Are You Inflamed?

© Sarah Beesley

If you have any condition ending in “…itis”, have elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, fat around the middle of your body, diabetes, heart disease, allergies, asthma, eczema, irritable bowel syndrome, cancer, auto-immune disease, aches and pains, fibromyalgia, chronic infections of any kind, chronic fatigue, depression, Alzheimer’s, dementia, swollen glands, mucous, acne, sore tummies, frequent migraines or headaches, liver disease, an elevated CRP or an elevated white blood cell count, you are inflamed.

There are two types of inflammation.

The first type is classical inflammation which generates the inflammatory response we associate with pain such as, heat, redness, swelling and pain. The other type is cellular inflammation which is below the perception of pain.

Cellular inflammation is the most dangerous because it silent and is the precursor to almost every chronic disease state including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and dementia. It is dangerous because it disrupts hormonal signaling networks throughout the body and changes the way your DNA responds, without you being aware in most cases that you are inflamed.

People often have a combination of obvious (stuff that hurts) and silent (such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease) inflammation going on at the same time. Both are the result of inflammatory hormones called eiconsanoids affecting various areas in your body. Eicosanoids are different from the hormones most people are familiar with such as insulin, thyroxin, cortisol, adrenalin, estrogen, and testosterone because they are not made by glands such as the hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, gonads or adrenals.

They are made by every cell in your body and are a response to the environment that cell is living in and the kind of information it is being fed.The kinds of eicosanoids your body makes can be inflammatory or anti-inflammatory depending on the circumstances and will be used to let other cells know what is going on so they can adapt as necessary.

If a cell is surrounded by a dirty environment it will create inflammatory hormones. This makes toxicity one of the biggest drivers of inflammation and is because your body is designed to use the inflammatory response as a clean-up method and to try to limit the amount of damage.

You have 60 trillion potential eiconsanoid producers in your body. Inflammatory eicosanoids can be just as beneficial as anti-inflammatory ones if used appropriately, such as those that enable you to clot when you cut yourself. However if inflammation becomes too high or chronic, they can become dangerous. An example of this is when inflammation leads to plaques building up on the insides of your blood vessels or a clot forming that then lodges in your brain. Chronic inflammation can also create congestion which can hinder the cells’ ability to gain food and clear wastes.This is why reducing toxicity and thereby controlling the eicosanoids that cause inflammation is so important.

DNA and Inflammation

Whether a cell makes inflammatory or anti-inflammatory hormones is largely determined by the stuff that comes into contact with the outside of it and the kind of nutriton it is offered. The outside of the cell has little one-way portals that allow things to pass into the cell from the blood stream. Once something has manged to get into the cell, it will start to affect a type of cell ‘machinery’ called the gene transcription factors.

Gene transcription factors are the things that tell your DNA what to do. DNA is a bit like a recipe book. The components of food and other things that find their way into the body such as metals, chemicals and microbes affect the kinds of eicosanoids you make by triggering your gene transcription factors in particular ways. Toxicity from chemicals and metals, infections, saturated fats and arachidonic acid will  result in the DNA turning to the recipes for inflammatory hormones.

This is why addressing toxicity on a whole body level is so important, both by learning how to clean yourself up and by making a conscious effort to avoid toxic exposure.  Recognise also that food is not just fat, carbohydrate and protein with a few vitamins and minerals in it. It is loaded with information that directly affects the DNA response of your cells. This is why it is important to know the foods that are not compatible with you and how to eat beneficial foods in a way that is balanced. There is no one diet that will fit everyone even though there are a lot of websites and books that will tell you otherwise. This is because we are all genetically unique. Some of us have more repair work to do and different metabolic needs, which is why I tailor nutritional information to the person I am working with. It doesn’t matter what works for someone else, it matters what works for you!

Many people are familiar with ‘Liver Cleanses’ and the like. These can be helpful on a very superficial level, but often fail to address the deep seated toxicity that is present in many people. The Ultimate Health Program has an especial focus in this area and will give you tools that will last a lifetime. In today’s world I consider this essential.

We know now that the action of most gene transcription factors can be significantly altered by changing our diet and lifestyle and through reducing toxicity.

Call me today to get started.