What Causes Inflammation?

Why ‘Arginine’ Is an Important Word to Learn

Arginine is an amino acid which is found in high amounts in nuts, seeds, and seafood. While the mechanism through which it acts remains unknown, research has shown that an arginine-rich diet is correlated with lower circulating levels of CRP.

What About Alcohol?

Moderate alcohol consumption (1-2 drinks a day) has been been linked with lower circulating levels of CRP, which suggests including a glass of wine with your meal can be an effective way to reduce chronic inflammation. Be aware, however, that excess alcohol consumption will not provide excess relief, and will likely affect other factors which cause chronic inflammation, such as weight gain.

Green Tea and Inflammation

Green tea contains many beneficial compounds, but of particular note is epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a polyphenol, which has been demonstrated to block NFkB activity. Furthermore, EGCG’s activity is not regulated through antioxidant pathways, but is related to its structure, meaning it blocks NFkB in a fundamentally different way than many other micronutrients.

The Link Between Chronic Inflammation and Chronic Disease

Now that we’ve covered why chronic inflammation occurs, what we do to contribute to it, and how we can help relieve it, let’s look at the reasons for why it is so important to do everything you can to get rid of it.

Chronic inflammation does not sit in a slow-burn, low-grade state forever. For the majority of individuals with chronic inflammation, it serves as a precursor for chronic disease, most of which are far more preventable than curable at this point. For many chronic diseases, the pathogenesis, or onset of disease, takes a long time–often at least twenty years–and is mediated at every step by inflammatory messengers and the DNA transcription protein NFkB.

Due to this, reducing inflammation can delay or even completely prevent the onset of many chronic diseases! Here are a few links which have demonstrated or are currently being researched:

The Link Between Coronary Heart Disease, Cardiovascular Disease and Inflammation

Researchers have found that circulating levels of CRP are a moderate indicator of coronary heart disease. While the correlation is not as strong as total cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and whether the subject smokes, it is still correlative.

More interesting than the role CRP plays in predicting coronary heart disease is the role it may play in the onset of it and other vascular diseases. Studies have shown that chronic inflammation directly leads to a damaged endothelium, the lining of our blood vessels, and has an important but not yet fully understood role in the formation of the plaques which clog them.

While other factors, such as high blood cholesterol, are critical to the development of heart diseases as well, it now seems that inflammation is the match that starts the blaze–without an elevated level of CRP to help the formation of blood vessel clogging plaques, they would never be formed, even if all other factors were present.