Age Related Inflammation And The Best Ways To Reduce It
Inflammation is your body’s method of fighting diseases and warding off toxins. Inflammation is a critical part of your immune system response, but too much can be dangerous. In fact, new research shows that chronic inflammation is a risk factor for a variety of medical conditions. Fortunately, lifestyle changes can dramatically reduce inflammation levels. Learning what causes inflammation in older adults and how to lower inflammation can transform your health.
What Causes Inflammation?
Inflammation is your body’s response to a foreign invader. This could be a bee sting, a splinter, or a harmful bacterial infection. There are two major types of inflammation: acute inflammation occurs for short periods of time, such as after an injury. Chronic inflammation is long-lasting inflammation that may linger for months or years.
Your immune system depends on the inflammatory response to get rid of pathogens, or harmful invaders. Immune system cells travel through the bloodstream, looking for bacteria, viruses, and other foreign bodies to attack. When they discover something harmful, they trigger the release of proteins called inflammatory mediators. For example, the hormone bradykinin signals to blood vessels to dilate, or widen. This allows more immune system cells to arrive to the scene and fight the invader. Blood vessel dilation also causes the characteristic heat and warmth associated with inflammation. Another hormone called histamine makes blood vessels more permeable, allowing other cells to travel to the area. A side effect of this is that more fluid enters the affected area, too. This leads to swelling, another key sign of inflammation. Bradykinin, histamine, and other inflammatory mediators also make nerve endings more sensitive. This triggers your pain response. These five symptoms -- pain, heat, swelling, redness, and loss of function -- are the primary signs of acute inflammation.
Once your body has destroyed the invader, levels of inflammatory mediators should drop. This causes swelling to go down and blood vessels to return to normal, decreasing heat and redness. Unfortunately, some circumstances cause the immune system to become perpetually active. Rather than attacking an invader and calming itself, the immune system stays persistently engaged. It continues to signal the body to produce inflammatory mediators. This keeps blood vessels dilated and permeable, prolonging the inflammatory response. Basically, your body is being told to keep fighting indefinitely. This low-grade chronic inflammation can take a serious toll on your health.
Health Effects of Chronic Inflammation
Autoimmune conditions are directly caused by overactivity of the immune system. Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease are examples of autoimmune conditions. In these conditions, your immune system stays turned on for too long. This causes persistent inflammation, triggering symptoms like pain, gastrointestinal distress, and skin problems. Symptoms may spike at certain times or in response to certain foods or other environmental triggers.
Autoimmune conditions are not the only diseases affected by inflammation. Heart disease, obesity, cancer, and even conditions like Alzheimer’s disease seem to have an inflammatory connection. This is an emerging area of research, and scientists are only beginning to understand the relationship between inflammation and disease.
There is also a connection between healthy aging and immune system activity. If you’re wondering “do older adults have more inflammation?,” the answer appears to be yes. As your body ages, the immune system becomes dysregulated. There are two major hypotheses about what causes inflammation in aging. One is called molecular inflammation, which proposes that oxidative stress caused by chemical processes leads to an imbalance in anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory (inflammation causing) molecules. The other hypothesis, known as “inflammaging,” is based on evidence that older adults produce more of a class of chemicals known as cytokines. These cytokines cause inflammation that affects different organs, increasing older adults’ risk for chronic diseases.
How to Reduce Inflammation
The first step in learning how to reduce inflammation is to assess how much your body is affected by inflammation. There is a blood test available that can measure C-reactive protein (CRP), a substance produced by your liver in response to inflammation. Higher CRP levels mean that your body is in a state of chronic inflammation. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate can also be used as a measure of inflammation, particularly in autoimmune conditions. Your primary care provider may be able to order these blood tests to determine whether you have a problematic level of inflammation.
The good news is that inflammation is a reversible condition. Lifestyle factors appear to be the biggest drivers of the inflammatory response. That means that modifying your diet, exercise habits, and other lifestyle factors can directly reduce chronic inflammation that causes disease.
