Over-the-counter medications like acetaminophen are finally being pushed to the side and allowing natural alternatives to once again take the spotlight. Going back to the roots of medicine with nature’s pain medicine to relieve inflammation. But why?
Why choose natural remedies for inflammation?
Unlike over-the-counter man-made options, natural remedies don’t come with a list of side effects and warnings. Have you read the back of an acetaminophen bottle? If not I can give you the cliff notes version…risk of kidney failure, risk of liver damage, etc. And if you do a little digging and glance over a couple of case studies you can find the potential link to a lower IQ and a higher risk for cancer.
Practicing natural remedies for pain relief can be more work than popping a pill from a bottle. It’s almost like it’s the fast food of medicine. Taking vitamins daily, making tea, or adjusting your lifestyle are the home-cooked meals of medicine. If kidney failure and liver damage don’t sound too good to you let’s jump right into how we can use nature’s pain medicine to relieve inflammation
Exercise
Adding exercise to your routine regularly will reduce inflammation overall. Exercise has been thought to help the body fight inflammation for years. Exercise increases muscle production which in turn increases anti-inflammatory cytokines(add the number thing and link article) It’s worth giving it a try. Exercise can be moving your body in any way. A few of my favorite quick ways to get exercise are yoga, going for a walk, watching a guided youtube video, cleaning my house, and body weight exercises. And yes cleaning your house gets the blood flowing the same way taking a walk would! It’s all about finding ways that fit into your schedule.
Diet
Focusing on eating foods that have an anti-inflammatory response on the body will be one of the quickest ways to naturally relieve inflammation. Changing your diet can be difficult so I recommend prepping your meals in advance. Which will help make the big diet change easier, save you money in the long run, and cut down on daily decision fatigue. Click here to read over our Meal prepping article. We go over meal prepping 101 made easy!
You can simply incorporate anti-inflammatory foods into your diet or you can try an anti-inflammatory diet like the AIP diet or Paleo. Personally, I found paleo works the best with my body, but if I were restarting my journey of beating inflammation from the beginning. I would start with the AIP diet first. The Autoimmune Protocol diet (AIP) is an elimination diet that cuts out certain food groups in periods and then reintroduces them so you’re able to see what foods work with your body and what foods cause inflammation. Click here to learn AIP diet 101.
Manage stress
Unmanaged stress can wreak havoc on the body by over-activating the immune system resulting in inflammation. The long term of having the immune systems fight or flight be activated can lead to increased levels of cortisol and adrenal fatigue. Which opens a whole other can of worms. Your emotions affect your health like it or not so finding healthy ways to cope with big emotions is a necessity for living a healthy and inflammation-free life. It’s impossible to avoid triggers for stressors in your everyday life but you can find ways to manage your stress. To learn more I suggest reading our article “Stress and Autoimmunity”. But to start managing everyday stressors lets find ways to unwind. Here are a few hobbies that can help reduce stress.
- journaling
- coloring
- yoga
- puzzles
- reading
- knitting
- gardening
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Omega-3’s
Adding a fish oil supplement into your daily routine may help reduce inflammation. I’ve found myself having less inflammation since I started taking this vitamin daily. You can also incorporate omega-3-rich foods like fish, leafy greens, flax seeds, and nuts into your diet instead of taking a vitamin. I’m not a fan of any of the foods you can find omega-3s in but it’s an option for anyone not wanting to add another vitamin to their routine.
Switching to natural remedies is more than rewarding. Natural remedies look at the root cause of the issue. Healing not only the manifestation of the root cause but also the issue at hand. Conventional medicine practices slap a bandaid on the issue at hand allowing the root cause to fester and eventually cause even greater issues in the body. Put a stop to the hamster wheel of inflammation and take back your health…the natural way! Leave a comment below with your favorite natural remedies so we can give them a try.
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