Tag: inflammation

5 Inflammatory Triggers

Posted on by Arianne Missimer

Are you experiencing pain that just keeps moving from one body part to another? Maybe you’re feeling some puffiness under your eyes, swollen lymph nodes, or even swollen ankles. Or perhaps you keep getting sick; you keep catching anything that comes your way. Well, today, we’re going to dive into five different potential inflammatory triggers that you could be experiencing.

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What you need to know about inflammation

Did you know that 75 to 90% of all chronic diseases are now associated with excessive or persistent inflammation? 

If you get an ankle sprain and roll your ankle, you’re going to have a normal inflammatory response. That’s typically going to be within the first four to five days. You’ll have some swelling, some pain, and white blood cells coming to the area. That is exactly what our immune system is supposed to do.

Now, excessive or persistent inflammation occurs when acute inflammation becomes chronic, or we lose our tolerance. This is when it feels like when one thing resolves, there’s another and another; it almost feels like bad luck. This is typically associated with chronic or systemic inflammation.

Inflammatory triggers

Now, let’s dive into five potential inflammatory triggers. Although it is not an extensive list, it can help to identify sources of inflammation.

1. Food

Food is medicine. When thinking about food from a nutrient repletion standpoint and how nutrients affect every reaction in our body, not having enough nutrients can cause inflammation. We can also have potentially inflammatory foods, anything from a food allergy or food intolerance to food sensitivity. The foods we consume regularly could perpetuate or contribute to inflammation.

2. Bugs

This can include Lyme disease or parasites, for example. If you’re traveling outside the country, have a dog, or live in certain parts of the world can all increase your risk for a parasitic infection. I do stool tests regularly, and while I don’t often see parasites, when they do show up, it’s something that needs addressing.

3. Toxins

We can have internal toxins and external toxins. In our world, we are exposed to toxins all the time—plastics, chemicals in cleaning products, facial products, hair products, and so much more. But, we can also be exposed to things like mold, for example. We can also have an infection related to an internal toxin, which can be a viral or bacterial infection.

4. Trauma

This can be emotional trauma, physical trauma, ongoing current stress, or trauma that we’ve experienced as a child. All of this can perpetuate an inflammatory cycle. Stress changes the colonization of bacteria in our gut. Our gut comprises 70% of our immune system, so over time, that can contribute to an inflammatory response.

5. Hormones

Hormonal imbalances such as thyroid issues, high estrogen (an estrogen-dominant state), low testosterone, low progesterone, and insulin resistance can all attribute to increased inflammation. 

When we consider all these potential categories of triggers (though not exhaustive), it helps us get an idea of what could be happening in our bodies. When you have more of these present, there is a greater chance, of course, that you may have a more pronounced inflammatory response. 

Key Takeaway

When you’re starting to explore what might be an issue for you, these are some things to consider from an overall lifestyle perspective to see how you can begin to heal your body. Know that no matter what comes up in any of those categories, there are solutions for it. You can change your diet and influence your hormones through what you’re eating, how you’re sleeping, and how you’re managing your stress levels. You can address past traumas, treat infections, and address parasites. So, no matter what, you have the ability to identify, address, and heal your body.

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If you’re looking for personalized guidance on your journey and feel that you need an individualized approach, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would welcome the opportunity to assist you.

If you’re interested in accessing a wide range of programs, including those on nutrition, somatics, and vagus nerve exercises, as well as movement programs to help you optimize your overall wellness, consider checking out our app, The Movement Paradigm, available on both Apple and Google platforms.

Reference:

Liu YZ, Wang YX, Jiang CL. Inflammation: the common pathway of stress-related diseases. Front Hum Neurosci. 2017;11:316. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00316

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5 inflammatory triggers

Posted on by Arianne Missimer

Have you been dealing with some type of chronic health condition, autoimmune disease, skin issues, or even sinus issues that just don’t seem to be resolving? Here are five different categories of inflammatory triggers that you should consider exploring if you’re experiencing any or all of these things.

Rather watch or listen? 

What do you need to know about inflammation?

We want to remember that ninety percent of all chronic health conditions are associated with excessive or persistent inflammation.

What is inflammation?

We want to think of inflammation as our normal defense and repair mechanism.

Let’s take, for example, an acute injury such as an ankle sprain. We may have swelling, redness, pain, loss of motion—this is exactly what’s supposed to happen in the first four to five days of your inflammatory process.

White blood cells infiltrate to help the area heal. However, if, for example, we have poor sleep, stress, and we’re eating inflammatory foods, then this could lead to more systemic inflammation. It could lead to a loss of tolerance where the ankle just doesn’t seem to improve.

