Can Whole Body Inflammation Affect The Health of Your Knees?
Osteoarthritis As An Inflammatory Disease?While most of us tend to think of knee arthritis as being caused by good ‘ol wear and tear, a study in the Journal of Osteoarthritis and Carilage might cause us to think otherwise. The article summarizes relevant research in molecular biology that implicates whole body inflammation as a causal factor in degenerative knee arthritis. If this is true, innovative new ways to avoid a knee replacement can be implemented that may have more efficacy than just weight loss alone or similar tactics.
The literature is rich in data suggesting that inflammatory mediators play a pivotal role in the initiation and perpetuation of the OA process. The source of such mediators would be local from joint cells and systemic from other tissues such as adipose tissue released in blood flow and then reaching the joint via the subchondral bone vasculature. These mediators then have a deleterious effect on cartilage, bone and synovium.
Researchers concluded that the anti-cytokine approach has not yet proven significant improvement in OA symptoms and structure modification, as it relates to a search for a new drug. However, Dr Weil, one of the fathers of integrative medicine has been teaching his followers how to lower inflammation in the body through diet and other lifestyle factors. Dr Weil’s expertise can get you started lowering your risk for a total knee replacement in the future and reducing present day joint pain. In addition, healthy eating can lower your risk for many other types of chronic health diseases as well.
Inflammation in the body is a normal and healthy response to injury or attack by germs. We can see it, feel it and measure it as local heat, redness, swelling, and pain. This is the body’s way of getting more nourishment and more immune activity into an area that needs to fend off infection or heal. But inflammation isn’t always helpful. It also has great destructive potential, which we see when the immune system mistakenly targets the body’s own tissues in (autoimmune) diseases like type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
Whole-body inflammation refers to chronic, imperceptible, low-level inflammation. Mounting evidence suggests that over time this kind of inflammation sets the foundation for many serious, age-related diseases including heart disease, cancer and neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Recent evidence indicates that whole-body inflammation may also contribute to psychological disorders, especially depression – for more on this, see my new book, Spontaneous Happiness, which will be released November 8, 2011.
The extent of this chronic inflammation is influenced by genetics, a sedentary lifestyle, too much stress, and exposure to environmental toxins such as secondhand tobacco smoke. Diet has a huge impact, so much so that I believe that most people in our part of the world go through life in a pro-inflammatory state as a result of what 
they eat. I’m convinced that the single most important thing you can do to counter chronic inflammation is to stop eating refined, processed and manufactured foods.
You can also try my anti-inflammatory diet, as illustrated by my anti-inflammatory diet and food pyramid. This isn’t a weight-loss diet (though you can lose weight if you follow it). Instead, it is designed to help you reduce chronic inflammation by eating fresh, healthy and delicious foods. One of the most important things the diet does is provide balanced amounts of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Most people consume an excess of omega-6 fatty acids, which the body uses to synthesize compounds that promote inflammation. You get a lo
t of omega 6 fatty acids from snack foods and fast foods. Omega-3 fatty acids – from oily fish, walnuts, flax, hemp and to a lesser degree canola oil and sea vegetables – have an anti-inflammatory effect.
If you look at the food pyramid on this site you’ll see that it emphasizes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and legumes, fish and sea food, whole soy foods, and tells you how much of these foods to eat daily or weekly. You get a wide variety of fresh foods on this diet, plus some red wine daily, if you so desire, and healthy sweet treats such as dark chocolate (make sure it has a minimum content of 70 percent cocoa). Along with influencing inflammation, this diet will provide steady energy and ample vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, dietary fiber, and protective phytonutrients. What’s more, I think you’ll enjoy it.
