Fight Inflammation With Magnesium

Inflammation raises your risk of almost every serious disease. If you want to protect your health, you’d better keep inflammation at bay. Raising your magnesium level helps to protect your body from the destructive effects of inflammation.

What is inflammation and how can you reduce it?

Inflammation is the way your body responds to injury. We can usually tell a part of our body is inflamed when it is red, hot, swollen and we can’t move it properly. Think of a stubbed toe or a sprained ankle. Inflammation is present in all ‘itis’ conditions, such as arthritis, hepatitis, bursitis and many others. However, inflammation can also occur inside our body in a much more silent way, where we don’t even know it is happening.  Fatigue, low mood and pain are classic indicators that there’s too much inflammation in your body.

Chronic inflammation occurs when various cells in your body produce chemicals that cause wear and tear inside your body. Essentially, inflammation causes oxidative damage to the cells and tissues of your body. This will cause you to age more rapidly and put you at risk of serious diseases including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Inflammatory chemicals can be produced by your immune cells, fat cells and by your liver if it is fatty, otherwise diseased or sluggish.

Which factors raise inflammation in your body?

The following factors may all be responsible:

• Being overweight
• Diabetes
• Infections
• Stress
• Lack of sleep
• Deficiency of omega 3 fats in the diet
• Magnesium deficiency
• Lack of fresh vegetables in the diet
• Food allergy or intolerance
• Diets high in sugar, alcohol, gluten and omega 6 fats

In most people, the overwhelming cause of excessive inflammation in their body is poor diet choices.

Inflammation damages the lining of your arteries. It actually causes wear and tear to the once smooth inner lining of artery walls. Once you’ve developed lesions in your arteries, the cholesterol in your bloodstream comes along and tries to repair this damage. This can create blockage inside your arteries.

Magnesium helps to lower inflammation

Studies have shown that increasing your body’s level of magnesium helps to lower inflammation. C-reactive protein is a molecule produced by your liver when there is too much inflammation in your body. It is a commonly ordered blood test by doctors. Levels of c-reactive protein can be raised for a number of reasons; common explanations include infection, autoimmune disease, allergies, obesity, type 2 diabetes and occasionally tumors. Studies have shown that supplementing with magnesium helps to lower c-reactive protein. This is very worthwhile, as raised levels are strongly linked with heightened risk of heart attacks and strokes. Several researchers believe it is actually a greater risk factor than elevated cholesterol.

Magnesium also acts as a natural calcium channel blocker. This means it helps to normalize blood pressure. Most Americans do not get enough magnesium in their diet. This significantly raises their risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Other strategies for reducing inflammation

• Diet. The most inflammatory foods are sugar, gluten, wheat, cow’s milk, artificial additives and any food you have an allergy or sensitivity to. Therefore it is best to base your diet on vegetables, salads, protein (for example eggs, poultry, seafood, meat), healthy fats, fruit, nuts and seeds. Try to avoid eating too much sugar, as it feeds harmful gut bugs which then secrete inflammatory chemicals into your body.
• Try to maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight will result in a far greater production of inflammatory chemicals in your body. If you base your diet on the foods listed in the point above, you’ll find it much easier to lose weight. There is an easy to follow weight loss plan in the book I Can’t Lose Weight and I don’t know Why.
• Detox your bowel. The main source of toxicity entering your bloodstream is via a toxic bowel. This is especially true if you suffer with irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, diarrhoea, leaky gut syndrome or if you’re taking acid suppressing medication. The microbes living inside us and on us outnumber our human cells by 10 to 1, and the majority of these bugs live in your bowel. That means they have an enormous bearing on your health and it’s critical to look after them. Intestinal Parasite Cleanse capsules are helpful for those people suffering with bloating, gas and burping, as they help to get rid of the bugs producing the gases.
• Try to exercise each day. Sitting all day is highly inflammatory. Humans were never designed to sit for long periods of time. When you move your body, muscle contraction promotes the flow of lymphatic fluid around your body. This is a major detoxification channel. Exercise promotes increased blood flow to all of your organs and promotes better joint flexibility.
• Try to get good quality sleep. Good quality sleep and adequate sleep are both critical for optimal health but they tend to be very under valued. Many people skimp on sleep, thinking they’ll catch up later. Unfortunately you never really do catch up. Sure you can sleep in on the weekend but a loss of sleep negatively impairs your immune system long term. Try to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night and try to be in bed by 10:30pm. If your sleep quality is poor, magnesium or melatonin may help.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.

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