Of now, all of a sudden, you experience shoulder pain or get a cold. When things keep jumping around from one to the next and it just seems like you have bad luck, that’s a perfect example of systemic inflammation. That’s when you want to look deeper to figure out what those things are.

If we want to simplify this in terms of your exploration, you can look at five different categories of potentially inflammatory triggers.

What triggers inflammation?

1. Food

This is one of the most common areas, and it’s also the easiest to explore.

We have essentially 14 different potentially inflammatory foods that are more common such as gluten, dairy, corn, soy, peanuts, etc. We also have different foods and food properties that you could be sensitive to as well—something like histamines, oxalates, or nightshades.

There are a lot of different categories of foods that could be potentially inflammatory, but I always like to start with some of the basics. The two most common inflammatory foods for people potentially inflammatory can be gluten and dairy.

It’s always a good starting point for assessing. We do want to remember with food that there are three different types of adverse food reactions—allergy, food sensitivity, and food intolerance. Any or all of these can contribute to essentially some type of inflammatory process in the body, so it’s important to investigate what those are for you.

2. Bugs

This could be something like a tick—a tick-borne illness, or a parasite, which we can see on a stool test.

If there is some kind of underlying infection that you are unaware of, this could exacerbate many of your potential symptoms. If you are evaluating all the things causing your inflammation, you definitely want to at least keep this in mind as a possibility. Also, if you’ve been traveling overseas, to other countries, and so on, you’ll want to factor that into a potential root cause.

3. Toxins

We have internal and external toxins. We are exposed to an exorbitant amount of toxins on a daily basis—that could be things from clean chemicals to plastic water bottles to mold exposure; the list is endless.

Internal toxins, like yeast or bacterial infections, can also act as toxins in our bodies. Of course, things that we might be injected with, like alcohol, are also toxins.

In this category, we can assume that we are all exposed to them. It may be to a different level for each person, and everyone’s ability to detoxify is unique. This is going to be based on a genetic predisposition, early childhood exposure, or their lifetime exposure to toxins.

We want to keep in mind that one person may be surrounded by smoke and mold their whole life but not have an issue and another person might have cancer and autoimmune disease and be unable to get out of bed. We want to really respect and appreciate the differences the individual differences between people.

4. Trauma

As it relates to trauma, we can have previous childhood trauma, emotional trauma, physical trauma, chemical trauma, or simply ongoing stress. All of these things can be explored, and really this is, to me, one of the most important aspects of addressing inflammation.

We know that ongoing stress, for example, can shift the colonization of the bacteria in the gut. This can cause dysbiosis or ongoing inflammation. We want to remember that our gut is 70 percent of our immune system. When we’re talking about immune health and inflammation, we have to talk about gut health.

5. Hormones

This can range from a whole host of issues, from thyroid issues to sex steroid issues (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, etc.) to insulin, ghrelin, leptin, and much more.

For example, if we have a thyroid issue, eating inflammatory foods, have chronic stress, and are exposed to toxins, then we will likely have a greater inflammatory response.

The more of these things that you are experiencing, the greater the likelihood that something (or some symptoms) will become worse.

As you begin to explore your own health, try to consider these factors. This is not an end-all-be-all list, but this helps to get an idea of what might be driving some of your symptoms and also where to begin to explore so you can feel your best.

If you would like to make an appointment with us, we see people all over the world, so please make sure to reach out. We would love to set up a discovery session so that we can help you feel your best. If you are ready to take action now, schedule here: https://p.bttr.to/3Qu7wRd

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How To Do An Elimination Diet

Posted on by Arianne Missimer

Do you suffer from chronic allergies, eczema, or even some digestive issues that seem to be continually unresolved?

You’ve tried everything from topical creams for your skin, supplements, and more, but you just can’t seem to get to the underlying root cause of why you’re having a specific health condition. Perhaps you’re suffering from some other kind of health condition or autoimmune disease? Maybe you are suffering from MS, Parkinson’s, or other chronic health conditions, even things like diabetes and high cholesterol?

Performing an elimination diet, or even a modified elimination diet, can be a very powerful tool in uncovering some of the potential food triggers. Food triggers can be commonly overlooked as a potential driver for these specific health issues, so stay tuned for how to perform that. The elimination diet has been used for decades by allergists, functional medicine practitioners, and dietitians. 

Rather watch or listen than read?

How To Do An Elimination Diet

Ninety percent of all chronic health conditions are associated with excessive or persistent inflammation. Food is one of our five potential inflammatory triggers. Here are the steps to an elimination diet.

1) Identify Current Potentially Inflammatory Foods

Let’s first identify what the potentially inflammatory foods are. These can be things such as gluten, dairy, corn, soy, peanuts, alcohol, sugar, processed meats, red meat, alcohol, shellfish, coffee, and/or chocolate. All of these things can be potentially inflammatory for you, but that doesn’t mean that every one of them is.

