The definition of inflammation is the body's protective reaction to tissue irritation, injury, or infection. There are three stages of inflammation: the acute phase, the granulation phase, and the remodeling phase. The first phase (acute inflammation) is 100 hours long, and this is where the cells break open and get to work cleaning out any bacteria so no infection occurs. After this stage is complete phase two (granulation) will begin. This stage lasts about 10 days. Macrophage cells will come to the injury site to break down damaged tissue and release hormones that will bring more cells to the injury site. These macrophage cells will also stimulate the growth of new cells to heal the injury. The third phase (remodeling stage) is when the growth of new tissue will occur, this can take up to a couple months.
Now that type of inflammation has a positive outcome: your cell tissue heals and becomes stronger, but inflammation of the digestive tract has a much different outcome.
When you eat foods that have certain ingredients such as soy, wheat, grain, or gluten they can cause chronic (aka systemic) inflammation. Many processed foods are scientifically modified or changed in some way to where our bodies don’t recognize the ingredients and this causes an inflammatory response. These processed foods such as cookies and granola bars are also designed to be addictive so most people end up eating them on a regular basis. Now what happens when your immune system is constantly trying to heal the irritated tissues? It starts to weaken because it doesn’t have any chance to recover and repair itself. Pretty soon the immune system stops doing its job. This is where you are at a greater risk for asthma, ulcerative colitis, diabetes, Crohn’s disease and many other chronic illnesses. Soon the body is no longer able to fight off disease and infection because it’s too busy trying to repair inflamed cells within the digestive tract. The quickest way to reduce systemic inflammation is to eat “whole” foods (vegetables, fruit, and meats, nuts) and leave out the processed foods (grains, dairy, etc.). To find out which foods are whole you should always check the ingredients. If there are things in there such as artificial colors, high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, MSG, dextrose, or any other chemicals it is best left on the shelf. If the ingredients are all things you would find in a garden, on a tree, or get from an animal you should be fine.
See the difference between these two Marinara sauces:
Rao’s Homemade ingredients: Italian tomatoes, Italian olive oil, fresh onions, fresh garlic, fresh basil, black pepper, oregano
Prego ingredients: tomato puree, diced tomatoes, corn syrup, vegetable oil, salt, onion powder, basil, oregano, dehydrated garlic, citric acid, and dehydrated parsley. It also lists “other spices” to keep the recipe a secret. Who knows what else is in there?
Can you guess which one will cause inflammation? Yep, Prego. It has corn syrup, vegetable oil, and dehydrated spices. Those are all scientifically modified foods that aren’t meant to be put into our bodies.
In conclusion, inflammation can be both a good thing and a bad thing. It just depends on where in the body it is occurring and what is causing it. I hope this clears up some confusion about how inflammation can affect the body.
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