Healthy lifestyle habits to fight inflammation
The benefits of reducing inflammation are immediate as well as long term. You will notice that your skin looks younger, your joints feel better and your allergy symptoms improve. At the same time, when you reduce inflammation, you also reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease, osteoporosis and other complications of aging.
By making healthy lifestyle choices on a regular basis, you can help your body minimize damaging effects of inflammation in your body and maintain good cellular health, and simultaneously improve your overall health.
- Lifestyle choice #1 - If you smoke, quit.
-
- Lifestyle choice #2 - Practice stress management techniques such as deep breathing to help manage your stress load.
-
- Lifestyle choice #3 - Simply being overweight can increase inflammation. Start a sensible diet and exercise plan - it will help with inflammation and your overall sense of health and well-being.
|
- Lifestyle choice #4 - Exercise at least 30 minutes per day, three to five days per week.
-
- Lifestyle choice #5 - Cut out unhealthy food choices - some of which can actually contribute to inflammation : trans fats, refined carbohydrates, processed foods.
-
- Lifestyle choice #6 - Make anti-inflammatory foods a staple in your diet. Anti-inflammatory foods promote ideal pH balance or acid-alkaline balance in your blood. The pH of our blood at any given moment is within 7.25-7.45 range. This range is so important because if our pH goes out of range even 0.15%, we could die.
The standard American diet is an overly processed diet full of acid-forming foods such as meat, dairy, wheat, chemicalized junk foods, artificial sweeteners and sugar. Stress is also a huge contributing factor to an over-acid condition. Both acid-forming foods and over-acid condition are major contributors in increasing inflammation. To reduce inflammation, it's important to incorporate more alkaline-forming foods into your diet. Moving toward alkalinity promotes better overall organ function, allows for the release of toxins, improves mental clarity and affords natural weight loss. It is also profoundly improves digestion and heartburn, and is a valuable safeguard against cancer. There are so many small changes we can apply in our foods that can make a profound difference in our health. In making changes from acid-forming foods to more alkaline-forming foods, these changes do not have to be considered a sacrifice, but instead can be viewed as an "upgrade".
For example, apple cider vinegar (acv) is very alkalizing, while all other vinegars are acidic. Consider upgrading to acv as your staple vinegar. Lime is more alkalizing than lemon so use that in the water you drink throughout the day or in your cooking when possible. Brown rice has less acid than white rice. Raspberries are highly alkalizing while cranberries are very acidic. Garlic, too, has a profound effect on acid-alkaline balance and is an easy addition to many dishes.
Far and away, green leafy vegetables are the most alkalizing foods. Coincidentally, they happen to be the single most missing foods in the modern American diet. Vegetables for anti-inflammatory diet for example, kale, collard greens, dandelion greens, bok choy, arugula, spinach and mixed field greens. Simply by incorporating two servings of leafy green vegetables in your diet on a daily basis, you will be well on your way to keep an ideal pH balance that helps you decrease inflammation and experience vibrant health.
|
- Lifestyle choice #7 - Practice good oral hygiene : brush after every meal and floss once a day.
-
- Lifestyle choice #8 - Take wellness drink Nopalea.
|