Lifestyle to Reduce Inflammation
Reducing inflammation is all about lifestyle changes. One of the biggest changes you can make is to quit smoking and to avoid secondhand smoke. Smoking introduces thousands of toxins into your body, many of which act on your blood vessels. Smoking causes an increase in inflammatory compounds like C-reactive protein. This chronic inflammation increases risk of cancer, lung disease, skin problems, and other smoking-related health issues.
Managing stress levels is also critically important. In times of stress, your body activates a cluster of glands called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis). The HPA axis is responsible for regulating stress, promoting digestion, modulating immune activity, and regulating mood and emotions. When you feel stress, the HPA axis releases the hormone cortisol. Sometimes called the “stress hormone,” cortisol tells your tissues to release excess glucose (sugar). This is an adaptive strategy that prepares your body to fight or flee a threat. When stress persists for days or weeks, cortisol levels remain high. This places a toll on your entire body. Your immune system continues to respond to an invisible threat, increasing inflammation. The release of sugar also contributes to inflammatory processes. As a result, chronic stress triggers prolonged inflammation that can seriously damage your health. To reduce stress levels, practice mindfulness meditation or deep breathing exercises every day. These coping strategies can lower the production of cortisol, which may improve sleep quality and boost your mood.
Finally, diet and exercise are core components of an anti-inflammatory lifestyle. Diet and exercise both influence inflammatory levels. They also promote a healthy body weight, which is very important in keeping inflammation in check. Read below to learn about specific recommendations for how to reduce inflammation and the importance of exercising for older adults.
Foods to Reduce Inflammation
The foods you eat have an enormous effect on your body’s level of inflammation. There are two major goals when changing to an anti-inflammatory diet: cut back on foods that cause inflammation, and eat more of the foods that actively fight against inflammation. Using an app like Mighty Health gives you an online health coach that can help you figure out the best dietary choices for you.
Avoid Inflammation-Causing Foods
Step one is to identify foods in your diet that cause inflammation. The goal is to avoid these foods whenever possible, swapping them for healthier alternatives. The following foods are major causes of inflammation in older adults:
Refined carbohydrates. White bread, pastries, pasta, and other sources of refined carbohydrates cause your body to release inflammatory cytokines. A low-carb diet is one of the best ways to reduce inflammation.
Fried foods. Fried foods like French fries are often prepared using oils high in trans fats. These foods trigger systemic inflammation.
Soda, juice, energy drinks, and other beverages. Sugary beverages are a huge source of inflammation. Many people do not realize how much sugar these beverages include. For example, a single can of Coke contains 39 grams of sugar, while a fruit punch flavored Powerade contains 52 grams. Each of those contain more than the recommended daily value of sugar (no more than 36 grams for men or 25 grams for women). Check ingredient labels for the words sucrose, glucose, or fructose -- all of those are signs of added sugar.
Foods high in trans fats. Processed and prepackaged foods often contain high amounts of trans fats. This type of fat is particularly likely to cause inflammation. Packaged cookies, cakes, margarine, frozen pizza, and microwave popcorn may contain trans fats.
Balance Your Diet
Once you have removed the most common inflammatory culprits from your diet, it is time to focus on boosting intake of healthy anti-inflammatory foods. Consider the following foods that fight inflammation:
Whole foods. Eating whole foods, rather than processed alternatives, is the best way to fight inflammation. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other minimally processed foods are digested by your body in a healthier way. They naturally contain lower amounts of trans and saturated fats, which reduces inflammation.
Antioxidant-rich foods. As you grow older, your cells naturally accrue damage due to oxidative stress. This oxidative damage increases inflammation and risk for chronic diseases like cancer. Antioxidants have the opposite effect: they sweep through your body in search of dangerous free radicals that can damage cells. By neutralizing these free radicals, they can lower inflammation levels. To combat chronic inflammation, focus on adding more antioxidant-rich foods into your diet. The most beneficial antioxidants include vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids (beta-carotene, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin), selenium, and resveratrol. These can be found in richly colored fruits and vegetables such as berries, leafy green vegetables, pumpkin, carrots, cherries, kidney beans, and cranberries.
Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of healthy fat. Two types, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), are found primarily in fish. The other main type, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), is found in plant-based sources such as nuts and seeds. To get the maximum benefit, eat a variety of foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, and tuna are excellent sources. While fish oil tablets also contain omega-3 fatty acids, they don’t seem to work as well as eating whole fish.
Herbs and spices. Herbs and spices don’t just flavor your food. They’re also excellent sources of phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals. For example, rosemary and thyme contain the compound rosmarinic acid. This phytochemical has antioxidant properties that reduce inflammation. Cumin, turmeric, basil, dill, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme, cinnamon, star anise, and garlic have all been associated with health benefits. Whenever possible, use fresh versions of these herbs for the most powerful effect.
One of the easiest ways to follow an anti-inflammatory diet is to try a low-carb diet. Recent studies have shown that a low-carb diet results in significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein and other inflammatory markers. The overall goal of a low-carb diet is to reduce your carbohydrate intake to no more than 60 or 80 grams per day. For reference, a slice of white bread has 15 grams, while an apple has 25 grams. Using an online health coach like Mighty Health is a good way to get started. Personalized nutrition advice will help you create a sustainable low-carb diet plan to reduce chronic inflammation. When you are over 50, health advice targeted for older adults is particularly helpful in addressing your unique needs.
Get Regular Exercise
Regular physical activity is another major component of an anti-inflammatory lifestyle. Staying active is particularly important when setting over 50 health goals. Large scientific studies have demonstrated that regular physical activity reduces inflammatory markers. For example, C-reactive protein and inflammatory cytokine levels decrease, while antioxidant defenses increase. Even relatively modest amounts of exercise help, meaning that small changes can have a big impact.
So how much exercise is the right amount? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that you aim to get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. Moderate-intensity exercise is something that gets your heart pumping faster and makes you breathe more quickly (you should be able to carry on a brief conversation but not sing). Dancing, cycling, brisk walking, playing tennis, and swimming are examples of moderate-intensity physical activities. You could also get 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise such as running or jogging.
The CDC also recommends that older adults do strength training exercises at least two days per week. Not only can these help maintain a healthy body weight and decrease inflammation, but they are also good for muscle mass. Maintaining muscle tone during aging reduces your risk of falls and injury. Start by practicing body weight exercises like squats, push-ups, sit-ups or planks. As you grow stronger, you can consider adding dumbbells or weight bands to increase resistance. The goal is to increase lean muscle mass and burn fat, which will reduce inflammation levels. Although scientists aren’t yet sure why, it seems that resistance training also lowers inflammation levels. One possibility is that building new muscle tissue prevents the production of the inflammatory chemical TNF-alpha. This lowers overall levels of inflammation in the body.
Of course, physical limitations make it difficult for some older adults to exercise regularly. That’s okay. Joint pain and chronic medical conditions may limit your ability to participate in exercise as vigorously as you’d like. Remember to be gentle with yourself, as risking further injury is not worth it. Instead, use modifications wherever you can. Try chair yoga or gentle stretching to increase flexibility and build strength. Take your pet for a walk around the block. Get up and do some yard work or vacuuming if you’ve been sitting for too long. Or park farther away from the store to increase your daily step count. All of these little changes add up to big effects on chronic inflammation.
Get Started on Your Journey to Reduce Inflammation
The best way to reduce inflammation is to make healthier habits a regular part of your life. Making those lifestyle changes can feel hard, which is why it’s smart to get help. Mighty Health is specially designed for people over 50 who want to become healthier. By offering online health coaching, Mighty Health connects you with a health professional who will help you create a personalized inflammation-fighting plan. By focusing on a healthy, low-carb diet and regular exercise, you can reduce inflammation and increase your vitality and longevity.