The word inflammation is thrown around a lot. It is used in the context of how disease develops, as well as nutrition debates about what the optimal diet is and even in the context of COVID-19.

What exactly is inflammation? Is inflammation always bad? And how do we prevent excess inflammation in the body? 

Today’s article is going to take a deep dive into the inflammatory process and how it plays into our overall health. Keep reading to learn more about: 

  • What exactly is inflammation?
  • The difference between acute and chronic inflammation
  • Causes of chronic inflammation
  • Lab tests that are useful for assessing inflammation and the root causes
  • The role of inflammation in chronic disease
  • The role of inflammation in COVID-19
  • Self-care and lifestyle tips for cooling inflammation 

Let’s get started!

What Is Inflammation, Exactly? 

Inflammation is a normal immune process that occurs in response to an infection or injury. Imagine that while you were chopping onions for your dinner of Paleo Italian Chicken Soup, your hand slipped and you sliced your finger. In a moment or two, you would notice the classic signs of inflammation: redness, pain and swelling.

Blood flow to the site increases, allowing for your blood to clot and carry white blood cells and proteins to repair and heal the tissue to the site of the injury. As the skin heals over the next day or two, the redness, pain and swelling will gradually subside and your finger will feel back to normal. 

This is an example of inflammation in the body working exactly how it is supposed to work, as an acute immune response. There is an invader or injury, inflammation swoops in and does its job and then inflammation turns off when the job is over. 

The inflammatory response will be scaled to the size of the injury. For example, you may experience mild inflammation from a paper cut compared to a larger cut or a broken ankle. In these cases inflammation is normal and good.

Where we get into trouble is when inflammation becomes chronic. 

Chronic Inflammation And Causes

Chronic inflammation occurs when acute inflammation doesn’t shut off. Often, there are factors that keep driving inflammation, including prolonged exposure to the cause of inflammation or an inappropriate reaction of the immune system against the body’s own tissue. The result is lower levels of inflammation that may go undetected, but wreak havoc on cells and tissues. 

There are many sources and drivers of chronic inflammation, especially in today’s world. Here are some of the most common factors that keep the inflammation switch flipped on:

  • Toxins – Think plastics, mold, particulates, PFAS, heavy metals and other chemicals you may be exposed to simply by living on the planet in 2021. 

 

  • Food sensitivities – Gluten and dairy are quite inflammatory for many people, and any food you are sensitive to pushes inflammation. 

 

  • Elevated blood sugar – High blood sugar associated with metabolic syndrome and diabetes is inflammatory.

 

  • Stress – It’s likely no surprise here that stress plays a role in inflammation as stress profoundly affects health. Cortisol, a main hormone for circadian rhythm is actually anti-inflammatory (hence, cortisone cream), but it’s possible that with chronic stress or HPA-axis dysfunction, cortisol levels are low, causing inflammation to rise. Stress also stimulates other pathways to be activated that increase inflammation such as disrupting the mucosal membrane permeability in the digestive tract. 

 

  • Infections – Gut microbiome disruptions from bacterial infections, SIBO, yeast overgrowth and parasites are a common source of inflammation. It is said that “all chronic disease begins in the gut” and inflammation might just be one of the reasons why. Chronic viral infections, such as Epstein-barr virus also drive chronic inflammation. We are also seeing signs of chronic inflammation with post-COVID syndrome. 

 

  • Processed foods – The standard American diet is pro-inflammatory, while a whole food Mediterranean diet or Paleo diet is anti-inflammatory. Why? A processed food diet is low in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats, micronutrients and antioxidants while packed with sugar and pro-inflammatory oils. 

 

  • Excess weight – Excess fat not only affects metabolic health but correlates with higher levels of inflammation in the body. Obesity is considered a state of low-grade systemic inflammation. 

 

Helpful Lab Tests For Inflammation 

Functional medicine practitioners use simple and advanced testing to both determine if there is inflammation and understand its root causes.

