What Is Inflammation?

Inflammation is your body’s natural defense mechanism. It helps you fight infections, heal wounds, and recover from stress.

But when inflammation becomes chronic, it turns from helpful to harmful — quietly damaging cells, tissues, and organs over time.

Chronic inflammation is like a slow-burning fire inside your body — draining your energy, affecting your mood, and laying the groundwork for disease.

 Top Causes of Chronic Inflammation You Might Not Know About

Here are 5 major drivers I see in practice that are often missed in standard care:

1. Gut Imbalances & Leaky Gut

When your gut lining is compromised, undigested food and toxins can “leak” into the bloodstream — triggering a full-body immune response.

Common symptoms:

• Bloating, food sensitivities, brain fog, fatigue
• Skin issues (like eczema or acne)
• Autoimmune flare-ups

What helps:
Eliminating trigger foods, healing the gut lining (with L-glutamine, zinc, and collagen), and restoring a healthy microbiome with targeted probiotics.

2. Blood Sugar Swings

Even if you’re not diabetic, frequent blood sugar spikes and crashes from processed carbs and sugar can trigger a pro-inflammatory state.

Clues this might be you:

• Energy crashes
• Sugar cravings
• Irritability or anxiety when you’re hungry

What helps:
Build meals with protein, healthy fat, and fiber. Try cinnamon, chromium, or berberine for blood sugar support.

3. Hidden Food Sensitivities

Unlike food allergies, sensitivities are harder to spot. They create low-grade immune activation that leads to joint pain, skin issues, mood swings, and more.

 What helps:


Try an elimination diet for 21–30 days Or consider food sensitivity testing.

4. Toxins + Environmental Stressors

You’re exposed to hundreds of chemicals daily—in water, food, cleaning products, skincare, and even receipts. These toxins overwhelm your liver and create oxidative stress.

What helps:

• Switch to clean personal care and household products
• Drink filtered water
• Support detox with cruciferous veggies, milk thistle, and glutathione

5. Poor Sleep & Chronic Stress

Both rob your body of its ability to recover and keep inflammation high—especially if you’re waking up tired, wired at night, or dealing with anxiety.



 What helps:

• Prioritize 7–9 hours of sleep in total darkness
• Limit screens before bed
• Use adaptogens like ashwagandha or rhodiola (with professional guidance)=

How to Heal: Functional Medicine Approach to Inflammation

The functional medicine difference?

We don’t mask inflammation—we identify and address what’s causing it.

Here’s where to start:

✅Remove inflammatory triggers (processed food, hidden toxins, stress)
✅Repair the gut and support detox pathways
✅Rebuild with real food, sleep, movement, and connection
✅Rebalance hormones, blood sugar, and nutrient deficiencies

When to Go Deeper

If your symptoms persist, it may be time to test, not guess. Functional labs can uncover:



• Leaky gut / zonulin markers
• C-reactive protein (CRP) and homocysteine
• Cortisol rhythm (adrenal stress)
• Mold, metals, or hidden infections

Ready to Get to the Root?

If you’re tired of chasing symptoms and want a personalized path to healing…

👉Book an appointment to see how we can help you lower inflammation, regain energy, and feel like yourself again.

 Quick Recap:

• Inflammation is a signal, not a diagnosis



• It’s often driven by lifestyle, gut health, and environment

• The right testing and support can lead to real, lasting change