Calm Inflammation Naturally
Picture, if you will, a mother of three young children who have been whining and fighting with each other all day. By late afternoon, she’s just about had it. Her nerves are frazzled and she is most definitely on edge when at just about 5pm her six-year-old saunters into the kitchen to ask a simple question: What’s for dinner? The mother just loses it! She screams at this child in decibels she’s sure the neighbors can hear, I don’t know what’s for dinner, you kids have been driving me crazy all day and I haven’t even had time to think about it!
This highly-inflamed momma is acting much like your body might if it was in a chronically inflamed (irritated) state. Little things can just set it off, and in response to a small offense comes a dangerous, over-inflated inflammatory response which we’ve now come to recognize as the foundation of heart and vascular disease, dementia, colon, breast and endometrial cancers, arthritis, and basically everything which ends in an -itis!
Many physicians will prescribe medications for inflammatory diseases and ailments. But what if you have unwanted side effects to such medications, or would rather try a natural way to calm down your body’s environment? And even if you’re intending to continue taking your prescription meds, calming down your body’s inflamed environment will help the medicine you’re taking have a better chance at being effective.*
In a course I took earlier in the year, I learned of a regime, diet aside, which can Tame Your Pain through nutritional supplements. Here it is in a nut shell:
Omega 3 Fatty Acids: 1000-2000 mg depending on how much dietary Omega-3 foods you eat. Just be sure your product isn’t rancid. (See Monday Morning Health Tip, Are Your Fish Oil Capsules Too Fishy?)
Vitamin D: 1000-2000 IU
Magnesium Citrate (not oxide): 400-700mg
Calcium (citrate): 500mg
Tart Cherry Juice, concentrated: 2 TBS or 1 oz, an hour before bedtime
Melatonin: 3-5mg
Bromelain: 500mg
L-Theanine: 200mg
Probiotics: Products listing between 1 and 15 different types of bacteria, anymore is overkill.
All of these supplements have been shown in numerous research studies to decrease systemic inflammation within the body. This “flame-retardant” benefit and can lead to a decrease in physical pain associated with inflammation as well act as a preventative measure against heart and brain (dementia) disease, and certain inflammatory cancers.
*Because some supplements may interfere with the working of certain medications, I recommend you clear each supplement with your physician before adding anything new to your healthcare regime.