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When I started connecting the dots between my diet and lifestyle, chronic inflammation and disease, I felt empowered to take charge of my health. Why? Because our daily choices are the root of chronic inflammation.

Over the past decade, Ive renovated everything from my grocery cart to my makeup bag to my mind in an effort to upgrade my immune system. And as I moved from a stressful life full of fast food, toxins, and bad boyfriends to a more balanced existence filled with plant-passionate nourishment, inner growth and conscious living, I started experiencing the perks chronic inflammation decreased and my body started working with me to heal and rebuild.

Want to start connecting the dots in your own life? First, lets learn about acute and chronic inflammation, since they play very different roles in our everyday health. Then, well cover the causes of chronic inflammation and how to reduce its impact on your health.

Acute inflammation is your bodys natural and helpful immune response to tissue damage. When you fall off your bike, the cut swells, reddens and feels inflamed! These are all signs that your immune system is busy at work sending white blood cells to the site of your injury to repair the tissue. In this situation, inflammation is our friend we couldnt live without it.

Chronic inflammation is your bodys confused and damaging immune response to a barrage of environmental, physical and mental invaders, which come in the form of things like poor diet, toxic chemicals and stress. Ive written about chronic inflammation in all of my books because its such a huge piece of our health challenges today. Its also the type of inflammation were focusing on in todays post. Heres chronic inflammation in a nutshell from my latest book, Crazy Sexy Kitchen:

Theres a silent (yet violent) kind of inflammation that can take place without you even knowing it. What you eat, drink, and think (stress!), environmental toxins, smokin, booz- in, and even a couch-potato lifestyle can create a fiery cascade of inflammation in your body. When your body hits an inflammatory overload, your defense system gets so overwhelmed and confused that it literally doesnt know the difference between the invader and you. As a result, your well-meaning immune system turns on itself, destroying healthy cells, tissue, and everything else in its wake. Its like when Al Pacino played Tony Montana in Scarface. He mows down everything in sight, yelling, Say hello to my little friend! In a word: shit.

Chronic inflammation is triggered by numerous factors, but most of them are within your control and can be avoided or replaced. Take a look at this list. Anything sound familiar?

There are countless other causes of chronic inflammation, but these are some of the biggies. If you dont think that these things are a risk to your long term health think again. Next stop, the toll they take on your well-being.

Over time, chronic inflammation wears out your immune system, leading to chronic diseases and other health issues, including cancer, asthma, autoimmune diseases, allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, osteoporosis, and even (gasp!) appearing older than your years. Unfortunately, these challenges are often only treated with drugs and surgery, which may provide temporary relief from the symptoms, but do not treat the root of the problem. In addition, these drugs (and their side effects) sometimes only add to your health problems.

Read the original post:
5 Tips for How to Reduce Inflammation - KrisCarr.com