Rheumatoid arthritis, Systemic lupus, Scleroderma, and cardiovascular disease are illnesses where chronic inflammation can be the root cause of the illness. Chronic inflammation generally occurs when the body's immune system becomes confused. For some unknown reason it mistakes the body's normal healthy tissue as an invader and in error it launches an all out attack on this suspected intruder. Our immune system which should protect our body from harm by only attacking threats to the body such as bacteria or cancer, rather than defending the body, instead sets out on a relentless mission to damage and destroy the very healthy tissue that it is there to protect.
There are a number of the theories as to why this process of chronic inflammation occurs. One theory is that the inflammation might be caused by an allergic type response of the body to certain foods or pollutants. Because we continue to expose ourselves to the offending product or products, the inflammation remains within our body, and it becomes chronic. The longer that this chronic inflammation affects the body, then the more damage that usually occurs from it, and the more disabling the inflammatory based illness becomes.
It is believed that some types of chronic inflammation particularly that of Rheumatoid arthritis may have its roots in a dietary trigger. By removing this triggering agent we may be able to substantially reduce the symptoms of this illness, and in some instances, even induce a total remission. Studies have proven that this is indeed possible.
So what are these foods that promote chronic inflammation? Well the largest suspected dietary trigger for these inflammatory based illnesses is dairy products. They rank as the out and out number one possible dietary inflammation trigger. To discover if this is the possible reason for your chronic inflammation, simply eliminate all dairy products from your diet (this means ALL!) within a few weeks your symptoms will subside if dairy is the root cause of your illness.
Another top suspect in the cause of inflammation caused by diet is red meat, and other high in fat products such as oils, and margarines. Studies have proven that cox-2 enzymes within the body cause more inflammation when there is a higher imbalance between the omega-6 fatty acids and the omega-3 fatty acids in the body. By decreasing our intake of those foods containing omega-6 fats (saturated and transfats) and increasing our intake of omega-3 fats (such as those found in flax seed or oily fish like salmon and tuna) we can effectively reverse this imbalance. Broiling and pouching rather than frying meat, and eating only lean white meats and fish in place of beef, can greatly help to decrease the risk of inflammation caused by a fat imbalance.
Other foods that rank high on the list of possible triggers for inflammatory based illnesses are corn, wheat, oats, rye, eggs, citrus fruits, nuts, sugar, salt, coffee, and nightshade plants such as tomatoes, white potatoes, tobacco, red and green peppers. The only way for a person to discover if one or more of these products are causing their illness is to eliminate them from the diet plan and to watch for any improvements in health.
A diet mainly consisting of fruits, vegetables, rice, fish and beans may be the answer to preventing or eliminating some forms of arthritis or other inflammatory based illnesses. Antioxidants combine with free radicals and render them harmless. Free radicals are those molecules within our body that for one reason or another are incomplete. These free radicals try to become complete by stealing electrons from complete molecules within our system. Unfortunately when they do this they then cause the donating molecule to become unstable, or to in effect become another free radical, it then begins an attempt to in turn make itself once again complete. Antioxidants are stable or complete molecules that no matter whether or not they donate one of their electrons to another molecule will remain stable. They can give an electron to free radicals without damaging themselves so they effectively stop the chain of damage from occurring. By stopping this cell damage we can effectively slow the effects of aging and those inflammatory based illnesses connected with this process.
Diet changes have definitely been proven to alter the degree of chronic inflammation within some forms of inflammatory based illness. If you suspect that a change in your diet may improve your health then it is an arena well worth investigating.
Sources:
http://www.arthritis.org/foods -and-inflammation.php
http://www.pcrm.org/health/prev med/arthritis.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/r heumatoid-arthritis/AN00198
http://findarticles.com/p /articles/mi_m0KWZ/is_5_4/ai_111734421