When you’re thinking about performing an elimination diet, the first step is to evaluate how many of those foods you’re eating daily. Now please note that there are other categories of foods. These include oxalates, histamines, nightshades, and even grains that all could be inflammatory for the individual person.

2) Prepare for Elimination

Now that you’ve identified how many of those foods you’re eating on a regular basis, the next step would be to begin to slowly transition out of some of those foods and into other anti-inflammatory foods.

Rather than just purely eliminating these foods, we want to think about optimizing our health with phytonutrient and antioxidant-rich foods. To prepare for the elimination diet, you should pick a start date, so that you have it on your calendar and you know exactly when you’re going to be starting this particular journey. 

3) Elimination

The elimination diet is performed for three weeks. That means you’re eliminating all of these foods for an entire three-week period, so that means 100% elimination of these foods.

4) Reintroduce

After you have performed the three-week elimination diet, now it is time to reintroduce. You will reintroduce one food at a time. You will reintroduce that food twice in one day. For example, if you were having dairy you would have yogurt in the morning and perhaps cheese at night. Then you would wait three full days after that, without having any more dairy or any of the other foods you’ve eliminated.

You’ll track all of your symptoms: digestive issues, sleep issues, urinary issues, skin issues, joint muscle pain, and any other symptom that comes up. This will tell you if any of these foods are an issue for you. It is important to recognize your symptoms don’t necessarily have to be immediately after you eat the food. 

What To Do After Performing An Elimination Diet

Now that you’ve performed the elimination diet and reintroduction process, you can begin to continue with one food at a time. This way, you can identify which food triggers you might have. What are the things that are causing your skin issues? What are the things that are causing your digestive system, and so on?

Now, there’s always a root cause beyond that. If you find yourself having many food triggers and you’re almost sensitive to all of them, then there’s most likely an underlying issue. That is something that is still going to need to be resolved because your immune system is hyperreactive.

In my opinion, it is also one of the simplest things that you could do. It gives you complete control and ownership over what you’re putting in your body and what is appropriate for you.

You can use this Food Reintroduction Tracker below:

Food Reintroduction Symptoms Tracker_v2

Reach out for a 15-minute FREE discovery session to see how we can help you on your journey.

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Why You Shouldn’t R.I.C.E.

Posted on by Arianne Missimer

I’m sure that you’ve had an injury in your lifetime where you grabbed some ice and rested it. You should know that R.I.C.E (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) is outdated and better yet, how you should address your injuries.

Dr. Gabe Mirkin coined the term RICE in 1978. This is a term that has been popularized for years and years, and this is still what most people think of when they think of treating an acute injury.

At this point, we have way too much research and knowledge about the human body to know that this is not at all how we should treat injuries. Even Dr. Mirkin himself, many years later, has been humble enough to say that this is not the most effective way that we should be addressing acute injuries, and that there is a lot of science about how we should use the body’s natural ability to manage inflammation to maximize our healing. 

Rather watch or listen than read?

Inflammation is our natural defense and repair mechanism. An acute injury is about the first four to five days of an injury. Inflammation is important so it is necessary that we maximize the initial stage of healing, rather than delay it.

When we have swelling after an injury, that indicates that our immune system is kicking in gear. These inflammatory cells called macrophages are going to release what’s called insulin-like growth factor and this is what comes into the area to help repair the tissue. What do we need for this to happen? We need blood flow. We need blood flow to bring these inflammatory cells to help repair the damaged tissue.

What Does Ice Do?

So what does ice do? Ice constricts our blood vessels, which decreases blood flow to the area. Remember, the only way that we can manage this initial inflammatory response and manage healing is through blood flow. In fact, when we apply ice to the injured area, these blood vessels actually cut off blood flow for hours afterward, delaying this entire repair mechanism. The only thing that it may do for you is it may decrease pain. However, it can interfere with your brain’s signaling to that area. Nociception is our pain response that is signaling from the tissue to the brain. Although it might temporarily feel better, you are having a true delay in healing. 

So now that we understand a little bit more about inflammation and ice, we should be able to recognize that ice does not, in fact, decrease inflammation. Conversely, we need to eliminate ice to promote the inflammatory period, our first stage of healing, to be able to repair the tissues. Now we know that we don’t want to ice, and we don’t want to rest. So what are some things that you can do with an acute injury?

What To Do With Acute Injury

1) Move                                                 

This is very important. We want to use movement, and optimal loading of the tissue, while managing pain, to provide blood flow to the area. We want to respect the tissue and the body, but you want to continue to move as much as you can in a safe manner. 

