In modern society, Inflammation has taken the place in being one of the top health issues. The fast lifestyle, the need to be goal-oriented with the ruthless competitive attitude has put humanity on the edge when it comes to emotions. Along with these factors, less attention is paid to health and sleeping less is admired leading the humanity to early health issues (this applies to majority but not to all)
Inflammation is the nightmare every herbalist, holistic or natural health practitioner dreads because this is the beginning of the end. The body’s organs begin to deteriorate at a slow rate and goes unnoticed. Then one day the body becomes diseased to the point where the rest of the life is lived on prescribed medicines. When health takes a plunge like this, most people are discouraged from even trying to get well or they are too busy to put health as the priority.
The truth is that there are remedies and food therapies out there that can be added to the daily routine and lifestyle to overcome these types of sicknesses. The key is to understand the basics of health. Making simple mistakes can be detrimental to long term health. So let’s discuss a few health MUSTs below as the first step.
Sleep and Rest (Click to Open)
The body needs rest. Organs like the heart works full time around the clock to ensure that the body is working to its optimal level. The modern society works the body over time and over capacity. To make up for that, the body needs to rest as much as possible. Each day, especially stressful days, are recommended to be concluded with de-tress activities.
Think about the chilled out lifestyles the ancient people used to live. A day with few hours of work in nature (nature is a natural de-stressor) and a good roaming around to their favorite places with friends maybe (good conversation and bursts of happy hormones releasing ever so often). Meals of extremely and correctly produced organic food (since Monsanto wasn’t there to genetically modify thankfully) at the table surrounded by family and friends. They are eating the meal in peace and harmony (no dysfunctional family fights, no cellphones to mess around with and no Netflix to distract), which helps in the digestion and proper assimilation of food.
Where I went in the previous paragraph is to explain that there are many ways to be unhealthy in the modern lifestyles. People who make you feel good, places that makes you feel good, activities that makes you feel good and staying away from electronics after work can help de-stress. Mellow music, meditation or prayer can help calm the body and mind down before bed. Relaxation is essential to allow the body to prepare for a good night’s sleep.
De-Stress (Click to Open)
I’m making this another point because it’s a big driver for diseases, especially through inflammation. Stress is normal for most people but what they fail to realize is that the body has external stressors on top of the stress of the mind to deal with. External stressors are chemicals coming in through breathing in polluted air, water supply, electronic devices emitting radio waves, chemicals through food and synthetic noises.
Internal stress is caused by stressful work, stress from home and day to day worries. The natural tendency of the body is to increase adrenaline to supplement for the stress. Flight or fight. Parasympathetic nervous system vs. sympathetic nervous system is at play here. Naturally, the fight or flight instinct only is used when someone faces danger. The nervous system signals the body to be provided with extra nutrients to get through the danger. When it becomes the norm, it causes inflammation. To counter that, the body needs to lean towards the exact opposite of rest mode.
Diet
What we eat contributes a lot to our health as well as providing the body with adequate nutrients to perform its functionalities. External stressors and influences require more nutrients to process them. It is easy to fight against the disease tendency with a strong diet and adequate nutrients.
I have covered good eating habits and practices on another blog post so you can refer to that as well for additional information. All in all eating fresh, unprocessed and natural food types helps as well as eating well rounded meals to get the most amount of nutrients in.
On top of food, it is recommended that herbs be used to supplement or help with any ongoing issues. Liver detoxers, digestive aids, nervines and kidney cleansers are a few examples that can be utilized periodically. Food can be used as medicine as well as herbal medicines can also be cooked into food.
Inflammation in the body can go unnoticed for a long time. Here are some indications of inflammation:
Here are some herbs that would be helpful to fight inflammation:
Here are some recommended food items to help with inflammation:
Here are some lifestyle practices to fight inflammation:
With the above recommendations incorporated into the daily practice, inflammation can be controlled to slow down the deterioration of health. By putting health as a number one priority, a longer life span and reduced dependency on prescribed medication is possible. Medicine can be food and food can be medicine right from nature. If you would like to book a session to discuss a diet and a herbal supplements plan, please visit the Services page.