in today's video we are going to be talking about chronic inflammation
and how to reduce inflammation in the body inflammation is the body's natural response
to something that is trying to harm it whether that be an injury a toxin or an
infection inflammation is a good thing it allows our bodies to heal and without inflammation
we would never be able to recover from even a minor scratch however when inflammation lingers
as is the case with chronic inflammation this is when it can start to become an issue a lot
of modern day diseases such as heart disease arthritis and other autoimmune conditions are
the result of chronic inflammation the good news is that if you suffer from chronic inflammation
there are ways to reduce it and return your body to equilibrium in today's video i'm going
to give you four actionable steps you can take to reduce inflammation starting today
hey guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here my name is kait i'm a health coach and
i post videos on a high fat nutrient-dense way of eating if you like this video please give it
a thumbs up feel free to share and make sure to subscribe and make sure to follow me on instagram
twitter and facebook where i share new posts every single day the topic of today is chronic
inflammation and how to reduce it as i mentioned at the start of this video
inflammation becomes chronic when it persists for months or years short-term inflammation is part of
the body's defense mechanism we become injured or sick inflammation goes up the injury or sickness
improves and inflammation goes down but what causes inflammation to linger and become chronic
what causes chronic inflammation the main issue is that we are constantly being exposed to things
that cause inflammation this constant exposure means that the body is not able to heal before it
is exposed to the stressor again and most of us do not even realize that some of the things we do and
eat on a daily basis are causing inflammation as they have become so common and this is part of the
reason why chronic inflammation is so widespread we view the symptoms of chronic inflammation
as normal for example joint pain can be a sign of chronic inflammation but we chalk it up to
just what happens when we age it may be common but it's not normal and there are steps you can take
to reduce inflammation and improve your symptoms because as i mentioned at the start of this video
chronic inflammation is not benign it can lead to more serious diseases and autoimmune conditions if
it goes on too long but now let's get into the four steps you can take to reduce inflammation
and make sure to stick around until the end so you don't miss out on the one that can help you
the most number one schedule down time stress can be a major contributor to chronic inflammation
when our body sends a threat no matter if it is a tiger chasing you or a meeting with your boss
stress hormones are released including cortisol and adrenaline your heart rate increases your
breathing quickens and you become hyper alert in the situation where a tiger is chasing you
this response is beneficial it helps you to react quickly to the situation and even in response to
the meeting with your boss it can be beneficial but the problem is nowadays a lot of us are under
constant stress it's always go go go we work long hours and do not prioritize downtime and recovery
a lot of people live in a constant state of stress otherwise known as fight or flight and one reason
this is so problematic is because when cortisol is elevated for long periods of time it can
suppress the immune system if the immune system is not working properly our bodies cannot respond
properly and we remain inflamed by reducing stress you support your immune system so it can support
you now there might be some stressors in your life that you don't have control over and that's okay
what matters is changing what you do have control over if you are a workaholic make sure to schedule
one or two days off a week where you can switch off from work mode entirely another simple change
you can make is to simply be more mindful with the information you consume and this can apply to both
news and social media there is a saying i love and i'm not sure who said it i tried to look it up and
couldn't find a source but it goes start your day with intention not reaction what this means is you
want to start your day off with something that you intend to do such as going for a walk in the
morning and getting some fresh air and this is in contrast to starting your day with reaction
where you might roll out of bed check your phone see your emails or social media notifications and
immediately need to react this sounds so simple but putting it into practice is super effective
number two tweak your diet your diet can be one of the biggest contributors to chronic
inflammation the foods we eat can either serve our body or work against it and unfortunately
our society prioritizes convenience over food quality some of the most inflammatory foods
a lot of us are eating on a daily basis foods with refined sugar with refined carbohydrates
and with vegetable oils such as canola soybean and corn oil honestly if you can take just those
three things out of your diet your inflammation will go down significantly eating refined sugar
and carbs spike your blood sugar your body has to work hard to respond to this spike and bring your
blood sugar back to baseline frequent spikes can reduce your body's ability to respond to insulin