2) Compression

You’ll want to use gradient compression because you are optimizing the lymphatic system. Our lymphatic system is one of our detoxification systems. Let’s say you had an ankle injury; you would use a compression sleeve that would have just the toes out and come up ideally to your knee. If you’ve had a knee injury, preferably, you would use compression from the foot all the way up to begin to pump and assist the lymphatic system. You can also use various other tools, types of compression, or other forms of lymph drainage to assist the lymphatic system as well. 

3) Diaphragmatic Breathing

This is helpful for two reasons. One diaphragmatic breathing can help to inhibit pain, and it also calms your nervous system down. When we are in a heightened sense of pain, then our nervous system is in a protective state, which is typically a fight or flight state. The breathing is going to help stimulate the vagus nerve, which releases acetylcholine to calm the nervous system down and helps to inhibit pain. A side benefit is that it is our biggest pump for the lymphatic system is our diaphragm. 

4) Eat Right 

Make sure you’re getting enough protein necessary for optimal healing and you’re eating an anti-inflammatory diet. You also want to consider other things. For example, not taking any NSAIDs, especially within the first five days, if at all, because NSAIDs will block that inflammatory process that we need for healing. If you’re going to take one, it should be after five days, and that should only be if you absolutely need to. NSAIDs can also influence your gut and can contribute to dysbiosis in the gut. Seventy percent of our immune system is in our gut, so the more you take those, the more they’re negatively impacting your ability to regulate inflammation. 

So the next time you get injured, please make sure to ditch the ice, continue to move, use compression, diaphragmatically breathe, and don’t forget to eat an anti-inflammatory diet to promote optimal healing. 

Reach out for a 15-minute FREE discovery session to see how we can help you on your journey.

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How Sugar Affects Your Pain

Posted on by Arianne Missimer

You probably know that sugar is not the best for you, but do you know how it’s impacting your pain and inflammation in your muscles and your joints? Sugar is, in fact, at the top of the list as one of the biggest contributors to pain. Numerous studies continue to prove that sugar promotes pro-inflammatory markers. Why is that important? Chronic low level and systemic inflammation contributes to many of the health conditions that we face. In fact, 90% of all chronic disease is associated with inflammation.

Rather watch or listen than read?

Let’s discuss five different ways that consuming added sugars in your diet contributes to inflammation and therefore, pain.

1) Stimulates free fatty acids in the liver

When free fatty acids are digested by the body, the compounds that are released contribute to pro-inflammatory markers. 

2) Produces Advanced Glycolytic end products (AGEs)

When sugar is combined with a protein or fat in the bloodstream, oxidation or inflammation in the body occurs. 

3) Causes leaky gut

Increased sugar intake can contribute to leaky gut, also referred to as intestinal permeability. We have tight junctions in our gut that function as a protective barrier to not let toxins and pathogens move through into our bloodstream. However, in the case of leaky gut, these tight junctions break down and foreign invaders can pass through to the bloodstream. This, in turn, creates an immune response. This can also contribute to leaky brain. Leaky brain is where these pathogens, toxins, and foreign invaders cross the blood-brain barrier and can contribute to brain fog, loss of clarity, memory issues, etc. 

4) Increases LDL

When we have increased LDL from overconsumption of sugar, there is an increase in inflammatory markers, specifically C-reactive protein. 

5) Causes weight gain

Increased sugar consumption can lead to weight gain, which thereby increases your insulin resistance as well as inflammation. That can contribute to a whole cascade of other symptoms. 

In one study that was performed, the participants who drank 40 grams of added sugar a day (one soda), increased their insulin resistance, inflammation, and LDL markers. Also, consuming 50 grams of fructose within 30 minutes can increase your C-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker. Lastly, 50 grams of refined carbohydrates in the form of white bread can increase your pro-inflammatory marker, niuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B), and increase blood sugar. 

Now you have a little bit of a better understanding of how sugar impacts your body, specifically inflammation, and therefore pain. If you’re in a chronic inflammatory state, you’re pain will likey be higher. Your first step in evaluating sugar is to track it. See how many grams a day you are consuming.

There is a difference between natural sugars and added and refined sugars. That doesn’t mean you need to eat six fruits a day, however. As it relates to added sugars, you want to have less than 20 grams of sugar. That means you have to think about how many grams of sugar is in your creamer, salad dressing, tomato sauce, etc. In most cases, there is high fructose corn syrup in those as well. You want to evaluate how many grams a day you’re actually getting and then begin to slowly decrease it. You don’t need to do it overnight. It is important to recognize that if you are consuming a lot of sugar, you can have a significant die-off reaction as you begin to eliminate those sugars from your diet. Just begin to slowly work them out of your diet and transform to a more natural, whole food plan.

