Are You Feeding Inflammation Without Knowing It?

I see two types of clients in clinic.

The first is frustrated and desperate with stalled weight loss. The second wants to improve their performance and recovery for swimming, running and weight training.

Different goals. Same problem.

They're both feeding inflammation.

What is inflammation?

Inflammation is actually your body doing its job. Bang your knee and it swells, bruises and goes red. That's your body sending the support crew in to clean up, fix up and heal. Acute inflammation. Super cool.

But chronic or systemic inflammation? That's where it gets interesting.

This type of inflammation can show up as fatigue, joint aches and pains, brain fog and poor recovery from training. You might also experience headaches, depression and anxiety.

Think of it like a raging fire inside your body. Constantly being fuelled by intense workouts without proper nutrition, stress, alcohol and an inflammatory diet.

So whilst your diet seems "pretty good" it's not enough to put the fire out.

What's fuelling your fire?

Certain foods are inflammatory. Fuel to your body's fire. And in some cases it doesn't matter if you have a little or a lot. It only takes a spark to light a fire.

The most common inflammatory culprits:

• Sugar

• Alcohol

• Refined grains and processed foods

• Gluten — particularly for those with gluten sensitivity, intolerance or coeliac disease

• Dairy — particularly for those with lactose intolerance or a dairy sensitivity

The biggest mistake I see? People eating all the "healthy" diet foods. Protein yoghurts. Overnight oats. Packaged granola. These foods are fuel to the fire of inflammation. That's why nothing is working.

How to put the fire out

You need to come at it from three directions:

1. Starve the fuel sources. Remove the inflammatory foods.

2. Increase the resources. Support your immune system with real whole food nutrition and adequate protein.

3. Support the environment. Rest, recovery, hydration and a healthy stress response give your body the chance to heal.

This is exactly why eating less and training harder doesn't work. You're adding fuel to a fire and wondering why it keeps burning.

Feeling stuck and ready for a change, book your Clarity Call at jennapoole.com/offerings