The Quiet Fire

When we cut a finger or catch a cold, inflammation is our friend. The area turns red, warm and swollen as the immune system rushes in to fight infection and repair the damage, and then the fire goes out. But there is another kind of inflammation that never fully goes out. It smoulders quietly in the background for months or years, causing few obvious symptoms. Scientists now believe this quiet fire lies behind many of the most common illnesses of modern life.

Two kinds of fire

• Acute inflammation is fast, strong and short-lived. It is the body's healthy response to injury and infection, and it switches itself off once the job is done.
• Chronic low-grade inflammation is slow, mild and long-lasting. The immune system stays slightly switched on, releasing small amounts of inflammatory messengers into the blood day after day.

Over time, this constant low-level activity can wear down tissues throughout the body. A major review in Nature Medicine linked chronic inflammation with heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, some cancers, depression, dementia and autoimmune conditions, which together account for more than half of all deaths worldwide.¹ (See Where Body Care Meets Mind.)

Inflammation also tends to rise as we age, a process scientists have nicknamed "inflammaging".² But it isn't inevitable. Much of it depends on how we live. (See A Natural Age.)

Signs the fire may be burning

Low-grade inflammation is often silent, but it may show itself in:

• tiredness that rest doesn't fix
• aches and stiffness in joints and muscles
• low mood, anxiety and brain fog
• digestive problems such as bloating
• skin problems such as eczema, psoriasis or acne (See Skin Deep.)
• frequent infections, or slow healing
• weight gain around the middle

A simple blood test called high-sensitivity CRP (C-reactive protein) can give a useful picture of inflammation levels. Your GP or practitioner can arrange it.

A fire that never quite goes out.

What fuels the fire

• Diet. Diets high in sugar, refined carbohydrates, processed meats and ultra-processed foods, and low in vegetables, fruit and fibre, are linked with higher inflammation. Researchers have even scored foods by their inflammatory potential.³ (See Meat, Reconsidered.)
• Blood sugar swings. Repeated spikes in blood sugar and insulin feed inflammation. (See Balancing the Sugar Seesaw.)
• Belly fat. Fat stored deep around the organs is not just a store of energy. It actively releases inflammatory messengers.
• An unhappy gut. When the gut lining is weakened and the microbiome is out of balance, fragments of bacteria can slip into the blood and keep the immune system on alert. (See The Master Regulator.)
• Poor sleep. A review of 72 studies found that disturbed sleep and regularly sleeping too little were linked with higher inflammation.⁴ (See The Art of Sleep.)
• Chronic stress and loneliness. Long-term stress changes how immune cells behave, making them more inflammatory. (See Social Resonance.)
• Sitting still. A lack of movement allows inflammation to build up. (See Born to Move.)
• Smoking, alcohol, pollution and chemical load. (See Lightening the Load.)

Foods that calm the fire

Food is one of our most powerful tools for calming inflammation, and the evidence points again and again to the same way of eating: colourful, plant-rich and as close to nature as possible. (See Food as Medicine.)

• Extra virgin olive oil. Good olive oil contains oleocanthal, a compound that acts in a similar way to ibuprofen. It's what gives fresh olive oil its peppery catch at the back of the throat.⁵ In the large Spanish PREDIMED trial, a Mediterranean diet rich in extra virgin olive oil or nuts lowered the risk of heart attack and stroke by around 30%.⁶
• Oily fish. Salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring and anchovies are rich in omega-3 fats, which the body uses to make molecules that actively resolve inflammation.⁷ Plant sources include walnuts, flaxseed, chia and hemp seeds.
• Colourful vegetables and fruit. Deeply coloured plants, such as berries, cherries, red cabbage, beetroot, leafy greens and peppers, are rich in polyphenols and other protective compounds. Aim for a rainbow every day.
• Fermented foods. In a Stanford study, people who ate six servings a day of fermented foods such as yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi and kombucha for ten weeks had more varied gut microbes and lower levels of 19 inflammatory markers.⁸ Homemade ferments are especially rich in live bacteria, and quick and easy to make: see our recipes for milk kefir, live yoghurt, water kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut and kimchi.
• Fibre. Beans, lentils, oats, whole grains, nuts and seeds feed the gut bacteria that make butyrate, a calming, anti-inflammatory compound.
• Herbs and spices. Turmeric, ginger, garlic, rosemary, cinnamon and green tea all contain compounds with anti-inflammatory activity.

It helps to cut back on the foods that fan the flames: sugary foods and drinks, white bread and pastries, processed meats, deep-fried foods and ultra-processed snacks.

Herbs for a quiet fire

• Turmeric, the golden spice of Indian cooking, contains curcumin. A review of clinical trials found that turmeric and curcumin extracts eased the pain and stiffness of arthritis as well as some common painkillers.⁹ Curcumin is poorly absorbed on its own, so turmeric is traditionally cooked with black pepper and fat.
• Ginger, warming and soothing, has long been used for aches, pains and digestion.
• Boswellia, or frankincense, a resin used for centuries in Ayurvedic medicine for joint pain.
• Nettle, a nourishing, mineral-rich herb traditionally used for joints and allergies, and free to pick from hedgerows in spring.

Turmeric, ginger and boswellia in concentrated, supplement form can interact with blood-thinning medicines and some others. (See When Plants Meet Pills.) The right herbs depend on your constitution and whole picture, so it's best to seek a practitioner's guidance rather than self-prescribe. (See The Architecture of Balance.)

Everyday ways to calm the fire

• Move every day. Each session of exercise has an anti-inflammatory effect, and regular activity lowers inflammation over time.¹⁰ Walking counts.
• Sleep seven to nine hours in a dark, cool room.
• Calm your nervous system with slow breathing, time in nature and the people you love. (See The Healing Breath and The Green Prescription.)
• Look after your gut with plenty of plants, fibre and fermented foods.
• Lighten the load by cutting down on alcohol, giving up smoking and reducing your exposure to everyday chemicals.

At Rootwise, we look for the sparks that keep the fire burning: in the gut, the diet, blood sugar, stress and sleep. Calming them, one by one, often brings relief that reaches every part of the body.