Reach out for a 15-minute FREE discovery session to see how we can help you on your journey.

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What is SIBO?| Is this the cause of your digestive issues?

Posted on by Arianne Missimer

Have you heard about SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) or perhaps you’ve been diagnosed with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) but you don’t know what to do about it? You may be wondering  if this is the cause of your digestive issues? Is this what’s making you feel so terrible? Let’s start by saying that SIBO is very complex and there is not one easy roadmap to treat SIBO. It is really important to understand what it is, the anatomy behind it, the risk factors, some of the symptoms that you could experience, and most importantly, the underlying causes. SIBO is exactly what it sounds like, an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine. It is not necessarily an imbalance between the good and bad bacteria, although it can be pathogenic, it is in essence, an overgrowth. The small intestine is meant for digestion and absorption of nutrients, where the large intestine is meant to house our beneficial bacteria. When we have a backflow of this bacteria into the small intestine, that’s when we can begin to overpopulate and have an overgrowth.

Let’s go over some brief functional anatomy so that you understand what’s happening. When you start chewing your food, you produce salivary enzymes to help begin the digestive process. The food is then passed through our esophagus, i.e. the food pipe, into the stomach. The stomach begins to produce hydrochloric acid (HCL) to break down the food even further. We have our gallbladder that releases bile to help break down the food moving into the small intestine. Our pancreas is also releasing enzymes to help further break down this food. Once the food moves into the small intestine which is 18 to 25 feet long, so it’s not small, digestion and absorption of nutrients occurs. The small intestine connect into our large intestine. There’s an ileocecal valve that prevents any backflow. From here, we then move the food into our rectum for waste removal. We can think of the large intestine as the house for the good bacteria and our storage for waste and excretion.

What symptoms can you have with SIBO?

One of the most frequent complaints is bloating. This is when the gases build-up from the bacteria eating the food. When the gas is releases, it causes pressure or distension in the abdomen. The small intestine is not made for any kind of buildup. When this buildup occurs and we’re not able to process it or digest it properly, this is when you can begin to have symptoms of nausea and acid reflux. The other two symptoms that are very common are constipation and/or diarrhea. You may have both and it could be alternating, or you could gravitate more towards one or the other. This can often be referred to as SIBO-C or SIBO-D. In addition to all the common digestive complaints associated with SIBO such as constipation, diarrhea, acid reflux, cramping, and abdominal pain, you can also have other health issues. This can range from skin issues to significant fatigue to anxiety or depression, and the list goes on.

What are the risk factors for SIBO?

1. Disease states. That can be an autoimmune disease or any other chronic disease that can be a driving factor.

2. Surgery. Specifically abdominal surgeries that create adhesions from scar tissue. This can impact the motility of the small intestine.

3. Medications. This can be any kind of pharmaceutical drugs or antibiotics that you may have been taking, chemotherapy, etc. All of these can drive SIBO.

Now, what are the underlying causes of SIBO?

This is often much more difficult to figure out, and sometimes requires a lot of investigation. The underlying cause essentially is when the system fails. When this protection mode and the normal process of digestion is not happening the way that it should. This can happen for various reasons.

1. If we do not have the appropriate amount of stomach acid in the stomach to be able to begin to break down food properly.

2. If there is an enzyme deficiency, which means that you do not have the capability of being able to break down food and absorb the nutrients.

3. The immune system. Seventy percent of the immune system is in our gut specifically in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). You can appreciate that if this system begins to fail and our immune system becomes more heightened, this can be an underlying cause of SIBO.

If you have IBS or have chronic digestive issues, you may look into this as a possible cause. You can get tested for SIBO here.

If you need help on your journey to better health, contact drarianne@staging.movementparadigm.flywheelsites.com to schedule a FREE 15 minute virtual consultation.

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GUT-BRAIN CONNECTION 101

Posted on by Arianne Missimer

The gut-brain connection is so powerful in your immune health, hormonal health, and nervous system. If you’ve ever had a gut feeling then you know exactly what the gut-brain connection is.

The gut-brain connection is bi-directional communication between the gut and the brain. The gut, meaning our second nervous system or our enteric nervous system, and our brain, our first nervous system. This bi-directional communication happens through multiple pathways, including hormonal, immune, and our nervous system.  The objective of the gut-brain connection is to maintain normal gut function, as well as appropriate behavior.

The first brain has 100 billion neurons, and our second brain, our gut has about 500 million neurons. You can see how powerful this neural connection is, and this neural connection happens primarily through the vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve originates in the brainstem and then wanders down to the gut. It signals in both directions. For example, if you are getting anxious about a presentation that you have to give you might feel that in your stomach, but if you are eating some kind of inflammatory foods, then that can cause you to potentially feel anxious.

