffering from autoimmune diseases, metabolic syndrome, chronic stress, and bad habits when it comes to nutrition.
This internal fire can burn for months or years, which causes changes in your hormones and destruction of tissues. It causes some of the severe chronic inflammation symptoms.
Understanding Chronic Inflammation
Chronic inflammation is an abnormal immune response that is sustained over a prolonged period, and may be continuous for weeks, months, or years.
You need to know that it is not due to a single cause. Rather, it is the results of stresses that you face every day, and it overloads your immune system. The main causes of chronic inflammation are:
- Chronic stress
- Poor sleep
- Processed foods
- Too much sugar
- Smoking
- Alcohol excess
- Obesity
- Visceral belly fat
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Gut health imbalances
- Insulin
- Autoimmune conditions
- Environmental toxins
- Untreated infections
- Hormonal imbalances
- PCOS
- Endometriosis
- Fibroids
- Thyroid dysfunction
- Perimenopause changes
Chronic inflammation can have a variety of symptoms, which are interconnected. Because the inflammatory proteins (called cytokines) travel through your bloodstream, they attack multiple organs at once.
It is important to consider these signs as a whole in the entire system of your body, and not as isolated nuisance symptoms. There’s more to inflammation than just the number on a lab report. Our Functional Care team looks at how it may be affecting your overall health.
1. Ongoing joint pain and stiffness
Your immune system is constantly on red alert and releases inflammatory cytokines that attack the synovial lining of your joints.
If you have a very stiff hand, knee, or lower back when you wake up, and it takes more than an hour to become flexible, then you should be aware of it. This is no longer getting older, but a physical indicator that your immune system is attacking your joint cartilage.
With time, this particular mechanism can cause autoimmune joint disease or hasten osteoarthritis.
2. Leaky Gut
Approximately 70% of your immune system is located in your digestive tract. Usually, chronic inflammation symptoms start in the gut, and they harm the protective lining of your gut.
This results in intestinal permeability, also referred to as “leaky gut. Once your gut lining is compromised, undigested food particles and toxins enter your bloodstream and cause a secondary immune response that is quite large.
It can cause symptoms like persistent swelling following meals, constipation and diarrhea, heartburn, or immediate discomfort after eating specific foods.
3. Constant Fatigue
The most frequent symptom of chronic inflammation is persistent fatigue, which fails to improve properly after a good night’s sleep.
You might be asleep for many hours and feel tired the next morning. Research indicates that inflammatory chemicals known as cytokines can disrupt energy production, stress hormone levels, and even the ability of mitochondria to work. Therefore, inflammatory fatigue is more severe than regular fatigue.
4. Brain Fog
Chronic inflammation can also occur in the brain and nervous system. Some evidence indicates that inflammation may disrupt neurotransmission, memory processing, and the clarity of thought, making you feel mentally slower.
You could experience memory loss, difficulty concentrating, rereading, or getting tired from doing simple things. Poor sleep, chronic stress, blood sugar instability, and gut health imbalances can all exacerbate the inflammatory brain fog.
5. Stubborn Weight Gain
Weight gain and inflammation can go hand-in-hand. Inflammatory processes could influence insulin sensitivity, cortisol, appetite hormones, and fat storage patterns.
Studies have especially connected inflammation to the storage of fat in the abdominal cavity, which is known as visceral fat. You may also experience puffiness, bloating, overeating, or simply not be able to shed any fat from your tummy even after dieting.
Many people don’t know this, but fat tissue can also produce inflammatory chemicals, making it increasingly difficult to lose weight over time.
6. Body Aches and Joint Pain
Inflammation can make muscles, joints, and connective tissue more sensitive. This may manifest as morning stiffness, isolated aches, or back pain after short or light exercise.
Chronic inflammation has been found to make the body more reactive, and this can heighten sensitivity in pain pathways, causing the body to feel more discomfort or sensitivity overall.
You must understand that not all inflammatory pain is severe. Sometimes it’s subtle daily stiffness that people slowly normalize over time.
7. Bloating and Digestive Issues
It’s important to realize that your gut and immune system are connected. So, one of the most common symptoms of chronic inflammation is digestive issues. You should watch for any unusual GI symptoms like persistent bloating, constipation, gas, stomach pain, diarrhea, or new food intolerance should be watched for.
You should be aware that inflammation in this area is commonly caused by an imbalance in gut bacteria, insufficient nutrients being absorbed, and physical damage to the lining of the gut.
Moreover, it is not always food that is causing these digestive symptoms. Poor gut health and inflammatory reactions are caused by stress, sleep deprivation, and hormonal imbalance.
8. Skin Problems
Skin is one of the first places where inflammation in the body can be seen. Persistent inflammation can lead to acne, eczema, rosacea, psoriasis, redness, and skin sensitivity.
Studies have linked inflammatory skin disorders to gut and bowel issues, blood sugar problems, stress hormones, and immune disruption. That’s why you may experience skin issues even after investing a lot in skin products. In reality, this problem may lie beneath the surface.
9. Getting Sick Often
If the immune system remains activated for a long time, it can lose its effectiveness over time. Some people may find they get sick more often or take longer to get better.
Chronic inflammation has been shown to decrease the body’s ability to manage immune responses properly.
10. Hormonal Imbalances
Inflammation can directly affect hormone production and signaling across your body. Chronic inflammation has been linked to PCOS, PMS, fibroids, thyroid issues, endometriosis, and menopause symptoms among women, particularly.
It’s possible to experience irregular periods, mood dysfunction, cravings, tiredness, sleep disturbances, or persistent weight fluctuations.
Hormones and inflammation work together. When there’s a hormone imbalance, it can increase inflammation, and when there’s an increase in inflammation, it can aggravate the hormonal symptoms even more.
How to Reduce Inflammation in the Body
Chronic inflammation can’t be treated with an anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen on a daily basis. What this does is only cover the wound, but the burning inside causes your organs to be damaged. You should focus on the underlying causes that are fueling the immune response:
- Eliminate Inflammatory Foods: Avoid highly processed foods, refined sugars, and industrial seed oils such as canola, soy, and vegetable oil as soon as possible. These foods are known to your body as a poison and prompt a huge release of cytokines.
- Repair the Gut: The gut is where most of the inflammation in the body starts, so it’s important to eliminate trigger foods such as gluten and dairy and add in more nutrient-dense foods to support the healing of the gut.
- Sleep and manage stress: Chronic stress causes the release of the cortisol hormone, which is very inflammatory. First, get 7-8 hours of deep sleep, and then add some nervous system regulation exercises to reduce cortisol levels and let your immune system know that it doesn’t need to stay on 24/7.
Conclusion
You should not ignore chronic inflammation symptoms. They are a clear warning sign from your body. To truly heal, you should stop trying to put out the fire with quick fixes.
Try a whole new strategy for supporting your body every day. The most important thing to do is to restore your sleep and actively regulate your nervous system to reduce stress hormones, and move your body in a way that increases your circulation without inducing any physical stress.
Your diet is also a major part of your recovery. Try to eat healthy foods that naturally calm your immune system. You should eat wild-caught salmon for its Omega-3 fats, dark leafy greens like spinach and kale, or use turmeric and ginger in your cooking. These foods naturally prevent damage to the cells.
At Kairos Health and Wellness, Lola, one of our functional medicine practitioners specialize in identifying the hidden root causes of systemic inflammation. We use advanced lab testing to measure your inflammatory markers and build personalized treatment plan to calm your immune system.
Contact us today to book your wellness consult!