I’m going to start your New Year out with some not-so-pleasant news, but it needs to be said.

Currently, half of all adult Americans, and 54 percent of our children, have at least one chronic disease (according to the CDC).  In addition, chronic disease is responsible for at least seven out of 10 deaths.

If that doesn’t scare you, I don’t know what will. 

The time has come for us to stop ignoring elephants in the room and start looking at why in the name of God it’s the norm to be sick and not the exception.

And one of the big, looming factors behind these abysmal statistics is CHRONIC INFLAMMATION.

Let’s talk about the types of inflammation, why we’re so inflamed to begin with, and how you can win the war on inflammation and disease.

There are 2 types

Inflammation is part of your body’s inherent immune response—in other words, something triggers your immune system into action and it acts to protect you.

It’s important to understand that all inflammation is not created equal--it can be acute or chronic.

Acute inflammation is your immune system’s response to challenges like infections, injuries or insect bites.  It's a sign that your body's "repairmen" (including immune cells and cholesterol) have come to your rescue and are doing their job to "fix" the problem and get you back to normal.

Signs of acute inflammation in action include swelling, redness and mucus production.

Once the healing process is underway, acute inflammation subsides.

But chronic inflammation is another story.

This is when inflammation is NOT related to an isolated, temporary health challenge, but instead is caused by other underlying factors and becomes more constant and long-term.

The far-reaching wrath of chronic inflammation

Since your immune system is everywhere in your body, it follows that chronic inflammation is associated with a variety of conditions from head to toe including:

• Autoimmune diseases (Crohn’s disease, colitis, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.)
• Heart disease
• Cancer
• Accelerated aging
• Type 2 diabetes
• Degenerative joint disease
• Asthma and allergies
• Eczema

Why in the world?

You may be wondering why your immune system may start to “operate in overdrive” and produce chronic inflammation.

Well, because it’s taunted into doing so.

When your immune system is “aggravated” and exposed to things that are or could be a dangerous invader, it can be triggered into going overboard and launching a chronic inflammatory response.

Here are four possible factors that could be stirring up your immune system:

1) Crippled natural barriers

Your body has natural barriers that prevent dangerous substances from seeping into your bloodstream—including your saliva, stomach acid, bile and gut microbiome. 

Lacking in any of these can open the door for invaders to sneak through, get into your bloodstream and taunt your immune system.

Considering the staggering number of people who suppress their stomach acid with PPIs, in addition to people who are missing the bile-concentration efforts of their gallbladders, we certainly appear to be crippling our bodies’ natural barriers left and right.

2) Leaky gut

Having a gut wall that’s too porous (known as leaky gut or intestinal hyper-permeability) can allow harmful substances to enter your bloodstream and provoke your immune system.

Leaky gut is commonly the result of poor digestion, but it can also be caused by medication use (especially NSAIDs), stress, aging, and yeast and harmful bacterial overgrowth in the gut.

3) Vaccines

The theory behind vaccines is to give you a dose of a virus to “fool” your immune system into thinking you’re sick, and trick it into developing antibodies to that virus.

But everyone’s system is different, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility that certain people’s immune systems might not react as expected, and/or may overreact.  

Plus with vaccines, viruses are injected into muscle tissue and make their way to the bloodstream—nowhere in Nature does this occur.  Instead viruses are contracted through the eyes, skin, nose, mouth and bodily fluids. 

It’s not unreasonable to think that something could go wrong when we try to outsmart Nature.

4) Widespread vitamin D deficiency

Vitamin D deficiency has now reached epidemic proportions, thanks to our exaggerated fears of the sun and slathering on sunscreen whenever we walk out the door.

Vitamin D helps calm excessive inflammatory actions of your immune system, so without its protective efforts, your immune system is more likely to “misbehave.”

Win the war on inflammation!

The good news is, you CAN naturally curb inflammation and help reduce your risk of chronic disease!

Here’s how:

Get enough Omega-3 essential fatty acids

Omega-3 essential fatty acids are Nature’s anti-inflammatory, but unfortunately most of us are grossly deficient in these crucial fats.

It didn’t used to be that way.  Way back when, we used to get a healthful supply of Omega-3 EFAs from the meat, milk and eggs from pasture-raised animals, since the grasses they ate were bountiful sources of Omega-3s. 

But now the animals for our food supply are grain-fed (many times with GMO grains to boot!)—which not only means they don’t give us the Omega-3 fats they used to, but they also are loaded with inflammation-stirring Omega-6 fats instead!

To make sure your body maintains a health-supporting level of Omega-3 EFAs, supplementation with a pure pharmaceutical-grade fish oil formula like VitalMega-3 is crucial.

VitalMega-3 provides a soothing 1,200 mg of anti-inflammatory Omega-3 fats in every 2-capsule dose, including the Superstars EPA and DHA—that are critical for your brain and cardiovascular health.

And now is the perfect time to put VitalMega-3 to work for you, because it’s $10 off per bottle!

 

Eat an anti-inflammatory diet

Foods can stir up inflammation too!

So, strive to minimize or avoid these 10 foods, which are the WORST inflammation triggers:

• Sugar (including HFCS)
• Refined carbs (anything made with white flour and/or sugar)
• Vegetable oils
• MSG (monosodium glutamate)
• Factory farmed meats
• Margarine
• Soda
• Processed foods
• Gluten (check out Great Taste No Gluten if you need help eliminating gluten from your diet)
• Artificial sweeteners

On the flip side, be sure to get lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and drink plenty of water each day.

Optimize your Vitamin D level

Vitamin D is a widespread deficiency, especially this time of year when sunlight is limited.

The best way to make sure your body has a health-supporting, inflammation-fighting level of Vitamin D is to supplement with a top-notch formula like Optimum DK Formula with FruiteX-B.

Each daily dose provides a therapeutic 5,000 IUs of Vitamin D3, plus its partners Vitamins K1, K2 and the mineral boron, which all work together to support strong immune, brain, bone and cardiovascular health.

See how much better you can feel when you safely and naturally help lower inflammation in your body!

To your health,

Sherry Brescia