Now, the next connection is hormonal, and this is based on the neurotransmitters or the chemical messengers that we have that communicate between the gut and the brain. Ninety percent of our serotonin is located in the gut that is produced by gut bacteria. Serotonin provides us with a sense of happiness. We also produce 50 percent of our dopamine, our feel-good hormone, in our gut. Another hormone we produce is called GABA (Gamma-aminobutyric acid), which decreases feelings of stress and anxiety.

Last but not least, our gut-brain is connected via immune pathways. Seventy percent of our immune system is in our gut. So, when we have any kind of gut issue, we typically have an immune or inflammatory issue. In the case of a leaky gut, for example, when you begin to have pathogens and toxins that are crossing the epithelial lining and moving into the bloodstream, this is going to cause an immune reaction. If this continues, this can cause a leaky brain because those pathogens and potentially undigested food can cross the blood-brain barrier causing inflammation in the brain feeling things like brain fog. So, as you can see there is a very strong immune system connection as well.

You may be asking, what can I do to optimize my gut-brain connection? The first thing you can do is try to eat an anti-inflammatory diet, which simply means whole food, natural, clean diet. Make sure that there are lean proteins, healthy fats, and lots of vegetables and fruits. If you are experiencing any specific gut or health issues, please make sure to reach out to us we’d be more than happy to help you.  We can see you virtually or in person.

The next thing is to manage stress. Stress is one of the biggest things that can impact the gut-brain connection on both levels. You can help to decrease your stress through mindfulness, meditation, breathwork, yoga, journaling, reading, or whatever is helpful for you, perhaps even speaking with someone.

Next, is making sure you’re getting enough sleep. Also, make sure that you’re getting an optimal amount of sleep as well as quality sleep.

Lastly is movement. Instead of thinking of exercising 30 minutes a day, try to just move as frequently as you can throughout the day. This will help to optimize your immune system, nervous system, as well as your hormonal system by getting in regular quality movement.

I hope this helps you become more successful and achieve what you want in your life and your health.

Reach out for a 15-minute FREE discovery session to see how we can help you on your journey.

For more content, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel here.

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Arthritis: An Inflammatory Condition

Posted on by Arianne Missimer

Have you or someone you’ve known experienced some kind of arthritis? Perhaps it has been debilitating and or it has affected your quality of life? Let’s define arthritis and discuss the drivers of osteoarthritis, as well as rheumatoid arthritis, and what you can do to prevent it.

Many people experience aches and pains as they age. Is this normal? Not really. Is this common? Yes. Is there something that we can do about it? Yes. You do not have to embrace the deterioration of your body as you get older. There are things that you can do to prevent osteoarthritis, as well as rheumatoid arthritis.

Let’s talk about some misconceptions about osteoarthritis. First, “everyone gets it”, which is not true. Second, is that it is genetic, and that is also not true. It is in fact, a matter of diet, lifestyle, and the environment.

Osteoarthritis is pain and inflammation in the joint or multiple joints. Research shows, however, that osteoarthritis is due to inflammation in other parts of the body. Specifically, it can be related to high insulin levels.  With diets, specifically the Western diet that is high in sugar and processed foods, can lead us to high insulin levels and poor blood sugar regulation. This is one of the key drivers in osteoarthritis. We want to remember this key thing, osteoarthritis is an inflammatory condition. Seventy percent of our immune system is in our gut. If we are having any type of systemic inflammation or excessive inflammation in our body, this can drive osteoarthritis. Often, you will see that a person that is experiencing severe osteoarthritis all over their body. They are in a very inflammatory state.

Rheumatoid arthritis, on the other hand, is an autoimmune condition. It affects 1.5 million Americans, but the interesting fact is that it has been happening at younger and younger ages. This is when the synovial fluid becomes thick and murky and creates degeneration in the cartilage of the joints. The joints can become very stiff and painful. One of the biggest drivers of autoimmune conditions, once again, is going to be a predisposition genetically, the environment, and activities of daily living. One of the biggest contributors to autoimmune disease specifically rheumatoid arthritis is a leaky gut, otherwise known as intestinal permeability. Our immune system begins to attack healthy tissues, too.

Before we get into what would be most helpful, let’s talk about what you should not do; take chronic nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs). These will ultimately turn off your immune system, contributing to poor regulation. Although it may mask symptoms temporarily, it is not optimizing your immune system for the long-term.

