In this blog post we will talk about something that impacts us all to varying degrees, inflammation.
What is inflammation?
Inflammation is a natural body process that helps the immune system defend the body against bacteria and viruses. Inflammation is also involved in the body’s natural healing process, for example wound healing. So inflammation is inherently good. Good for healing, good for fighting foreign invaders.
Understanding inflammation can be key to optimal health. Recently Paul, our founder, had some pain in the lower right side of my abdomen, this turned out to be appendicitis. Appendicitis is the inflammation of the Appendix. Luckily he was able to self heal naturally using herbs, diet and rest but it’s this experience that has prompted this email.
Inflammation is natural...
Knowing that inflammation is used in the body’s natural healing process and it also helps the body to defend itself, it can be deduced that inflammation is there at the sight of a problem and not the root cause of the problem. It’s just the body’s natural response to an initial issue. For me, the issue was wrong food combinations leading to indigestion, leading to longer digestion times, leading to waste sitting in the digestive system too long which led to irritation of the lining and blockages which then led to appendicitis.
The point I am trying to get across is that whenever the body is talking to you it pays to listen and to listen fast as the screams will only get louder.
Whenever you hear the word ITIS at the end of a disease it literally translates to inflammation of. So bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi, arthritis means inflammation of the arthro (greek word for joints) and so on and so forth.
So it can be argued that these can be the sign of the body trying to heal or fight something.
Before it gets to that stage, here are some signs of inflammation within the body:
- Joint pain
- Period pain
- Memory worsening
- Low mood
- Digestive issues
- Frequent bloating or gas
- Low immunity (getting sick more often)
- Cravings
- Headaches
- Weight gain
- Skin issues
There’s more but these are some that we tend to pass off as having a bad day or week.
These symptoms can be a sign to reduce foods that cause inflammatory responses in the body. Foods such as high sugar, processed sugar, processed foods, some sweeteners, trans fats, too much vegetable and seed oils, junk foods or refined carbs. You can then replace these with a whole food balanced diet, which tends to be anti-inflammatory, at least until you feel yourself again.
You can find a list of anti-inflammatory foods within the recommended food list in your Herby Box, they include berries, turmeric and ginger.
Herbs play a big role too and that's a big reason why some people feel a reduction in the above symptoms.
Some key anti-inflammatory herbs within our blends include ginseng, cacao, cat's claw, milk thistle, ginger, turmeric and nettle
Be sure to always listen to the body’s whispers so you don’t have to hear its screams.
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