Inflammation the Modern Day Epidemic

In mid life, there is one thing that is going on in your body that is having a major impact. And it can be invisible - inflammation. It's a word we hear about so often, but what does it mean and how does it affect your health during peri menopause and menopause?

Inflammation underlies so many chronic health conditions. From heart disease to dementia, type 2 diabetes to asthma, allergies, skin conditions, arthritis and auto immune disease, even depression; chronic inflammation is the common thread behind these health issues.

Loss of oestrogen around the menopause can make inflammation worse because oestrogen has an anti inflammatory effect.

However, take heart as there is a lot that you can do to prevent inflammation with food and lifestyle.

What is Inflammation?

Inflammation is a defensive response kicked off by your immune system. For example, typical signs are redness of the skin, heat, pain or swelling.

As a short lived response to, for example, a bacteria or injury, inflammation is a natural and necessary part of the healing process.

Inflammation becomes a problem if the inflammation response is not switched off. It then causes damage to the body. This then further stimulates the immune response and a vicious circle follows, increasing our susceptibility to chronic disease.

How do you know if you have inflammation?

If you have raised levels of something called C Reactive Protein (CRP) in blood test results from your GP, that is one way to measure it. ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) is another inflammatory marker that shows up in blood tests.

But sometimes you won't know if you have inflammation. If you have fat around the middle, or any sort of chronic condition like diabetes or heart disease, you're likely to have inflammation.

What can be done to prevent chronic inflammation?

There are many things you can do to prevent inflammation, starting with your diet. Here are a few tips:

A healthy gut flora helps prevent chronic inflammation. A decline in oestrogen around the menopause reduces the diversity of your gut bacteria. Keep your gut bacteria healthy with a varied diet and the help of a probiotic or probiotic foods such as yoghurt, kefir and fermented foods (use caution if you have existing IBS though). Bacterial or fungal overgrowth in the gut contributes to unhealthy gut flora. This can be tested for and treated
Food intolerances e.g. to gluten or cow’s milk, can cause chronic inflammation
Increase fruit and vegetables. You know about this but it’s so important! Keep looking for the rainbow to get the full range of all those powerful anti inflammatory plant chemicals. Whether this be through getting more on your plate with salads and sides or through smoothies and vegetable juices. Pineapple and cherries are super anti inflammatory fruits
Cut down on sugar. Sugar (and alcohol) makes inflammation worse. If you feel a sugar craving coming on try my chocolate coconut energy crunch bars or low sugar, gluten free Chocolate Courgette Muffins Recipe You get the added benefit of increasing your daily veg intake with the muffins!
Keep hydrated. Check out this informative article from Nutri Advanced which goes into the science of how drinking water helps your immune system
Turmeric and ginger are two spices with very strong anti inflammatory properties. Add turmeric to curries and mayo or try a refreshing ginger tea or a warming turmeric latte
Keep your healthy fats up, particularly omega 3. Omega 3 fats are converted into substances which help regulate inflammation. Good food sources of omega 3 fats are oily fish such as salmon and mackerel, cold pressed oil such as linseed (flaxseed) or hempseed oil
On a non nutritional note, pinpointing and dealing with sources of stress in your life is pretty important when it comes to inflammation. Not always an easy task but very necessary! Long term stress produces a high amount of free radicals which cause oxidative damage. There is a lot of evidence now to show that oxidative stress and chronic inflammation are linked
Book a one to one nutrition consultation with me and we will plan a personalised strategy to address what is going on in your body

To book an appointment or arrange an initial chat, email penny@nutritionistlondon.co.uk or call 07761 768 754