In both cases of arthritis, a major goal is to reduce inflammation. Also, reducing your insulin, eating less sugar, eating to balancing your blood sugar, and keeping them stabilized throughout the day is critical. Improving your gut health and determining what foods are inflammatory for you is necessary. Doing so will help you to optimize your overall immune health and be able to prevent these types of inflammatory conditions.

As it relates to movement, please consider seeking out a qualified movement professional to help you on your journey to make sure you are moving well and without compensation.  Even though it’s inflammatory, you want to optimize the joint positioning, referred to as joint centration. Think about the shoulder joint, a ball and socket joint. When the ball isn’t in that center position of the joint, it will shift forward and often start to cause pain and irritation in the joint. So you’ll want to make sure that you’re stabilizing the joint and strengthening around it. Essentially, you’ll want to load the joint in its pain-free non-restricted range of motion.

There you have it; powerful ways to prevent and improve arthritis as you go into your older years.

If you need help on your journey to better health, contact drarianne@staging.movementparadigm.flywheelsites.com to schedule.

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5 INFLAMMATORY TRIGGERS you should know about

Posted on by Arianne Missimer

Do you suffer from chronic conditions such as chronic pain, joint stiffness, muscle stiffness, digestive issues, skin issues, delayed onset allergies that have seemed to haunt you later in life, or perhaps any other chronic health condition you’ve been suffering from? In this case, you may have what we refer to as systemic inflammation, where your body had a loss of tolerance and it is not able to manage inflammation well on its own.

Seventy-five to ninety percent of all human disease is linked to excessive or persistent inflammation, so it is really important to figure out what may be inflammatory for you in your body. Let’s discuss five different categories of inflammatory triggers.

5 Different Categories of Inflammatory Triggers

1) Food

The Standard American Diet (SAD) is a western-style diet filled with rich, processed foods, fatty foods, and sugary foods. It is the classic pro-inflammatory diet that a large majority of Americans consume. Additionally, there are also 12 potentially inflammatory foods that could be driving your health conditions.

Some of these foods may seem healthy and very well can be, however that doesn’t mean they are healthy for everyone. This could be anything from soy, peanuts, processed meats, red meat, shellfish, and the list goes on. Your friend may be able to eat gluten, but you may not be able to.

2) Bugs

This could be a parasite that is causing an infection and ongoing inflammation in your body. It is really important to be tested for this especially with chronic health conditions that you’re trying to determine what the root cause is and a comprehensive stool test including a parasite test will evaluate for that specifically. This could also be something like a tick-borne illness contributing to an ongoing infection that your body is trying to manage.

3) Toxins

This can include internal toxins as well as external toxins. External toxins are things like herbicides, pesticides, and cleaning chemicals. We also have it in the products that we use on our bodies. On average, a woman uses 168 chemicals before they leave the house in the morning and a male uses 87. A female teenager uses even more than that. So, we want to think about the toxins that we are exposed to in our daily environment but also in our outside environment.

Mold is a common example of a toxin that many people are exposed to without knowing. We can also have internal toxins. Yeast overgrowth, for example, is an internal infection your body may be trying to manage or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). There’s a lot of toxins that we are exposed to in our environment, even if we try to control what we can control.

4) Trauma

This can be anything from chemical trauma, mechanical trauma, or emotional trauma. One of the biggest aspects of trauma is going to be stress. Stress is one of the number one things that contribute to inflammation in the body. There is also physical trauma.  You could roll your ankle or hurt your knee while you’re running, etc., which can cause acute inflammation. If your body can’t manage it, then it can become systemic inflammation.

5) Hormone Dysfunction

Oftentimes we think of just the sex hormones when we think about hormone dysfunction. However, the hormone dysfunction that typically is the kick starter for most people is our stress hormones (think cortisol!) and especially right now in life. This is such a challenging time for so many of us that the stress hormones really can drive thyroid issues and other sex hormone issues such as estrogen dominance or progesterone and testosterone deficiency.

Everything works in a hierarchy. Don’t forget about our hunger hormones, too. Leptin is a hormone produced by the fat cells in your body. Its main role is to regulate fat storage and how many calories you eat and burn but not if it’s dysregulated. Weight gain anyone? If you are consuming too many carbohydrates and sugar, insulin can also become dysregulated.  Hormone dysfunction is complex, multifactorial, and can surface in many ways.

What happens if one of these categories light up?

You will have a greater inflammatory response when more of these receptors from all these different categories light up. Think of this as molecular signaling. So if you are a person that is eating inflammatory foods, you’re under a lot of stress. You already have a thyroid issue, then your inflammatory response is likely going to be greater. Therefore, you will lose tolerance and you will have systemic inflammation which puts you at great risk for many diseases.

