The Juicer’s Guide to Fighting Inflammation (Anti-Inflammatory)
Inflammation is the body’s response to illness.
Said another way, what we feel as illness is — more often than not — inflammation.
About Inflammation
When you get down to the core illnesses you discover that they are different types of inflammatory conditions, which begin in a localized organ or system and then spread to influence and disrupt others. From arthritis to the common cold to a strained Y-ligament, inflammation is the constant between almost all states of illness.
Studies suggest that “chronic inflammation could have serious role in wide variety of age-related diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases. Inflammatory process induces oxidative stress and reduces cellular antioxidant capacity. Overproduced free radicals react with cell membrane fatty acids and proteins impairing their function permanently.”
And because of this fact, Inflammation has been found to be at the root of just about every condition of disease. It’s “an emerging field,” says UCLA’s Dr. David Heber. “It’s a new concept for medicine.”
Of course, inflammation is the body’s natural response to invasion and injury. Be it by virus, a bump on the head, or an auto-immune response, inflammation is the simple physical reaction our adaptive immune system makes to such events. This can be good. For example, when we scrape ourselves antibodies cause your skin to puff and redden, and this inflammation immobilizes, clots, and helps a wound heal. In this sense, it’s necessary to life itself.
But there’s another side to it all. Today immunologists talk about two types of inflammation with two pathways: acute and chronic. Unfortunately, there are leaks in their respective pathways, and this means that there is more than one way for your own personal red inflammation button to get switched on, or turned off. The trouble begins when it gets flipped on, but the off-switch mechanism fails to flip.
When that happens, you’re left in an inflamed state, and it seems that no one quite understands why this happens.
The most common medical way to approach Inflammation (whether acute or chronic) is to neutralize and remove the antibodies that are waving the red flags of distress: to literally unhinge the mechanism from its process as a way to initiate both tissue repair and healing. With the pathogen triggers or reactions suppressed, the hope is that the body will get the drift and turn off its own button, whereby regeneration can begin.
But, isn’t this a little bit like taking the batteries out of smoke detector? Never mind that these “inflammatory mediators” can be very harmful, because they have been shown to damage the already delicate or inflamed tissues and can actually make any existing injury worse. Sometimes, you want an inflammation response because if damage is extensive, fibrin and collagen can replace the original tissue and form a scar.
So What Does Juicing Have to Do With Inflammation?
Lots actually, but in particular: 1- Juicing prevents inflammation, and 2- Juice antioxidants reduce damage caused by inflammation. For an example of preventing inflammation, UCLA professor Greg Cole discusses that controlling inflammation prevents conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. He pays special attention to particular food substances like curcumin (the active component in turmeric root), varieties of fruit flavonoids, different omega-3 fatty acids, and resveratrol (like berries and grapes), which he has found to substantially curve inflammation in many patients.
This is why Juicing fruits and vegetables is a great way to support the body in overturning the tide of inflammatory conditions!
And while chronic inflammation science may be new to western medicine, both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Indian Medicine (Ayurveda) have known about juicing to control inflammation for thousands of years. Ayurveda uses inflammatory symptoms to track down the cause of the inflammation (rather than only treating the symptom itself), and then directs a number of natural food-based remedies and other treatments to heal the body.
Inflammation may have a number of origins: from ordinary stress up through massive trauma. Ordinary stress includes what you choose to eat (and its quality), how much good water you drink, your emotional and psychological well-being, your biorhythms, and your REM cycles when you sleep, whether or not you get enough sleep, and your exercise routine. Literally every single choice you make will contribute to one of two things: a state of inflammation, or a state free from inflammation?
Do you want to live forever? (well, as long as possible …)
If a thriving state of longevity is your goal – assuming you want to avoid coronary diseases, Alzheimer’s and cancer – then watch what you eat!
Best & Worst Juices For Fighting Inflammation
You probably know that turmeric and ginger reduce inflammation. So do coconut water, cilantro, lime, aloe, and pomegranate juice. So, grab a shot of ginger, tumeric, or lemon-ginger.
Several juicing favorites also reduce and prevent inflammation, for example …
- Cilantro and Parsley are great for your kidneys and they detox heavy metals.
- Cucumbers are super cool for reducing inflammation.
- Celery reduces inflammation and magically resets your digestive system.
- Berries are low in sugar and are high in antioxidants (antioxidants are anti-inflammatory).
- Watermelon is more that 90% water — it’s a tasty way to detox and ‘un-inflame.’
What to avoid when you’re inflamed?
Avoid acids: don’t juice Spinach, and avoid chard, citrus, and cranberries!
Sources
- https://www.mastcellmaster.com/documents/Flavonoids/Flavonoids.pdf
- http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/17/health/he-anti-inflammation17
- https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bdd9/f653bfabcbe307f835b1d82da676df8ee0c1.pdf
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3492709/
- https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Inflammation_A_unifying_theory_of_disease
- https://www.livescience.com/52344-inflammation.html
- https://www.prevention.com/health/signs-chronic-inflammation
- http://peoplesrx.com/ayurveda-a-new-way-to-reduce-inflammation/
- https://yogainternational.com/article/view/chronic-inflammation-cool-the-fire-with-ayurveda
- http://svasthaayurveda.com/ask-ayurveda-how-can-i-reduce-inflammation-in-my-body/
- https://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/2015/05/29/treating-inflammation-ayurveda
- https://chopra.com/articles/5-ways-to-reduce-inflammation
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18240538
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19149749
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25723161
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2020/
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