Inflammation: All -itises Are Related
Have you ever tried weeding crabgrass? If you have, you know there is no end to it. You pull on the blade, and if you’re lucky it doesn’t break off at the tip. You pull and pull and pull and pull, ultimately breaking a root at some point, knowing a complex network of connected roots persists underground, invisible to the human eye. A few weeks later — BAM! — a new blade of grass shoots up from the ground in a completely different place.
Inflammation is like crabgrass — it persists and moves around the body with no rhyme or reason, showing a symptom here, a hint there. It will linger and spread until the absolute root of it is resolved, and the root of inflammation is in the gut.
When a woman comes to the clinic with a long list of -itises, I am not surprised. -Itis is a suffix that literally means inflammation. I’m generally less interested in which specific -itis a woman has. Chances are if she has one, she has more than one. Sinusitis, bursitis, tendonitis, fasciitis, colitis, bronchitis, cystitis, dermatitis, colitis — these are manifestations of inflammation in different parts of the body. The physiologic mechanism (the root cause) of inflammation lives in the gut.
Dietary and environmental triggers increase intestinal inflammation by damaging the mucous membrane that lines the intestine, changing the way it functions and absorbs nutrients, or triggering immune system cells within it.
Once the inflammatory process begins in the gut, messengers — known as cytokines — activate cells that increase the production of inflammatory proteins. All these extra proteins loosen the bonds between intestinal cells. What is supposed to stay within the digestive system is allowed to leak out. This is known as leaky gut. In response to leaky gut, cells of the immune system activate to protect the body from the abundance of chemical messengers and proteins.
Substances that cross the intestinal barrier (like foods, pathogens, and toxins) can be picked up by immune system cells or directly circulate throughout the body, causing an immune reaction in other tissues.
THIS IS WHY INFLAMMATION IS NOT LIMITED TO ONE PHYSICAL LOCATION AND CAN MOVE ABOUT THE BODY.
It travels, popping up here and there, invasive like crabgrass that is not limited to one particular place in the garden.
I call inflammation “the common denominator” because it underwrites almost all health conditions and diseases. There is little that ails us that won’t be improved by decreasing or resolving inflammation.
It is possible to decrease inflammation! Start by:
Eating vegetables. Vegetables are responsible for the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). SCFAs support the mucous lining of the intestines and help keep the bonds between intestinal cells tight.
Adding turmeric to your diet. Turmeric reduces inflammatory signaling in the gut and the activity of the cells making inflammatory proteins.
Managing stress in healthy ways. The brain talks to the gut and the gut talks to the brain through the vagus nerve (more about this forthcoming!). The physiologic impact of stress is not to be dismissed. It is a significant contributor to an imbalanced gut.
Do what you can to keep the weeds in the garden of your gut down. Your whole well-being benefits!!!
More Installments to the Inflammation & Immunity Series to come!
This series of “doable” weekly-ish installments, focused on gut health and immunity, is designed to help you understand the ways in which your defenses might be down and your overall health degraded. It’s meant to empower you to act in measurable and realistic ways. In the middle of a global crisis, you can take it upon yourself to get stronger. I want to help you understand your vulnerabilities and suggest ways you can realistically improve your health. Chances are, these are changes your body has been asking you to make for a while now.