This can range from heart disease to cancer to neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, MS, and Alzheimer’s. You want to think about how you can manage these five categories, and looking at all of them clearly and carefully to determine what are the driving forces for you that are contributing to you not feeling your best.

At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about…feeling your best. How can you optimize your health, how can you take ownership of your health, and make sure that you are living with vitality and not just skating through the world? You CAN feel energized, motivated, and live you’re best life.

Reach out for a 15-minute FREE discovery session to see how we can help you on your journey.

For more content, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel here.

Other things that may interest you:

5 Steps to Addressing SI Joint Pain | the Truth About SI

Why You Shouldn’t R.I.C.E

8 causes of LOW BACK PAIN that isn’t a weak core

How to do an elimination diet

Posted on by Arianne Missimer

Have you been experiencing fatigue, chronic pain, allergies, sinus issues, depression, anxiety, bloating, cramping, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and/or constipation? Or maybe you just aren’t feeling your absolute best? If so, you might want to consider the elimination diet. The elimination diet is the gold standard for uncovering food sensitivities and food intolerances that are frequently overlooked as a major contributor to a whole host of inflammatory conditions. It’s been used by allergists and registered dietitians for decades and is currently used frequently in functional medicine.  It can be extremely valuable in finding information.  It uncovers foot triggers that can help you determine what foods are best for you…and of course, what foods are not. There is no one-size-fits-all.  Everyone is unique.

What does the elimination diet do?

The elimination diet helps to decrease inflammation, identify food triggers, reduce intestinal permeability i.e. leaky gut., decrease inflammation, reduce toxic burden, and it is high in phytonutrients and it is not calorie restrictive. If you have already been diagnosed with leaky gut, autoimmune, or any other inflammatory condition (nearly 90% of all conditions), then this would be something that is highly recommended to initiate a gut healing protocol to remove these potentially inflammatory foods. It is not a calorie-restricted plan, so it is not meant to be a weight-loss diet. Instead, it is meant to be an “information diet”, which means it is not a forever plan. This diet is comprised of all whole natural foods, there’s nothing processed. You are eliminating all of the potentially inflammatory foods. Some of those foods include coffee/tea, alcohol, corn, soy, peanuts, processed meats, red meat, gluten, dairy, and so on. (See below) You would be eliminating these foods for at least four weeks.

What foods do you eliminate?

  • corn
  • dairy
  • gluten
  • eggs
  • peanuts
  • white sugar
  • shellfish
  • soy
  • beef
  • processed meats
  • pork
  • coffe, tea, chocolate

How to prepare

For this to be successful, it is vital to have a preparation period. One to three months’ preparation time is recommended to prepare for it so that you can just go into it with ease. The last thing you want it to do is to create stress, ie. Inflammation, on your body.  You’ll want to make sure it is the right time in your life and things are relatively calm. It is extremely challenging to eat out when you are on the elimination diet. Lastly, it’s often easier if you slowly work out one to three foods at a time and find replacements for them before you begin. You want to be fully prepared, which is why it is strongly recommended to work with a professional to guide and support you through the process.   

How to reintroduce

The reintroduction phase is the most important part and many people fail to do this. They sometimes get frustrated and eat something that has multiple inflammatory triggers like pizza that includes gluten, dairy, and tomato sauce. Then, they don’t feel their best and don’t really know why. Was it gluten? The dairy? The tomato sauce with all the preservatives? This is why it’s really important to do a very careful and systematic reintroduction of foods. To give you an example of how that looks, you would do the elimination diet for 30 days. Then, on day 31 you choose a food that you really want to bring back into your life. Let’s say it’s eggs. So, what you would do is have eggs on day 31 in the morning and in the afternoon. You would wait four days, and you would see what kind of symptoms or adverse reactions you may have. A food reintroduction tracker is very helpful for this information. You might have nausea, bloating, abdominal pain, joint pain, etc. If you have negative or adverse symptoms within that four-day window, then eggs, right now, are a ‘no go’. You would wait at least three months before you reintroduce them again. This might mean that your gut needs more time to heal or that eggs are never going to be part of your diet. You can then make a conscious decision to include this in your life knowing the effects it has on you, or now that you have that information, limit or eliminate it. The goal is to find this information, so you know exactly what is helping you feel your best. That means having energy and living with vitality, versus feeling like crap every day, but not really knowing why.

Summary

The elimination diet is extremely valuable when you’re dealing with multiple medical symptoms. It is very challenging for many because they don’t realize just how many of the foods they are consuming on a regular basis. Most people need a lot of support and guidance through the process.  So, again I strongly encourage you to reach out to a registered dietitian or functional medicine doctor to help you through this process.

If you are interested in feeling your best and you need help, reach out to schedule an appointment to get you started on your journey.