There is one more thing that contributes to inflammation that I would like to talk about today and that is STRESS. Yes, you can eat clean, and fill your body with anti-inflammatory foods, but if your stress level is high and your adrenals are running on overdrive, you may still have inflammation in your body. When we are stressed, our bodies go into a fight or flight response. When this happens, our bodies release adrenaline and cortisol, which cause our heart rate to increase, and hinders other normal bodily functions like digestion and immune response, and increases glucose, spiking our blood sugar. This would all be fine if we were running from predators like our ancestors did thousands of years ago, but in today’s day and age, most of our stressors are not as serious as running from a tiger, and we are living in a heightened state of stress daily. Therefore, our bodies are not able to properly perform normal functions and instead are in a constant inflammatory response. There are many inflammatory diseases related to stress including cardiovascular disease, auto-immune disease, anxiety, and depression.
It is crucial that we work to reduce stress in our lives for better overall health and to continue to reduce inflammation.
Stress is a normal occurrence, but it doesn’t have to be something that takes over our lives or negatively affects our health. Take the steps above to control your stress and not let it get out of control. Your health depends on it!
