Signs of Inflammation

I realized from my short experiment with dairy how we can live with a lot of inflammation and be blissfully unaware of it until we aren't inflamed anymore and can see what it used to be like!

In my example, my gut and skin were inflamed, but I didn't realized until I was 5 weeks into eating dairy. The keratoris pilaris (bumpy skin) on my legs got horribly aggravated! And then my gut protested too. That's when I finally figured out that I was inflamed and had to get rid of the trigger.

But there were other signs that I had inflammation, that were more subtle, so I didn't notice.

One simple one is weight and bodyfat. I notice that after eating inflammatory foods, often the next day my weight and bodyfat will be a little higher. And it is cumulative, so the more days in a row like that, the higher and higher bodyfat will go!

Another sign is blood pressure. There are kiosks at pharmacies and other public places where you can regularly check your blood pressure, or you can buy a home meter as well. After a week of eating inflammatory foods, I've noticed that my blood pressure which is usually very low, will significantly rise.

Another simple sign which is easy to miss is swelling, especially in the ankles. Your inner ankle bone should be clearly defined. If not, you have swelling and something is causing that!

The signs are there, if we know how to look for them! I know now that dairy, pork, and poultry all cause inflammation for me, and try to avoid them as much as possible. And don't even get me started on plants! Plants wreak total havoc on my body!

Also, it is important to remember how much we need sunlight and exercise, although that won't make up for serious inflammation. But it also extremely important for our health. Our modern lives are so deficient in light and exercise, It is incredibly hard to find the time for sunlight and exercise when one is at work all day long, the only time the sun is out! My inner conspiracy theorist wonders if it's intentional, to keep us all sick, fat, tired, and dependent on stupid, profitable sources of instant gratification? Hm!

Grassfed veal tongue with sea salt crystals