FARMACY: ANTI-INFLAMMATION
As someone with an autoimmune condition and a history of sport injuries, training, and overexercising, my muscles are far too familiar with joint, muscle, and tissue inflammation. I have finally found my arsenal of trusted products that have diminished any painful inflammations and can help me keep them at bay.
If you experience bodily pain or more indirect signs of inflammation such as hair loss, insomnia, dry mouth, allergies, hormonal issues, incidences of eczema or psoriasis, and a slow healing process, I suggest incorporating the recommendations below . . .
Turmeric
Turmeric, it's the talk o' the town with its window of seasonal fresh form to turmeric lattés. It has its due reason but it must be extracted and combined properly to be utilised most efficiently by our body. When combined with the chemical piperine in black pepper, the curcumin in turmeric potency is magnified by 2,000 times! That's why I swear by this turmeric supplement daily, which combines black pepper and other anti-inflammatory ingredients such as boswellia gum resin. I am not sponsored or paid by Mega Food for this. I have had knee tendonitis in both of my knees due to overexercising for the past two years and using this turmeric supplement has diminished all of my pain within about a month of using it. This has allowed me to get back to running and training for a 10K—my New Year's Resolution. I cannot recommend this product enough.
In a pinch or for an extra boost, I also love this tincture which I boost with a drop of black pepper essential oil.
Black Cumin Seed Oil
This is a product that has made a world of a difference in the health of my joints, especially with the impact of running daily on concrete. This is another supplement I will now never be without. People back in the days of the Black Plague used as an antidote for the plague and the ancient Greeks hailed it as the cure-all . I take a teaspoon of this black cumin see oil on an empty stomach in the morning, following my probiotic.
On that note, this is the probiotic I swear by as it's soil-based and inoculates your gut rather than simply passing through it. Having a healthy digestion and gut micro biome is one of the most important ways to keep inflammation at bay as it's our body's second brain.
Garlic
It's a running joke in my Turkish family that garlic is the cure for everything—it's our own version of put some Windex on it. Garlic is an incredible anti-microbial, -fungal, and -viral food, so it fights these pathogens that can cause inflammation through infection. I recommend trying to incorporate fresh garlic as much as possible while still allowing human contact to reach you within a mile's radius—no one likes garlic breath. Include it in small doses in meals and make sure to crush the garlic and let it stand for 20 minutes or so to increase its strength. I also like this garlic supplement, especially during the cold and flu season.
Wild-caught & Sustainable Seafood
As much as I love plants and the omega-3s in dark leafy greens and certain seeds, there is nothing as bioavailable and high in omega-3s as wild-caught seafood. At our house, we regularly eat Wild Alaskan King Salmon, Sablefish, sardines, and mackerel to get our dose. We love ordering from Vital Choice as we live in the remote part of the high West Texas desert and they ship flash-frozen, dry ice-packed fish overnight. You can order by clicking here and getting a discount at that for your first order. Make sure to add that sablefish to your cart because it is the most buttery, flavourful fish you'll ever eat!
If you do not or cannot eat fish regularly but are not vegan, I recommend adding this fish oil supplement to your diet. It's the cleanest one I have come across. You can also try out krill oil, but I have experienced sensitivity with it and it made me break out in a rash, so I would be cautious. I do recommend trying it out though as everybody's body is different and krill oil is much higher in Astaxanthin, which research suggests might be the most powerful antioxidant ever.
Beets
Beets are an incredible liver detoxifier when eaten in moderation (as too much can cause a blood sugar spike since it does have a higher amount of sugars and carbohydrates than non-starchy vegetables). The best way to consume it is to ferment it by making traditional beet kvass. Here is a recipe I enjoy.
Healthy Fats
I recommend reading my post In Defense of Fat on the oils to avoid and choose for a healthy inflammatory response.
Fermented Foods
In addition to incorporating the above-mentioned probiotic supplement and beet kvass, inflammation can be tamed by optimising the gut flora with the incorporation of fermented foods such as coconut kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha, olives, various fermented vegetables, and miso or natto if you tolerate soy products. Fermented foods also aid the body in processing and detoxifying itself of heavy metals, which is a persistent and common cause of inflammation or bodily pain.
Oil of Oregano
Another anti-pathogenic arsenal like garlic that targets infectious bodies that may be causing an inflammatory response in the body. This is the oil of oregano I take daily.
liposomal vitamin c | I take this liposomal vitamin c before lunch on an empty stomach, right after I'm done with my run. Vitamin C is one of the strongest antioxidants and is the pre-cursor to collagen. This version is the most bioavailable and easily absorbable version of vitamin C. This aids the body to deliver it directly to the cells to increase collagen production, which then heals and protects the musculoskeletal structure of our bodies and boosts the heath of our skin tissue. You can also take this grass-fed collagen peptides powder to even further increase collagen production.
frankincense | This is included in the turmeric supplement I recommend but I love using it on its own as an essential oil (I use dōTERRA's but this one is cheaper but still effective) when I have some muscle pain by either diluting a drop in a large pitcher of water then drinking it throughout the day or massaging it diluted in fractionated coconut oil or Sun Potion shea butter on areas of pain. The incredible Jiva Apoha also has an oil blend with frankincense in it, which you can find here.
fresh herbs and chlorella | parsley and cilantro are kings for heavy metal detoxification, which is a great contributor of inflammation. Other fresh herbs and foods are turmeric, ginger, rosemary, and clove, all of which reduce oxidation that cause our bodies low-grades of inflammation from daily stress. I recommend using these fresh herbs with chlorella as it binds to the head metals these foods remove, chelate them, and remove them from our bodies. I highly recommend Sun Potion's sustainably-harvested chlorella powder.
MSM | Last but certainly not least is my third go-to supplement MSM, which I take daily in powder form by Jarrow's Formulas. I simply put a scoop of it in my daily hot tea that I make with tonic herbs and coconut oil or ghee. You can also mix it into water as it's completely tasteless. I like this powdered version as it doesn't have the additives that many capsules have and I trust Jarrow's. MSM is derived from crustaceans and is high in the antioxidant mineral sulfur, which is used to produce glycosaminoglycans and is then used to coat structural connective tissues.
