9 FAQs About Inflammation
Inflammation impacts everyone at least once in their lives. And 3 out of 5 people will die due to chronic inflammatory diseases, such as cancer, obesity, and heart disorders. However, there’s a lot to learn about inflammation, and in most cases, what you experience won’t be life-threatening. We're going to go over 9 FAQs about inflammation so you know what to expect when inflammation comes knocking.
9 FAQs About Inflammation
1. What is Inflammation?
Inflammation is a natural response from the body’s immune system. When there’s an irritant in the body, your immune system will cause inflammation. For example, you may experience this when you:
- Bump your knee
- Get a splinter
- Etc.
You can also experience inflammation from an infection or wound. When you have inflammation, it’s caused by your white blood cells trying to protect your body from bacteria, viruses, and outside invaders.
2. What Does Inflammation Feel Like?
Inflammation is interesting because it may not feel like anything, or it may be accompanied by pain. The underlying cause of inflammation often dictates what you’ll feel. For example, if you have a tooth infection that is causing inflammation, you may feel severe pain.
However, you can also have inflammation because of arthritis, and it may feel like:
- Heat
- Fire
- Etc.
3. How to Tell if You Have Inflammation?
Inflammation has numerous symptoms that you may not even know about. For example, you may experience:
- Joint pain
- Swelling
- Heat
- Pain
- Redness
- Stiffness
If inflammation occurs in the joints, they may not work as well, become painful or stiffen. Of course, if you have stomach inflammation or heart inflammation, you may not even realize it without going to the doctor and being properly examined.
4. How to Reduce Inflammation in the Body Fast?
Inflammation is often a normal response that is beneficial and shouldn’t be reduced. However, if you know that the inflammation isn't caused by something serious, you can do a few things to calm it down quickly:
- Reduce your intake of processed foods and sugars
- Eat anti-inflammatory foods (more on that below)
- Add spices to your food, such as turmeric
- Increase your intake of Omega-3 fatty acids
However, since inflammation occurs due to a foreign entity in the body, reducing it may be as simple as correcting the underlying problem. For example, removing a splinter from your finger eliminates the “foreign invader,” and you can expect the inflammation to subside.
5. What Foods Cause Inflammation?
Foods impact inflammation, too. If you have a diet consisting of the wrong foods, you may be causing an increase in inflammation without even realizing it. A few of the key foods to avoid because they’re known to cause inflammation include:
- White bread, pastries, and other refined carbs
- Soda or other drinks filled with sugar
- Fried foods
- Processed meats
- Red meat, such as steak
- Lard, shortening, or margarine
- Sugars, sucrose or fructose
Often, processed foods and sugars are not considered inflammatory by inflammation sufferers, but they cause your body to release cytokines, which are responsible for causing inflammation.
If you stay away from these certain foods, it will help reduce the inflammation you’re experiencing.
6. What is the Best Vitamin for Inflammation?
Certain vitamins may be able to help you fight back against inflammation. However, you’ll always want to adhere to your doctor’s recommendations when trying to manage your condition or taking medication.
A few of the vitamins that can help include:
- Vitamin E: is packed with antioxidants that can ease inflammation and even pain
- Vitamin A: is known to boost your immune system and help fight back against infections
The good news is that with a healthy diet, you probably consume enough of these vitamins to have them help your body fight inflammation.
7. What is the Best Supplement for Inflammation?
If you don’t mind taking supplements, you may be able to curb inflammation with them. A few supplements worth considering are:
- Omega-3 fatty acids. If searching for a supplement, consider well-known brands that source their fish from responsible sources.
- Ginger supplements can also help, thanks to ginger being so anti-inflammatory that it is similar to taking ibuprofen. One thing to consider when making your purchase is that the supplement should state that it uses “super-critical extraction” to ensure that it’s pure.
- Cat’s claw comes from a vine and has been shown to help reduce inflammation, swelling, and pain in people living with rheumatoid arthritis.
- Turmeric and curcumin are two natural anti-inflammatory spices that are easy to add to most dishes and add a punch of flavor, too.
If you start taking these supplements, you’ll be well on your way to reducing inflammation in your body. You can also try topicals if you want to target inflammation in one area of the body.
8. What Tea Helps with Inflammation?
Tea is often an easy, delicious way to fight back against inflammation. You can drink a plethora of teas that help with inflammation, including but not limited to:
- Ginger tea
- Turmeric tea
- Chamomile tea
- Rose petal tea
- Fennel tea
- Clove tea
However, when you drink these teas, it’s crucial to leave out the sugar. Since sugar can cause inflammation, you don’t want to counteract the benefits these teas offer.
9. What Foods Help Reduce Inflammation?
Diet can cause inflammation or help ease it. Consuming a variety of anti-inflammatory foods can help reduce the inflammation you’re experiencing while also improving your health in other ways.
A few of the foods that you can begin eating as part of an anti-inflammatory diet include:
- Berries, including blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries.
- Fatty fish, including salmon, herring, mackerel, and others, is due to its high omega-3 fatty acid content.
- Broccoli and most cruciferous vegetables are filled with antioxidants that are known to help fight back against inflammation and reduce your risk of cancer and heart disease.
- Peppers, including chili peppers and bell peppers, both of which contain high amounts of antioxidants and vitamin C.
- Mushrooms, including shiitake, portobello, and truffles, all of which contain an abundance of B vitamins, copper, and selenium.
These FAQs about inflammation can help you better understand what inflammation is, why it occurs and how to reduce it. If you’re experiencing inflammation and want a natural way of dealing with it, consider our Royal Warrior+ Frankincense DMSO cream.
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