If you experience inflammatory symptoms, some lab tests to consider include:

  • C-reactive protein – CRP is a marker of inflammation measured in the blood.
  • Hemoglobin A1C – Typically used to assess metabolic health, HgbA1C also correlates with inflammation. .
  • Ferritin – Ferritin is the storage form of iron that may become elevated with a chronic infection or other source of inflammation. 
  • GI MAP – A functional stool test is used to assess gut function and infections. Includes calprotectin and IgA levels.
  • GPL-TOX Non Metal Chemical Profile – An important functional test used to assess toxic chemicals in the body. 
  • GPL Myco-Tox Profile – This test assesses for mold exposure and mold toxicity in the body. 
  • Urine Glyphosate – Glyphosate is the active ingredient in RoundUp that wreaks havoc on the microbiome and cellular health in the body. 
  • Advanced lipid panel with High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) , Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2
    (Lp-Pla2), Myeloperoxidase (MPO), and fibrinogen
  • PULS Test – with IL-16, MCP-3, SFas, Ctack , Eotaxin

Inflammation and Chronic Disease

Inflammation is an underlying factor for just about every chronic disease that has been studied. Inflammation helps to explain why diet and lifestyle choices drive disease and why diseases tend to develop over time, as we get older.

Here are some of the common chronic conditions associated with inflammation:

  • Arthritis
  • Asthma 
  • Atherosclerosis
  • Autoimmune disease 
  • Diabetes
  • Cancer
  • Heart disease
  • Hepatitis
  • Migraines

Any disease ending in “-itis” is inflammatory. It literally means inflammation.

Colitis is inflammation of the colon, periodontitis is inflammation of the gums and gastritis is inflammation of the stomach. 

Inflammation also ages us faster. This connection is so strong, it has given rise to the term inflammaging.

Low levels of inflammation and an upregulated inflammatory response as we get older leads to the signs, symptoms and diseases of aging. 

Inflammation And COVID-19

You may have heard about inflammation in the context of COVID-19 and there are some connections. First, we know that those with advanced age, obesity and chronic disease are more likely to develop severe COVID-19, require hospitalization and even die from the disease. Pre-existing inflammation in the body might help to explain why. 

After exposure to SARS-CoV-2, the virus uses the body to replicate and COVID-19 infection sets in. Inflammation in the body escalates as a measure to fight the infection. This is exactly what we want the body to do in a case of an infection. 

However, in some people, including those with more severe COVID-19, the body may produce a “cytokine storm.” Cytokines are inflammatory messenger molecules made by one cell to signal other cells to produce an inflammatory response.

In a cytokine storm, these messages reach high levels and the inflammation may cause organ and tissue damage, including to the lungs, heart and liver. 

Because of the inflammatory component of COVID-19, antiviral treatments likely aren’t enough. We also have to consider immune system support and anti-inflammatory measures.

Certainly, reducing baseline inflammation prior to infection is a smart strategy for prevention. 

Tips For Cooling Inflammation 

Diet and lifestyle have a profound effect on the body’s inflammation status. Here are some daily measures to take in order to reduce inflammation. 

  • Increase produce. Vegetables and fruits are the foundation of an anti-inflammatory diet providing fiber, antioxidants and other supportive plant compounds. Eating the rainbow is truly a wise food-as-medicine approach for cooling the flame of inflammation. Get greens, reds/blues/purples, whites/yellows and orange produce into your meals each day. 


  • Balance omegas. The average American diet is high in pro-inflammatory omega-6s while low in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats. Achieve balance by cutting out processed foods and vegetable oils, while increasing food sources of omega-3 fats including cold water fish, shellfish, grass-fed beef, liver, flax and hemp seeds. 


  • Reduce toxin exposures. We can’t control everything, but education is power and when we know better, we do better. Check out How To Be Safe In A Toxic World for all of the details to get started. 


  • Support detoxification. Allowing the body to effectively clear toxins addresses an important root cause of chronic inflammation. Read The Importance of Detoxification and How To Detox to get started and consider testing and personalized support as needed. 


  • Consider anti-inflammatory nutraceuticals. To block inflammatory pathways and promote lowering inflammation in the body, there are a variety of supplemental nutrients that are supportive. Consider Curcumin + and Omega Balance. two powerful options, and work with your Functional Medicine provider for individual guidance. 


  • De-Stress. Since stress drives inflammation, one of the most powerful things to combat inflammation is to address stress head on. There are a variety of tools from meditation and mindfulness to exercise and therapy. Find the self-care tools that work for you and make them consistent in your life. 

 

Remember that the goal isn’t to get rid of all inflammation, but instead encourage the immune system to have an appropriate inflammatory response when needed, but then turn the system off when not needed.

You can easily do this by addressing the root causes of inflammation in your own body and living a healthy, anti-inflammatory lifestyle. 

References:

  1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18650913/ 
  2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29882133/
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  4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19087366/
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  6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7177629/
  7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32573311/ 
  8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7260446/