Month: February 2022

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How Inflammation Makes You Sick

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

Inflammation is a protective signalling process from our immune system. It becomes amplified when we need to deal with an infection or injury and then quiets down so our body can regenerate, heal, and free up resources for other important bodily functions. The problem comes when the signal to ‘fire’ is left on for no good reason.

The image of acute inflammation after an injury is hot, red, painful, and swollen. But chronic inflammation can easily fly by the radar in our day-to-day life. Chronic inflammation is something that’s happening in all of us, but the level of intensity and amount of internal buffer we build determines how quickly our tissues get broken down. 

Chronic inflammation can be measured through a blood test called c-reactive protein (CRP), and those who are at the top third range are twice as likely to have a heart attack than those at the bottom third. A similar trend can be found for diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s, as risks for these diseases rise with the level of CRP measured. Cancer for instance was described in the 1870s as “a wound that doesn’t heal” by the father of modern pathology. He observed, and rightly so, that tumours often formed in sites of chronic inflammation. It is a generic fertilizer for every disease, and accounts for more than 50% of all causes of mortality. 

In addition, when the immune system is already revved up, a small insult like a cold or flu virus can trigger our system to overreact. This is when we see people who may meet the same virus but have drastically different responses. Those who have more chronic inflammation tend to have exacerbated symptoms and feel way more ill. Compare those who seem to never get sick. Those people are likely dealing with the same viruses, but their systems are strong enough that they don’t need the ‘big’ reaction which shows in the form of symptoms.

Physical activity is one way we can consistently lower inflammation. Did you know muscles also secrete some hormones? Specifically, when they contract, they release hormones that help reduce inflammation throughout the body. A large meta-analysis was done on over 1 million participants across Europe and the United States and found those who achieved 150 minutes of movement per week saw a reduction in risk for cardiovascular deaths by 23%, and type 2 diabetes by 26%. Another study found that hitting this number for physical activity reduced the risk for Alzheimer’s by 40%.

Staying active can mean anything that gets your body to move. Walking with a group of friends to your favourite spot in the city, gardening, taking a group class, rock climbing with co-workers, doing some neck rolls, stretches during work breaks, or air squats while you brush your teeth. Getting your muscles engaged, contracting to release anti-inflammatory hormones, and pumping your lymphatic system (immune system’s superhighway) are both ways to protect you from getting sick now and into the future. 

The bottom line is, keep inflammation down and you will be sick less, and when you do get sick, it won’t be as bad.

Reference:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/inflammation-a-unifying-theory-of-disease

Furman, D., Campisi, J., Verdin, E. et al. Chronic inflammation in the etiology of disease across the life span. Nat Med 25, 1822–1832 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-019-0675-0

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-019-0675-0

Santos-Lozano A, Pareja-Galeano H, Sanchis-Gomar F, Quindós-Rubial M, Fiuza-Luces C, Cristi-Montero C, Emanuele E, Garatachea N, Lucia A. Physical Activity and Alzheimer Disease: A Protective Association. Mayo Clin Proc. 2016 Aug;91(8):999-1020. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2016.04.024. PMID: 27492909.

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/jaha.115.002495


Santos-Lozano, A. et al. Physical activity and Alzheimer disease: a protective association. Mayo. Clin. Proc. 91, 999–1020 (2016). Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27492909/

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Why Inflammation Makes You Old

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

The definition of aging is a progressive change that leads to increased debility, disease, and death. Wow! That sounds depressing. Don’t despair, there are things you can do to make it a much more pleasant picture.

As we age, there is a reduction in our cells capability to read the right genes at the right time. Genes are locked in our DNA and are highly specific instruction sets that govern everything that happens in our body. The loss of specific steps, or the inability to read instructions properly, leads to cells messing up their functional roles and tissues and organs falling apart. 

The question is what causes the loss in information? 

This is where chronic inflammation comes into play. I often describe this process as the Marvel character the Hulk racing around in our body, smashing up cells, and tripping over DNA. This causes damage and a loss of stored information. 

But the Hulk is, for the most part, his harmless alter ego, Bruce Banner, a nerdy scientist who doesn’t cause harm. He stays calm until he gets triggered, and this is analogous to oxygen in our body. We need oxygen to live, it’s a functional part of our metabolism. But it can get amplified and become a superoxide, free radical. Another way to think of it is wildfires burning within us. The more inflammation, the bigger the fire.

What are the major triggers of our internal Hulk?

  1. Refined sugar / processed foods. Essentially the Standard American Diet (SAD)
  2. Alcohol/ Drugs
  3. Sleep deprivation
  4. Stress

Strategies to reduce inflammation:

  1. Reducing inflammatory triggers (refined sugars, processed foods, alcohol, toxic substances).
  2. Protect your body with high levels of antioxidants found in colourful fruits and vegetables.
  3. Intermittent fasting – recent studies are confirming that it’s not just what we eat that’s important, but when we eat as well. Fasting (different from starvation), has been shown to activate genes for longevity and is a whole other lever we can pull to increase our lifespan and health span. A future article will delve more deeply into this topic. 
  4. Increasing the number of healthy bacteria – aka the Microbiome we discussed in our previous article here. 

These strategies help protect your cells from damage. Less Hulk, less damage. Avoiding processed foods and added sugars, getting on top of our sleep are powerful ways to reduce the triggers. Loading up on antioxidant rich foods give you an added buffer of protection as these calm down any signs that could trigger the Hulk, or they will get him to change back into Bruce sooner rather than later. 

