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It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The Holiday season is known to be filled with love, joy, family, and friends. It’s also a season filled with stress, lack of movement, and over-consumption of sugar and alcohol which means systemic inflammation can be at an all-time high. In this article, I’m offering 7 tips to combat inflammation (and take some of the stress out of) this season!
1. Stay hydrated.
Water is the most important nutrient in your body! It flushes toxins, enables cellular hydration, and transports nutrients, which all play a role in managing systemic inflammation.
As a general rule of thumb, aim to drink half your body weight in fluid ounces of hydrating fluids each day. For example, if you weigh 140 lbs, your daily goal is 70oz of hydrating beverages. These hydrating beverages include high-quality filtered water, coconut water, bone broth, and uncaffeinated herbal tea.
Keep in mind, for every 8oz of dehydrating beverage you consume (coffee, black or green tea, juice, alcohol, soda) you’ll want to add another 12oz of hydrating beverage to your daily baseline.
2. Move your body.
Moving your body is crucial for a variety of reasons. Regular physical activity has health benefits that includes stress reduction, weight control, strengthening of the heart, bones, and muscles, and reducing the risk of certain diseases (1) — all of which are important for mitigating inflammation. Additionally, exercise is critical for the movement of lymphatic fluid, which is responsible for filtering out bacteria, viruses, and toxins, and if left stagnant, contributes to inflammation.
3. Slow down and breathe.
While we cannot go three minutes without oxygen, we rarely sit and focus on breathing deeply. Our respiratory system is responsible for filtering out fumes, allergens, mold, and airborne toxins, all of which are highly inflammatory to our system. Focus on breathing in deeply to oxygenate your cells and breathe out completely to remove carbon dioxide and other accumulated toxins in the lungs. In addition to the oxygenation of our system, this deep breathing slows down our nervous system and allows the body to enter a parasympathetic state so we can “rest and digest”. Inflammatory processes are closely linked to our ‘sympathetic’ nervous system, so taking time throughout the day to get out of ‘fight or flight’ and engage our parasympathetic nervous system can help to lower inflammation (2).
4. Chew your food.
While this may seem like a weird suggestion, it’s a small but powerful habit to combat inflammation. When we eat too quickly, we swallow large pieces of food, which our stomach and small intestine are not equipped to breakdown in the same way our teeth can. This can irritate our delicate gut lining and contribute to systemic inflammation. Aim to chew your food 20-30x per bite or until the food is a liquid-like consistency. This tiny habit will promote better digestion and mitigate inflammation.
5. Sleep
Sleep is a time when we restore and repair! Our immune system is most effective when we sleep, and it’s an important time for detoxification — both of which are essential to lowering inflammation (3). Ensuring you get 7-9 hours of deep restorative sleep (actual sleep, not just time in bed!) per night is especially important during times of excess stress and overindulgence of sugar and alcohol (i.e. the Holidays!).
6. Avoid too many sweets.
A high sugar diet can have harmful effects on your health and can result in chronic inflammation, which activates the body’s immune system, resulting in damage to healthy cells (4).
To reduce inflammation, aim for an overall healthy diet filled with nutrient-dense whole foods. During the Holidays, do the best you can to avoid overindulging in sweet treats filled with refined sugars. If possible, enjoy a dessert made with naturally sweet ingredients like maple syrup or honey!
7. Cook with high-quality oils.
Hydrogenated oils like vegetable, canola, and soy, are highly inflammatory and should be avoided at all costs. These industrial seed oils come from genetically modified plants that are toxic to our systems, full of additives, and have been linked with a variety of health problems. Seed oils are very high in poly-unsaturated fats, which are extremely delicate and susceptible to damage with heat and light. The vast majority of these oils are processed at extremely high heats, and are damaged (read: inflammatory) when they’re still sitting on the grocery store shelves.
For cooking choose pasture-raised animal fats (lard, tallow), ghee, butter, avocado oil or high-quality extra virgin olive oil. These fats and oils are critical for our health as they are rich in essential micronutrients and reduce systemic inflammation!
Ensure your days will be merry and bright by incorporating these seven small tweaks this Holiday season!
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1. “Does Sugar Cause Inflammation? What the Research Says.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326386
2. Pongratz, G., & Straub, R. H. (2014). The sympathetic nervous response in inflammation. Arthritis research & therapy, 16(6), 504. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13075-014-0504-2
3. “Brain may flush out toxins during sleep.” National Institutes of Health. October 2013 https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/brain-may-flush-out-toxins-during-sleep
4. “Exercise ... It Does a Body Good: 20 Minutes Can Act as Anti-Inflammatory.” UC Health - UC San Diego, health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/Pages/2017-01-12-exercise-can-act-as-anti-inflammatory.aspx