and cause insulin resistance excess refined sugar and carbohydrates can also cause the body to
release pro-inflammatory proteins called cytokines on one study done that followed almost 200 000
women regular consumption of sugar sweetened soda was significantly associated with arthritis
independent of other diet and lifestyle factors pop is pretty much the most refined version
of sugar you can consume another study done found that consuming 50 grams of refined carbohydrates
from white bread increased inflammatory markers and then we have vegetable oils now when i say
vegetable oils i'm talking about things such as canola oil soybean oil corn oil sunflower
oil safflower oil grapeseed oil and rice bran oil none of which actually come from vegetables these
oils are high in polyunsaturated fat which is inflammatory for a few reasons these oils are
extremely high in omega-6 which is inflammatory now as i said earlier inflammation is a good thing
when it happens at the correct times and for the correct amount of time but too much for too
long is no good and these oils are in almost all processed food so most people are consuming them
in mass amounts over 75 percent of the omega-6 modern humans consume comes from vegetable oil
too much omega-6 can reduce the amount of omega-3 that our bodies absorb and omega-3 is known
as being anti-inflammatory the other issue with these oils is that polyunsaturated fat
is extremely unstable it oxidizes easily when it is heated or exposed to light or oxygen and these
oils have to go through extreme processing at extreme heat to be extracted from their plant by
the time you buy them they are already most likely oxidized and heating them when you take them home
only makes the problem worse and you might be saying to yourself okay well i don't cope with
these oils so i don't have to worry about that go to your pantry right now and take out something
that is processed i can almost guarantee it is vegetable oil in it because it is used
so frequently if you can remove everything from your diet that is ultra processed you'll reduce
all three of these things significantly refined sugar refined carbohydrates and vegetable oils
which in turn will reduce inflammation in the body number three prioritize sleep we hear all the time
about the importance of sleep but most of us brush it off this one goes along with stress
so many of us are always on the go and do not give ourselves time to recover but please do
not take sleep for granted a proper night's sleep can reduce inflammation and a poor night's sleep
can increase it even after just one night of poor sleep our hormones change drastically we become
temporarily insulin resistant meaning our bodies do not respond to insulin correctly our cortisol
also increases which as i mentioned earlier can suppress the immune system and on top of that
our circadian rhythm also regulates our immune system so if we are always going to sleep at and
waking up at different times this can be a problem when we sleep our body has a chance to repair and
reset sleep needs differ from person to person and also seasonally we need more sleep in the winter
than in the summer but in general you want to give yourself at least eight hours of sleep opportunity
a night and you want your sleep to be high quality so make sure you are sleeping in a dark cool room
stop eating at least three hours before bed and limit blue light after sunset either by wearing
blue light blocking glasses or changing your light bulbs in your house if you want to know more about
that i have a whole video on blue light and how you can use it to optimize your circadian rhythm
and your sleep which you can check out afterwards i'll link it right here number four walk
more and finally you want to get moving more now this doesn't have to be intense exercise
moderate exercise done regularly is actually going to make a huge difference this is as easy
as keeping moving throughout the day going for a walk in the morning a walk on your lunch break
and a walk after work all of this will add up moderate physical exercise stimulates the immune
system and produces an anti-inflammatory cellular response and those are the four steps you can take
to reduce inflammation so to recap number one schedule downtime and lower your stress load
number two tweak your diet number three prioritize sleep and number four walk
more and before i wrap up i just wanted to mention two other really big contributors to inflammation
and those are smoking and alcohol so if you are trying to reduce chronic inflammation and you are
a heavy smoker or a heavy drinker those are the places you want to start yes getting things such
as your diet and your sleep in check will help but with things such as smoking and drinking those
are hard to make up for anyways guys that's all i have for you today thank you so much for watching
if you like this video please give it a thumbs up and leave me a comment down below let me know if
you have suffered with chronic inflammation and what you did to improve it when you guys comment
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to support me that is a really easy and great way to do so and if you did enjoy this video you might
also like my video on how a poor night's sleep can lead to weight gain you can check it out here if
you want to catch up on my most recent upload you can find it right here and to check out my keto
and carnivore diet coaching programs you can click here thanks again guys i'll see you next time bye