Increase Energy and Decrease Inflammation in Minutes A Day (and at very low cost!)

 

25 years ago when I was an intern at the New York Chiropractic College Outpatient Clinic in Levittown, Long Island I would read the latest medical research and tell my patients that in 25 years I believed their doctors would more and more treat their diseases not by looking at their symptoms or diagnosis as much as looking to lower inflammation in their body. This, of course, made great sense to me as I was trained as a Chiropractor to look to the cause of the problem and not just at eliminating symptoms. That focus on cause correction plus the research showing that heart disease and so many other problems in the body were created or at least exacerbated by inflammation made the conclusion a no-brainer. My observation that research often seemed to take 25 years to "get into the field" made me excited for the day that patient care would improve by leaps and bounds as people's troubles would be cared for in a much more effective, speedy and intelligent way. Unfortunately, the truth is I'm still talking about the future of medicine 25 years later without much change in the medical approach. Please understand I am not taking a shot at medicine but rather hoping for a better future for mankind and allowing all of those wonderful and talented minds that enter medicine to better take care of their patients.

 

First we must relize that stress, inflammation and acid levels in our body are NOT synonymous but ARE very much related.

 

 

Physical, emotional and chemical stress all eventually create acid and inflammation. Oddly, acid can lead to inflammation and stress while inflammation can lead to acid and stress so they all tend to make each other worse.

 

 

 

We can try to lower stress but we also need to figure out ways to better deal with stress, inflammation and acid and the havoc these 3 create in our body.

 

 

One might be tempted to take an anti-inflammatory medication but these medicines are generally not recommended for long-term use due to side-effects and long-term use could disrupt immunity and tissue repair as the white blood cell function is curtailed by the use of anti-inflammatory drugs. (White blood cells help us to fight infection. The inflammatory process also helps remove damaged tissue so that our body can repair itself by replacing the damaged tissue with healthier cells.)

 

 

 

What can you do today? Scroll Down.

 

After trying to lower stress and decrease actions that cause inflammation we are still often in trouble. The good news is that since stress, inflammation and acidity levels are related, lowering one can help lower all three and while it may be difficult to lower many types of stress and inflammation directly it is relatively simple and inexpensive to reduce acidity levels in the body on a daily basis. How? Eat foods that decrease acid levels.

 

Less Acid is also called Increased Alkalinity.

 

Can you squeeze a lemon?

One of the least expensive and simplest foods to prepare that decreases acid in the body is fresh lemon juice squeezed into water. Drink on an empty stomach. Wait at least 20 minutes to eat your meal. Seems odd, I understand, to add the acid of a lemon to get less acidic. This works when taken without food and preferably on an empty stomach. We drink the lemon water and apparently the brain senses the increased acidity and signals the kidneys to remove acid from the blood leaving the body with less acid aka more alkaline. (This apparently is the mechanism for apple cider vinegar, also. Doesn't taste as good but feel free to do a shot of ACV instead of the lemon water if you choose.)

 

Try this daily for a month and let me know if you feel more energy, less achiness and pain, enjoy better sleep, feel stronger immunity and maybe even take off a pound or two.

 

Want more ideas on decreasing acid, inflammation and stress? See Part II of this series.