Inflammation is a universal experience that we can’t get away from even if we try. It is part of our body’s immune response and technically necessary for helping things to properly heal. Most of us simply don’t like the experiences we associate with the inflammation though. This has lead to people trying to categorize inflammation into “good” and “bad” form depending on their perspective. Typically people view short term inflammation around minor wounds or from simple illness as being a good form of inflammation that is aiding the body, but in turn they view chronic inflammation as being “bad”. The truth is they are both value neutral and required by the body regardless. There are ways to help reduce the overall chance of inflammation in your life by keeping your body healthy. We’re going to look at some of these options so that you can have a better idea on what is necessary to keep your body operating smoothly over the course of your life.

Exercise
Inflammatory responses happen because your body encounters a problem and it needs to rush healing to the area. What triggers the response is almost always some form of damage. Exercise is important in helping to minimize long term inflammation because it prepares your body. Using muscles and joints keeps them limber and ready to deal with comparatively mundane demands. The reason we end up sore when we haven’t been exercising regularly is because the various muscles haven’t had any demands put on them. This reduces their overall ability to maintain themselves and function properly. Even low impact exercises like a brisk walk or yoga can help keep your muscles and joints in a healthy, limber condition that is less susceptible to inflammation. You need to discuss this approach with your doctor though when you opt to take it to ensure that you work out a healthy means of exercise for you. This is especially true if you’re already dealing with a chronic inflammatory condition.

Diet
People have been favoring anti-inflammatory diets for a little while now. The principle of the idea is to ensure that you’re eating foods with natural anti-inflammatory properties. Conventional medicine is quite dubious at the idea given the total amounts you’d need to have of any given food for a truly discernible effect, but there is something to be said for diet. There are less than healthy foods that are relatively common in all our diets that come from us not having the time for healthier foods. Junk food in particular is notable for helping to increase the likelihood of various forms of inflammation, but red meat has also been associated with it as well. The best option is simply to learn to eat a healthier diet. A good diet focuses heavily on fruits and vegetables with a little meat added in for protein and other benefits. Maintaining a balanced diet reduces the amount of things causing inflammation in your body and supports greater overall health.

Bad Habits
Another thing to focus on if you want to avoid are bad habits. Smoking and drinking are both detrimental to your health in the long run. Smoking is particularly bad thanks to the various negative chemicals that it introduces into your body. These degrade various aspects of your health and actually cause inflammation in the affected areas. Chronic smoking leads to potentially permanent inflammation that can become larger scale health issues over time. Alcohol can have a similar effect on the body. Chronic over-drinking impacts the body negatively in a variety of ways. The inflammation, like smoking, tends to be centered around particular areas, but wears away at the body’s ability to take care of itself over time until it causes permanent problems. As a result, it is best to break these habits if you wish to avoid inflammation over the long run. Most of us should ideally focus on breaking any of these habits, if we have them in our 30s, whenever possible to avoid the potential for complications later in life.

Ultimately, there is no real “good” or “bad” inflammation. Inflammation is simply a response of the body that means it is working properly and trying to fix a problem. You don’t want chronic inflammation to become a problem though. This can cause various long term health issues that will lower your quality of life. So try to remember to eat well, exercise, and drop any habits that your doctor is telling you are bad for your health.