How would you react if someone told you that you could live into your 100’s remaining healthy and mentally sharp? This may sound like science fiction, but scientists like leading aging expert David Sinclair, a professor in genetics at Harvard Medical School, says this is more fact than fiction. In his book, Lifespan: Why We Age, and Why We Don’t Have To, he spells out why we should reframe the way we think of ourselves across time, sharing evidence to the theme that aging as we know it doesn’t have to be so. His quote “A painful descent into old age isn’t something you have to accept” resonates so well.

In short, inflammation is an accelerator of aging. The more we inflame ourselves, the quicker we break down. If we incorporate small practices that protect us from inflammation, we can keep ourselves running better…and for longer. 

References

Sinclair, D. (2019). Lifespan: The revolutionary science of why we age – and why we don’t have to. Atria Books.

Chung, H. Y., Kim, D. H., Lee, E. K., Chung, K. W., Chung, S., Lee, B., Seo, A. Y., Chung, J. H., Jung, Y. S., Im, E., Lee, J., Kim, N. D., Choi, Y. J., Im, D. S., & Yu, B. P. (2019). Redefining Chronic Inflammation in Aging and Age-Related Diseases: Proposal of the Senoinflammation Concept. Aging and disease, 10(2), 367–382. https://doi.org/10.14336/AD.2018.0324

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6457053/
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Three Things I Never Knew About Inflammation

Tim Irvine

This article falls into the category of ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’.

Presenting to companies over the last two years has provided me the opportunity to have a passenger seat to some incredibly bright people form Totum who have presented their expertise to thousands. It has been like being in a university class you just can’t fall asleep in. Although I consider myself an expert, I also consider myself a realist and the older I get the less I think I know. Through all of this, one area that I have had my eyes opened is nutrition. 

I’ve become fascinated by inflammation, to the point I’ve sat our kids down for ‘the talk’, but instead of it being about the birds and the bees, it was about inflammation. Even with decades of experience, the knowledge has influenced me so much that I’ve changed my eating, my sleep, I’m moving more, and I’m more focused on avoiding things that contribute to inflammation. I’m not quite ready to start The C.A.I, (Church of Anti-Inflammation), but I’m close.

Using my somewhat ‘expert’ background, combined with this important new information the layman in me has learned, I’d like to try and convert you to my new religion.

Here are three key things I think you need to know about inflammation

  1. Inflammation makes you old
  2. Inflammation makes you sore
  3. Inflammation makes you sick

With the help of some of those incredibly bright people, I will dive a bit deeper into each of these topics, but for now, I’ll highlight some of the reasons we get inflamed.

Acute inflammation is generally good. You scrape your knee and an inflammatory response to heal the cut is triggered.

Chronic inflammation is the one you need to avoid. It damages cells and is the road to many chronic diseases. It can be caused by auto immune disorders, exposure to certain chemicals, or acute inflammation that never heals properly. Besides these, the body of evidence around lifestyle factors is growing and it’s clear, certain things we do on a day-to-day basis pre-dispose us to more inflammation.

In an article from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the following are identified as lifestyle factors that have been shown to contribute to inflammation:

  • Being overweight
  • Consuming too many bad fats (think trans fat) and not enough good fats (think omega 3)
  • Eating too many refined carbohydrates (most packaged foods in the grocery store)

We also know being chronically stressed, under slept, or consuming sugary foods and beverages (yes, alcohol is included here) will also contribute to an inflamed body.

The bottom line is inflammation is bad and anti-inflammation is good.

It’s time to start putting out the fires.

And check out the additional articles on inflammation making you old, sore and sick to find out how this is happening and what you can do about it.

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Could Our Instincts Unlock Our Health and Happiness?

Part 1 of 3 – How To Cope Well Well In Our Modern Society

By: Dr. Stacy Irvine, DC

 Have you ever wondered why certain behaviours and actions happen before you even have a chance to think about them? Or why do certain feelings and drives return even though you do everything in your power to control them? This is exactly how our instincts work in our everyday lives.  If we were able to understand them even just a bit better, we could hopefully harness these powerful pathways for good.

What if the answers to unlocking better habits and performance were within us all along?  Maybe we are just ignoring them as we spend endless minutes diving deep into our social media, or late-night bingeing the latest Netflix series.  Is it possible that alcohol, food or even prescription drugs are enabling us to numb our senses and instincts in a way that allows us to manage and cope better within our 20th-century lifestyles?

I recently listened to a fascinating interview of a researcher, Rod Phillips, who was discussing both the positive and negative impacts of alcohol in modern society.  Part of the discussion was around the idea that when human beings are placed in stressful situations, for example flying in a plane, consumption of alcohol can help alleviate anxiety. My recent book, Your Better Instincts, explores some similar concepts about when “humans are placed in stressful situations” we often reach for ways to dull our senses or distract ourselves.  Unfortunately, most of these distractions have a negative impact on our long-term health.  You could argue that our sedentary, screen-filled work environments lead to increased stress, and it is possible our coping mechanisms have just not caught up to the fast pace of technology. Could it be that our continued success might be our downfall?  We have invented so many ways to digitize our lives, create comfort, and reduce effort, but I am worried we may have tipped the scales too far in one direction.  We may have outperformed ourselves and are now paying a huge price in our health.

In our extremely busy, highly connected lifestyles, we are ignoring many of our basic instinctual patterns. We develop our instincts as we age and navigate life. Instincts are responsible for our survival as a species, and they are the amazing attributes that separate us from machines.  Spending time in nature, connecting with friends, moving daily as much as possible, are all proven techniques that allow us to thrive as healthy and happy humans.  By realizing these ancient patterns are within us, it will help us understand how best to use them in real life.  When we develop our Instincts to their full potential, we can spend less time avoiding and distracting ourselves from the world around us.  Finding our way back, moving away from distraction, toward awareness could be the easiest way to live our happiest and healthiest “In the Moment” lives.