Best Natural Remedies For Chronic Inflammation

Q: What are natural ways to treat chronic inflammation? – T.L.

A: Inflammation is your body’s way of communicating with you and attempting to rid your body of what doesn’t belong. Acute inflammation comes and quickly and becomes severe. It only persists for a few days or weeks.

Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, is long-term inflammation that may last for several years or months. Chronic inflammation may be caused by:

Failure to eliminate whatever was causing an acute inflammation
An autoimmune response, where the immune system attacks healthy tissue
A chronic irritant of low intensity that persists

Examples of underlying diseases and conditions that may cause chronic inflammation include:

Asthma
Rheumatoid arthritis
Chronic periodontitis
Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease
Chronic sinusitis
Chronic active hepatitis

Try these four natural remedies to treat or prevent inflammation:

Curcumin (turmeric). There are easily hundreds of published studies that demonstrate turmeric’s amazing anti-inflammatory benefits. Curcumin, which is widely believed to be the primary active ingredient in turmeric, has been shown to help treat and prevent conditions like indigestion, prostatitis, osteoarthritis, Crohn’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and a number of others. In fact, by directly modulating inflammatory cytokine levels inside the body, turmeric helps protect against a vast array of debilitating illnesses, including heart disease and cancers.

Boswellia (frankincense). Similarly, the boswellia plant, from which the aromatic resin frankincense is derived, contains powerful anti-inflammatory compounds known as boswellic acids. These substances inhibit the activity of leukotrienes, which are inflammation-causing chemicals in the body. Studies have shown that taking boswellia can help treat osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, and asthma, among other conditions.