How Functional Medicine Can Lower Inflammation in the Body
If there’s one common thread within most diseases, health conditions, and unpleasant symptoms, it’s inflammation.
Hormone imbalances, autoimmune diseases, and gut issues can lead to runaway inflammation, leaving you feeling miserable. In this case, we’re talking about chronic inflammation, which can lead to achiness, fatigue, skin issues, fever, and digestive issues.
Are you stuck in a cycle of inflammation?
Have conventional medications failed to reduce this inflammation?
If these questions apply to you, then you must learn more about functional medicine. Using natural treatments, functional medicine can uncover what’s causing inflammation in the body. Treating the root cause is the only way to truly lower your inflammation because simply managing symptoms is only a temporary solution.
The good news is that you can make a difference in your total inflammation, with studies suggesting that around 77% of inflammatory reactions are due to factors that you have some control over, with the remainder being because of genetics.
Functional Nutrition Resources is Tulsa’s premiere functional medicine clinic for lowering inflammation in the body. Keep reading to learn more about our approach.
Then, schedule a free call with our team to begin lowering your chronic inflammation!
Understanding Inflammation’s Role in the Body
Inflammation isn’t a bad thing on its own. It serves a critical purpose in the body as the immune system’s response to harmful stimuli such as toxic compounds, pathogens, damaged cells, or irradiation. The goal of inflammation is to remove the harmful component and begin the healing process. However, factors such as stress and an unhealthy lifestyle can cause inflammation to run unchecked and go out of control.
As we all know, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. If your body experiences too much inflammation, it can end up damaging the body it was trying to protect because of too many pro-inflammatory cells and molecules. This inflammatory build-up may then result in various health issues and conditions related to inflammation, such as autoimmune diseases.
Four Ways Functional Medicine Can Lower Inflammation in the Body
Functional medicine lowers inflammation in your body by identifying the root cause and creating a natural treatment plan to help your body heal. The first step is to look for signs of inflammation by considering your symptoms (pain, moodiness, fatigue) and running lab tests that look for inflammatory proteins and gut imbalances.
So, once inflammation is confirmed, functional medicine can help you modify these factors to promote an anti-inflammatory lifestyle.
Adjusting Your Diet
Food plays an influential role in inflammation. We need to consider not only the food you eat but also the food you don’t eat.
For instance, some foods, such as red meats, snack foods, refined grains, sodas, and fried foods, have been linked to higher levels of inflammation. Knowing this, reducing these foods and beverages from your diet may help lower your inflammation.
Conversely, other foods are shown to be anti-inflammatory, including:
- leafy green vegetables
- fish
- olive oil
- blueberries
- turmeric
- ginger
However, food can react differently in each person’s body, meaning healthy food may cause inflammation when you eat it, even if it doesn’t happen to someone else. This can be challenging to navigate, but implementing an elimination diet with the oversight of your functional medicine practitioner can help you determine which foods are triggers for you.
This is why Functional Nutrition Resources in Tulsa works with each of our patients individually. We personalize treatment plans to each person’s unique situation, meaning we take all of your food triggers into consideration.
Reduce Stress
Stress can dramatically affect your body’s functioning and cause multiple effects, including inflammation. If you want to lower inflammation in your body, then you cannot ignore the effect that stress has on your health.
Stress can take many forms. Most of us think of stress as busyness or anxiety. But stress can also be caused by toxins, hormone irregularities, and your environment. Research has shown that reducing stress through meditation, yoga, or social interaction can help lower inflammatory markers, reducing inflammation.
Get Enough Sleep
Sleep is crucial for a properly functioning body, and studies have shown that not getting enough sleep is related to higher amounts of inflammatory markers. However, few people in Tulsa get enough sleep, which leads to higher instances of inflammation in the body. By prioritizing sleep, you ensure your body can start each day with less inflammation.
Exercise
There are many dangers in carrying excess weight, especially around your belly, with chronic inflammation being one of them. However, exercising can help lower belly fat while also reducing stress levels, two actions that can help lower inflammation in the body.
Find Lasting Inflammation Relief Right Here in Tulsa
If you’re in the Tulsa, OK, area and want to reduce your inflammation, whether because of certain health conditions or to promote a healthier body, Functional Nutrition Resources is here to help. Our team is available to look for signs of inflammation and assist you in implementing habits that will help you lower inflammation and feel better.
Today, we are offering free discovery calls to anyone who is serious about taking charge of your health. At Functional Nutrition Resources, we don’t leave your health up to a pill. Instead, we empower you to take charge of your health by educating, empowering, and encouraging you to make transformational lifestyle changes.
You might be surprised just how well functional medicine lowers inflammation in your body. Get started with a discovery call.