About Inflammation

Inflammation is the source of so many problems.  It has a lot to do with everything from heart disease to gut problems.

What is inflammation?   Inflammation is a complex biological process that occurs when the bodies immune system responds to an injury, infection, or other harmful stimulus.  It is a protective mechanism designed to remove the harmful agent, repair damaged tissue, and restore normal function.  So it is actually a good thing and is an essential part of the healing process.  It's when we develop chronic, prolonged inflammation in an area, it can become a real problem.

As for orthopedic problems like knee arthritis, rotator cuff problems and others,  there are structural problems that cause them, but the pain associated with those problems is usually the result of inflammation. Let's take knee arthritis as an example.  I go into far greater detail in my book about knee arthritis but because of the arthritis, there is friction and grinding in the knee.  But that's not usually what hurts.  The body senses that grinding and thinks that there has been an injury.  It then responds with inflammation and that's what causes pain and swelling.  So if we can win the battle against inflammation, we can often get the problem under control. 

There are lots of things that affect the overall level of inflammation in our bodies.  There are things that increase inflammation and things that can reduce it.  The most significant thing that has a big effect on inflammation is our diet.  There are things that we consume that greatly increase inflammation and there are things that can reduce inflammation. 
You will find tons of orthopedic websites that talk about the structural problems themselves, this website is primarily about that inflammation.  With knee arthritis, the more grinding that the body feels, the more likely it will respond with inflammation.

With things that we can do that increase inflammation and things that can make it worse, I have come up with the analogy that it's like a scale.  Our goal is to take weight off the bad side of the scale and add weight to the good side.  We want to tip the scale in a good direction.

How do we 'tip the scale?  It mainly revolves around our nutrition.  As I mentioned, there are numerous foods that can affect the level of inflammation in our bodies.  The worst dietary items are what I call the big three.  These are breads, sugars and alcohol.  Every time we eat sugary deserts or a bagel, it can cause an increase in inflammation.  When we have a few drinks, the same thing.  Consuming any of the big three adds weight to the bad side of the scale.

And then there are lots of things that we can add to the good side of the scale.  There are lots of foods that can help with inflammation.  Olive oil, green tea, certain nuts,  berries and oily fish are just a few.

And then there are supplements that we can add to the good side of the scale. Now supplements alone can't tip the scale if there is A ton of weight on the bad side of the scale.  Supplements are merely a tool that can help if we are making progress at  unloading the bad side and adding as much as we can to the good side.  But with some fairly minor lifestyle changes, and maybe adding some supplements, there's a good chance of tipping that scale in the right direction.  When that happens, you can feel way better all around.  More energy, clearer mind, less pain and healthier life.

Which are the best supplements to take?  This one is a little bit complicated.  There are all sorts of things that get promoted to help with inflammation.  I only make recommendations based on solid research.  As far as the research goes, there are three stand out supplements that can make a real difference with inflammation.  In order, these are turmeric, boswellia errata and fish oil.  Turmeric has the most research backing it up.  Taking the appropriate type and dose can have the same impact on inflammation as taking Motrin every day.  What do I mean by the appropriate type?  If you look at the ingredients on the bottle of different turmeric preparations, you will see all sorts of different things.  Some work much better than others.  In fact, a lot of the preparations out there are effectively useless for us.  You see, the active substances in turmeric are called curcuminoids.  Differing preparations of turmeric have different amounts of these curcuminoids.  And then, even if you have a preparation that has enough of these curcuminoids, you body has a hard time absorbing them.  Without something to help absorb them, they pass right through you.  There are a couple of ways that turmeric is combines with substances to improve absorption.  The most effective uses what is called phytosome technology to bind the curcuminoids to something called a phospholipid.  This sounds confusing but it helps the body absorb the curcuminoids very effectively.

So as you can tell, it's not just about which supplements to take.  It's taking the proper formulations and dosages of each one.  I have taken the time to extensively research these supplements and instead of trying to educate every patient about exactly what to look for, I have partnered with a company called Vitaboom and created a prepackaged collection of the most proven natural anti-inflammatories, in the proper formulations and in the proper dosages that are available for purchase on this site.

I can speak from my own personal experience taking these exact supplements.  They have worked wonders for me.

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