So far we have learned about the dangers of inflammation, and the mechanisms behind it. How can you make changes in your life to minimize the effects of inflammation?

Insulin Resistance

As we went over in the last article, insulin resistance is highly inflammatory and having high inflammation affects insulin resistance. The solution? Improve your insulin sensitivity. There are a number of ways to do this. Eating a low-carb paleo diet will remove many of the insulin spiking survival foods such as grains, dairy and sugar. Regular exercise can also increase insulin sensitivity.

Balancing your Omega 3:6 ratio

Another common cause of inflammation is an out of sync omega 3:6 ratio. Omega 6 is responsible for producing healthy inflammation in the body. However, most modern diets are far in excess of the optimal ratio. Follow our handy guide to improving your ratio here to further reduce inflammation.

Keep Your Pearly Whites Clean

Inflammation is a global response, regardless of whether it’s a local threat. Small offsets to your system can affect inflammation in a big way. One of the quick wins you have have to reduce inflammation is flossing your teeth. Fighting diseases in your mouth like gingivitis raises the immune system and has an inflammatory response. It’s even been linked to heart disease!

Watch your gut

No, I’m not talking about the fat on your belly (even though that probably speaks to your insulin sensitivity) I’m talking about your intestines. One of the most inflammatory substances that is present in your body is the food that is being digested in your small and large intestines.

Unfortunately, the lining of our gut can be far from bulletproof. A number of things can affect the permeability of our gut including diet, medication and toxins. Generally speaking, this is the kind of thing that a paleo diet will be able to solve.

Dietary boosters 

There are a number of foods which are known to be anti-inflammatory. Incorporating as many of these as possible into your cooking on a day to day basis can do wonders for your inflammation levels.

Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower are a great choice for greens. Spices like ginger  and tumeric can add a tasty kick to a number of dishes and have some of the highest concentrations of antioxidants for their weight around. When it comes to high potency spices for health, there are few better preps than these.

Minimize toxins

The final tip we have for reducing inflammation is cutting down on inflammatory toxins in the diet. These can come from a number of sources, including the mycotoxins found in mass farmed grain. Keeping proper storage of your preps is absolutely critical for preventing toxins: even a small amount of mold can contaminate the entire contents of a pantry within days.

Some other common toxins include pesticides. When buying food, it’s important to look for organic, but not always. When it comes to produce, look for organic with the dirty dozen, but feel free to buy the clean fifteen anywhere.