Attack the 7 Causes of Inflammation

I always try to study a problem thoroughly and then go about solving it in a comprehensive fashion.

That’s why I worked on a formulation to attack the major causes of inflammation. My anti-inflammation formulation is a combination of chicken bone-broth nutrients, collagen, and beneficial compounds blended with herbs, spices, and enzymes. I’m happy with the results, and I know many people who feel that they received relief from their issues with inflammation.

If you have been fortunate not to have inflammation, consider yourself blessed because it’s a big deal. Most people think inflammation is something that happens to your back after spending an entire Saturday morning digging up weeds, but I’m talking about more than that. My focus is on inflammation that occurs internally as well.

Every day of your life, your body wards off gazillions of germs, which break down your immune system and make you more susceptible to health problems. Every day of your life (or so it seems), little “ow-ees” happen—a badly stubbed toe, mosquito bite, slight sunburn, pulled muscle, or nick while shaving your legs (for you gals) or your face and neck (for you guys). Whenever any of these scenarios happen, the body mounts an instantaneous defense, sending cells and natural chemicals to assault those nasty flu germs or repair the slight gash in your skin. Scientifically speaking, this response is known as inflammation.

When inflammation occurs, the liver produces a protein known as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. This natural chemical is released into the bloodstream to help the body fight flu germs, for example, or repair itself after you pull a splinter out of your index finger.

“Inflammation has become one of the hottest areas of medical research,” wrote Christine Gorman and Alice Park in Time magazine. “Hardly a week goes by without the publication of yet another study uncovering a new way that chronic inflammation does harm to the body. It destabilizes cholesterol deposits in the coronary arteries, leading to heart attacks….”

When I looked into producing an anti-inflammation formulation, I became aware that Stephen Rennard, M.D., chief of pulmonary medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, had conducted research on chicken soup—yes, good ol’ chicken soup—acting as an anti-inflammatory because of the way the homemade soup apparently reduced the inflammation that occurs when coughs and congestion strike the respiratory tract.

I’ve become a big fan of chicken soup for the soul, as well as soup stocks made from meat, chicken, or fish. So I have a question: Is old-fashioned chicken soup or soup stocks missing from your diet? Do you consume chicken soup or soup stocks regularly? Perhaps you should. Wonderful health benefits are to be derived from our traditional recipes. There’s a reason why Grandma Rose called chicken soup the “Jewish penicillin.”

While chicken soup is often consumed in winter, few people go out of their way to slurp up soup stocks, however. This means you’re missing out on the gelatinous substances like collagen found in soup stocks.

“A lamentable outcome of our modern meat processing techniques and our hurry-up throwaway lifestyle has been a decline in the use of meat, chicken and fish stocks,” said Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D., in their groundbreaking book, Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. “In days gone by, when the butcher sold meat on the bone rather than as individual filets and whole chickens rather than boneless breasts, our thrifty ancestors made use of every part of the animal by preparing stock, broth, or bouillon from the bony portions.” The authors added that stock “is also of great value because it supplies hydrophilic colloids to the diet. Raw food compounds are colloidal and tend to be hydrophilic, meaning that they attract liquids.”

When cartilage deteriorates, you’re left with bone against bone. But one of the beauties of traditional diets is that soup stocks made from whole chickens aid in rebuilding and maintaining cartilage by supplying high-quality gelatin and collagen, which are rich sources of glycosamino-glycans like chondroitin sulfate.

One thing collagen does is draw water to the joints, which, in turn, helps with cushioning. So, do eat chicken and beef stock.

I highly recommend the collagens in organic chicken and beef, which is why I traveled to France to source the collagen in my anti-inflammation support formulation. I wanted to work with farmers who don’t farm chickens the way we typically do in America. The French farmers assured me that their chicken flocks received no antibiotics or mammalian remnants in their feed.

Whatever you eat or consume as a nutritional supplement, the integrity of the ingredients should be foremost in your mind.

One of the major causes of inflammation that gets overlooked is over-acidity in the body.

In fact, many experts consider over-acidity one of the major causes of inflammation, especially arthritic conditions. The body can only tolerate a small imbalance in blood pH, which is why alkalizing the body can be important for arthritis (especially gout) sufferers.

An interesting article in the European Journal of Nutrition stated that sodium chloride (NaCl) has been incorporated copiously into the contemporary diet, increasing the net systemic acid load imposed by the diet.

The researchers noted that their group “has shown that contemporary net acid-producing diets do indeed characteristically produce a low-grade systemic metabolic acidosis in otherwise healthy adult subjects, and that the degree of acidosis increases with age.”

In a Russian-language medical journal, researchers studied changes in joint fluid acid–base balance in sixty-five rheumatoid arthritis patients. They found increasing acidity to be correlated with the severity of joint damage and inflammation. Russian researchers determined that whole body potassium is significantly lower in older arthritics and can sink to almost half of normal in some cases. This again tells us that the body is in an overly acidic state.

