inflammation Archives - Nurture by Nature Nutrition LLC

7 Ways To Combat Inflammation This Holiday Season

by nurturebynaturenutrition | Dec 18, 2020 | Guides

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The Holiday season is known to be filled with love, joy, family, and friends. It’s also a season filled with stress, lack of movement, and over-consumption of sugar and alcohol which means systemic inflammation can be at an all-time high. In this article, we’re going to discuss 7 ways to combat inflammation this Holiday season!

1. Stay hydrated.

Water is the most important nutrient in your body! It flushes toxins, enables cellular hydration, and transports nutrients, which all play a huge factor in managing and combating systemic inflammation.

As a general rule of thumb, aim to drink half your body weight in fluid ounces of hydrating fluids each day. For example, if you’re a 140lb person, your daily goal is 70oz of hydrating beverages. These hydrating beverages include high-quality filtered water, coconut water, bone broth, and uncaffeinated herbal tea. Keep in mind, for every 8oz of dehydrating beverage you consume (coffee, tea, juice, alcohol, soda) you’ll want to add another 12oz of hydrating beverage to your daily baseline.

2. Move your body.

Moving your body is crucial for a variety of reasons. Regular physical activity has health benefits that includes stress reduction, weight control, strengthening of the heart, bones, and muscles, and reducing the risk of certain diseases1 — all of which are vastly important for combating inflammation. Additionally, exercise is critical for the movement of lymphatic fluid that is responsible for filtering out bacteria, viruses, and toxins, which, if left stagnant, causes high levels of inflammation.

3. Slow down and breathe.

While we cannot go three minutes without oxygen, too seldom do we sit and focus on breathing deeply. Our respiratory system is responsible for filtering out fumes, allergens, mold, and airborne toxins, all of which are highly inflammatory to our system. Focus on breathing in deeply to oxygenate your cells and breathe out completely to remove carbon dioxide and other accumulated toxins in the lungs. In addition to the oxygenation of our system, this deep breathing slows down our nervous system and allows the body to enter a parasympathetic state so we can “rest and digest”.

4. Chew your food.

While this may seem like an odd suggestion, it’s a small but powerful habit to combat inflammation. When we eat too quickly, we swallow air and large chunks of food, which can cause digestive dysfunction and therefore systemic inflammation. Aim to chew your food 20-30x per bite or until the food is a liquid-like consistency. This tiny habit will vastly improve digestion and combat inflammation.

5. Sleep

Sleep is a time where we restore and repair! Ensuring you get 7-9 hours of deep restorative sleep per night is especially key during times of excess stress and overindulgence of sugar and alcohol (i.e. the Holidays!).

6. Avoid too many sweets.

A high sugar diet can have harmful effects on your health and can result in chronic inflammation, where the body’s immune system activates, resulting in damage to healthy cells2.

To reduce inflammation, aim for an overall healthy diet filled with nutrient-dense whole foods. During the Holidays, do the best you can to avoid overindulging in sweet treats filled with refined sugars. If possible, enjoy a dessert made with naturally sweet ingredients like maple syrup or honey!

7. Cook with high-quality oils.

Hydrogenated oils like vegetable, canola, and soy, are highly inflammatory and should be avoided at all costs. These industrial seed oils come from genetically modified plants that are toxic to our systems, full of additives, and have been linked with a variety of health problems.

For high heat cooking choose animal fats or ghee from pasture-raised sources and for medium heat cooking choose extra virgin olive oil or butter. These fats and oils are critical for our health as they boost the immune system and reduce systemic inflammation!

Ensure your days will be merry and bright by following these seven ways to combat inflammation this Holiday season!

1. “Does Sugar Cause Inflammation? What the Research Says.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International.

2. “Exercise … It Does a Body Good: 20 Minutes Can Act as Anti-Inflammatory.” UC Health – UC San Diego.

How I Escaped The “Modern Diet” And Went Back In Time

by nurturebynaturenutrition | Sep 27, 2020 | Small Bites

I remember as a young girl how I loved to watch my grandfather cook and tried to learn all I could from him. As I got older, my family life became difficult and our food traditions fell away. My mother worked at night, so she would prepare dinner in a chafing dish (keeps food hot) for us to eat later.

This mostly consisted of packaged/processed foods that were simply heated (i.e. shake n’ bake, potato flakes, frozen vegetables). We rarely ate any fresh vegetables, most were frozen. Breakfasts were an assortment of frozen pancakes/waffles, pastries, and sugary cereals with mascots. My teeth were the first affected by this diet: overcrowded, crooked, and lots of cavities.

Eventually, I learned I had respiratory asthmatic disease and gluten sensitivity. I kept wondering why -all a sudden -I felt such discomfort from eating foods I always had eaten.

As I have gained more knowledge I have learned from Dr. Price that “foods of commerce” have attributed to the bone density and early dental issues I suffered; and my gluten sensitivity is a result of my epigenetics telling me that I should not be ingesting grains. Unfortunately, it took decades for my bio-individuality (how each body is different) to surface due to my poor lifestyle of cigarettes, Mountain Dew, and boxed dinners. I finally sought the help of a G.I. doctor and learned that I had developed chronic gastritis, which is an inflammation of the protective lining of the stomach (Healthline, 2019). I was constantly bloated and uncomfortable. I felt tired all the time and was not motivated to do anything. I could feel myself just falling away into despair, and I had to reach out and save myself before it was too late.

My diagnosis was a wake-up call to my senses; I need to change my lifestyle and behavior. I learned of the “paleo diet” from my brother and started on my reparative journey to better gut health. Quite simply, The Paleo Diet® is the diet to which the human species is best adapted. In other words, when you eat a Paleo Diet, you are eating the optimal foods for your body, literally programmed into your DNA. The modern Paleo Diet mimics the foods that we would have consumed in our historic past. It is as close as we can get to a diet unadulterated by modern agricultural methods, animal husbandry, or processed foods, elements that have only existed for a short amount of time relative to the span of human evolution (Paleo Diet Team, 2020).

After I started eating more whole foods and less processed foods, I saw a distinct change in my overall health, mood, and brain function. I had much more energy at the right times of day, I craved vegetables I used to hate, my focus and critical thinking improved, and my motivation to just do things (anything!) was off the charts. My body was beginning to share its innate wisdom with me once I purged all the “bad stuff” out, and I could finally hear it. As Dr. Natasha states in her article, “One Man’s Meat Is Another Man’s Poison”, stop eating processed foods and your normal sense of desire for food will return. Paleo eating has changed my entire outlook on food and inspired me to a career path where I can help others feel healthy, happy, and alive.

References

Healthline. (2019). Retrieved from Healthline

Natasha, D. (2014, 08 15). One Man’s Meat Is Another Man’s Poison. Retrieved from doctor natasha.

Paleo Diet Team. (2020, February 4). The Paleo Diet Premise. Retrieved from The Paleo Diet.