Reducing Inflammation, Part 1

As we all know, inflammation is the root of all evil with respect to health. While some inflammation is completely natural and beneficial (such as when you sprain your ankle or cut your finger), still, the fact that inflammation is present indicates that there is something wrong. In this series, we’ll briefly review some health conditions linked to inflammation, and discuss some simple measures that you can take to reduce it.

The top 4 causes of oxidative damage and inflammation are as follows:

1) Stress

2) Smoking

3) Poor nutrition

4) Physical inactivity

Obviously, 3 of the 4 above causes can be remedied very quickly, stress being the outlier since it can take a long time to properly retrain your brain to be more resilient against it. In this particular blog, I want to focus primarily on #3 above - poor nutrition - and one specific step you can take to improve your health and potentially reduce your chances of contracting an inflammation-related illness.

From arthritis to Type 2 Diabetes to Ulcerative Colitis, inflammation plays a significant role in the vast majority of all major (and minor) illnesses and can even be related to mental issues like mood disorders and more. With respect to nutrition, today’s standard American diet utilizes cheap, highly oxidizable (and thus pro-inflammatory) vegetable oils high in omega-6 fatty acids, such as canola, cottonseed, corn, soybean, safflower, sunflower, grapeseed, and peanut oils. At least one of these oils can be found in almost every single product that you find on grocery store shelves, and they should be avoided entirely if you want to decrease your potential for inflammation.

Another problem is that the GOOD oils, which are high in omega-3 fatty acids (such as macadamia nut, avocado, coconut, fish and olive oils) are NOT used abundantly in modern fare. These oils are universally regarded as anti-inflammatory and therefore healthy, and should be incorporated into your diet as often as possible. The issue is: If you’re not eating a lot of fish on a regular basis, or chomping on macadamias frequently, then you likely need to supplement with a high-quality omega-3 oil, the most available of which is fish oil.

There has been some controversy as to whether the determining factor in the anti-inflammatory diet is the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, or simply the concentration of omega-3 in your diet. In either case, the solution is the same: Consume more omega-3 fatty acids.

So, here is your go-forward, 2-step plan in Part 1 of our Reducing Inflammation blog series:

1) Reduce or (preferably) eliminate consumption of the omega-6 oils listed above.

2) Incorporate 1 to 3 grams of a high-quality fish oil supplement into your diet daily.

As a general personal rule, I take 1 gram of fish oil with any meal that is low in omega 3s, such as non-grass-fed meat or farmed fish. If I’m eating a grass-fed steak or wild-caught fish, there is no substantive need for supplementation.

Which brand do you need? My personal preference (since I’m a Primal Blueprint Certified Expert and therefore biased) is the Primal Omegas brand. There are, however, at least a few other brands that we consider to be high-quality, and they are the Blue Ice, EVCLO, and Omegor Vitality brands. As always, we recommend that you experiment with a few different brands and see how your body responds with each. Then make your selection based on your own personal preference.

For other health-related books and products, check out the Marketplace at our website. We only affiliate ourselves with high-quality products from reputable sources, and we do not recommend products without knowing that we would use them ourselves. Purchasing from our website allows us to continually provide valuable, free information to our readers and clients.

Schedule your FREE 45 minute Autoimmune Breakthrough Session Today! HERE

#health #healthtips #naturalmedicine #longevity #paleodiet #healthyliving