Inflammation is a destructive process linked to a large variety of illnesses like heart disease, arthritis and memory loss. But there are three fast-acting methods you can use to start curtailing the damage.
Your immune system is designed to fend off invasions by microbes that cause illness. Too often, however, an inflamed immune system attacks the bodily tissues it is supposed to defend. And that kind of long-term, devastating inflammation can be difficult to eliminate.
But a study at Yale shows that when you fast, go on a low-carb diet or take part in strenuous exercise, your body produces a natural substance that quells inflammation.
The substance, called β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) halts the inflammatory actions of a protein called NLRP3. This protein interacts with a set of proteins known as the inflammasome.
The inflammasome plays a pivotal role in causing inflammatory damage in Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes, atherosclerosis, and autoimmune diseases.
In the Yale tests on laboratory animals and human immune cells, the researchers examined how macrophages – immune cells that take part in inflammation – respond to the chemical environment created in the body when you fast, follow a low-carb diet or engage in intense exercise.
“These findings are important because endogenous metabolites like BHB that block the NLRP3 inflammasome could be relevant against many inflammatory diseases, including those where there are mutations in the NLRP3 genes,” says researcher Vishwa Deep Dixit, who is with the Yale School of Medicine.
So the choice is yours: Protect your body by altering your diet or following a program of serious exercise. Or find a safe way to incorporate all of these into your lifestyle.