My anti-inflammation support formulation was designed to aid correction of acidosis and ameliorate those conditions. I would argue that any level of acidosis may be unacceptable, and indeed, that a low-grade metabolic alkalosis may be the optimal acid–base state for humans. For this reason, I made sure there were fermented alfalfa grass juices in my formula because they contain alkaline-forming minerals to help reduce acidity. A compound known as Rhododendron caucasicum helps to reduce acidic deposits, particularly in gout. Rhododendron is used as an effective treatment for gout throughout Russia.

If you suffer from chronic low-grade infections, then please know that the arthritis-infection connection is now well established. Infections are clearly associated with the body’s inflammatory levels, which can be measured with a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein test. Many infections, however, do not manifest themselves as frank disease conditions such as the flu or common cold. They may simply cause minor symptoms like skin eruptions or fatigue or the more serious conditions such as arthritis and even heart disease.

In addition, compounds such as wild oregano concentrate and bayberry bark extract are premiere infection-fighting herbs that aid the body’s health against pathogens.

Some people have an overactive immune system. I learned that a unique herb known as cat’s claw has an almost intuitive ability to harmonize the body’s immune system, quell an overactive immune response, and stimulate an underactive system. Many types of autoimmune arthritis or related inflammatory conditions (such as lupus) result from immune system dysfunction.

Are you taking arthritis drugs? So-called COX-2-inhibiting drugs designed to maintain the pain-reducing properties of traditional but stomach-harsh nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have proven to be problematic. Synthetic COX-2 inhibitors like Celebrex and Vioxx were found to come with their own side effects such as gastrointestinal distress and increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. Vioxx was taken off the market in 2004 and Celebrex had to add a warning label, so the former was dangerous and the latter is still problematic.

Natural COX-2 inhibitors, on the other hand, are safe. They also are effective. For instance, oregano contains rosmarinic acid, which has been reported in laboratory studies to have significant COX-2 inhibiting properties comparable to medical drugs such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin. Ginger and turmeric are also natural COX-2 inhibitors.

“In experimental studies, [ginger] has been shown to inhibit both the cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways and the production of prostaglandins, thromboxane, and leukotrienes, just as the NSAIDs do,” wrote James B. LaValle, R.Ph., N.M.D., C.C.N, author of The COX-2 Connection. “Yet its clear advantage is that no significant side effects have been reported, unlike the NSAIDs, which can have quite serious side effects associated with their use.”

Turmeric, closely related to ginger, is traditionally used to treat systemic inflammation. Researchers at New York Presbyterian Hospital and the Weill Medical College at Cornell University have shown that one of the major phytochemicals in turmeric has potent COX-2-inhibitory factors, as LaValle noted. Additional research at Vanderbilt University and the University of Leicester in England has further confirmed the powerful COX-2-inhibiting capabilities of this ancient herb.

Are you deficient in enzymes? Raw foods are an excellent source of enzymes and aid the body in maintaining the proper acid/alkaline balance, but most of us no longer consume adequate amounts of raw foods—vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, meats, and fish.

Of course, only the overly brave would consume raw meat due to the fear of bacterial contamination and mushy taste. (I’ve become a lover of raw fish in sushi, as have millions of Americans.) The downside of this precautionary approach to eating raw meats is that you can miss out on some of the most potent proteases.

Yet, enzymes can help to reduce circulating antibodies and have been shown to aid in all types of inflammatory processes. That’s why I’m a big fan of inflammation-fighting enzymes, including proteases for protein digestion, lipase for fat digestion, amylase for carbohydrate digestion, and cellulase for the digestion of plant fiber.

Bromelain, an enzyme found in the stalk of pineapples, is effective in reducing inflammation in living tissue. On the other hand, papain, the enzyme found in unripe papaya, is useful to reduce sites of inflammation where dead or diseased tissue has been lodged.

If you’re suffering from oxidative stress, then you’ll be glad to know that the use of antioxidants will be recognized someday as one of the most significant contributions to modern health practices. While it’s clear that you need basic vitamins and minerals as building blocks for structural support, antioxidants play an important role in fighting off the damaging effects of inflammation by quenching the devastating micro-cellular effects of free radicals that exert so much cumulative oxidative damage on joint tissues.

Another substance, Rhododendron caucasicum, is high in polyphenolic antioxidants that are similar to those found in green tea, grape seed, and pine bark extracts but is far more bioavailable. Turmeric and oregano are also powerful antioxidants that reduce oxidative stress.

Although we tend to think of inflammation almost solely in terms of arthritis, enhancing the body’s healing response in cases of trauma and sports injuries, heart and circulatory disease, and virtually all other inflammatory conditions is something you want to strive for. Let me remind you that the consumption of anti-inflammation foods and herbs can do a body good.

By all means, I encourage you to take up the anti-inflammatory lifestyle.