Many people use Chinese herbs for inflammation. The right combination of herbal Chinese remedies can help detox your body, repair your immune system, and restore its balance.
What is inflammation?
Inflammation is how the body reacts to injury and infections. It is a type of immune system response to damaged tissues (cells) that:
- prevents the injury or illness from getting worse
- protects the damaged area
- helps the body heal
Once the body recovers, the inflammation will usually go away. Sometimes inflammation becomes chronic, which can cause long-term health problems such as arthritis, heart disease, and cancer.
Inflammation and the immune system
Our bodies have a network of organs, tissues, and white blood cells specifically designed to fight illness and disease. It is called the immune system. The purpose of the immune system is to defend and protect the body.
Inflammation is part of the immune system’s response to injuries such as:
- Broken bones
- Lacerations and cuts
- Bacteria, viruses and fungi
- Environmental toxins
- Chemicals
- Radiation
- Metabolic wastes (substances left over by body processes that cannot be used)
- Alcohol and sugar
Here is how the process works:
- When the body’s tissues have been injured, the damaged cells release chemicals that cause blood vessels to dilate (become wider).
- Blood rushes toward the damaged area, mobilizing and transporting white blood cells.
- Cellular fluid builds up in the surrounding tissues.
The fluid helps isolate the damage. Do you remember your skin getting red and swollen from a scratch? That’s the immune system doing its job to heal the body. In addition to redness and swelling, inflammation can also cause pain, heat and loss of function.
An amazing fact about the immune system is that it records every bacteria, fungi, virus and parasite it has overcome. It uses that information to destroy the pathogen if it shows up again.
Inflammation can damage the body
Some people have a weakened immune system (immunocompromised), which can make it more difficult for them to get rid of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other pathogens (toxins). This can result in more frequent bouts of illness, the illness lasting longer or never being cured.
With or without a weakened immune system, when you have toxins in the body, it can trigger an immune system response. Sometimes the response is so severe and chronic that the body starts attacking itself.
Whatever the circumstances, too much inflammation can damage the body
According to a recent study, “There is now growing evidence supporting the concept that chronic inflammation may affect many organ systems including skin, brain, colon, blood vessels, pancreas, joints, lung, and heart.” – Khatami, 2009
The damage can vary depending on the degree and extent of the inflammation.
When your body can’t repair the damage, it causes more inflammation, more damage and a breakdown in function. This process can go on for several years before there is any evidence of a problem. It can also lead to long-term serious health issues such as:
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Psoriasis
- Crohn’s disease
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Ulcerative colitis
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease
- Asthma
- Diabetes
- Parkinson’s
- Cancer
In some situations, an organ can get so badly it needs to be replaced or completely removed.
When you have an external injury, you can usually see indicators of inflammation like swelling and redness. Chronic inflammation inside your body can cause symptoms such as:
- Aches
- Pains
- Dizzyness
- Dry eyes
- Muscle weakness
- Memory loss/cognitive impairment
- Fatigue
- Low-grade fever
- Digestive problems
- Hardening of the arteries
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Blood clotting
- Rashes
Reducing inflammation
One way to reduce inflammation is to eat healthy, anti-inflammatory foods like vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts and fish. Stay away from processed foods, sugar, alcohol, trans and saturated fats.
A processed food is a food that has been modified or changed from its natural state. Processed foods can cause inflammation because they contain high amounts of salt, sugar and unhealthy additives. Examples of processed food include hot dogs, sausages, deli meats, bread, canned soup, chips, cookies, white bread, crackers, cereals, fast food and sodas.
Juicing can help minimize inflammation as well. Click here for some great anti-inflammatory juicing recipes.
Exercising is another way to lower inflammation. When you exercise, the body’s blood flow is increased, which helps move toxins and inflammation out of the body.
Eliminating stress is also important. because it can over-stimulate the immune system and activate an inflammatory response.
Sometimes changing your diet, exercising and getting rid of the stress in your life isn’t enough to eliminate inflammation and restore your health. A Chinese medicine detox program that repairs and restores your immune system may be needed to fully address the problem.
Inflammation and Western vs. Chinese (Eastern) medicine
Modern Western medicine refers to the type of healthcare you receive from medical doctors in the United States and other Western countries. It has a different focus than Chinese (Eastern) medicine.
In Western medicine, doctors use drugs, radiation and surgery to treat illnesses and diseases, with side effects that can end up being worse than the health condition itself.
Chinese medicine addresses the person as a whole. The root cause of the problem is treated with nutrition, herbs and other natural therapies.
Chinese medicine has been used for centuries to cure many different types of health problems, including inflammation.
There are hundreds of plants, animals, and minerals used in Chinese medicine to help people recover from injuries, illnesses and diseases. Most healing is done with specially crafted herbal formulas that treat what is causing the problem, not just the symptoms.
The herbs can be administered in different ways, including powder, liquid extracts, capsules and tinctures.
A detox program that gets rid of inflammation
There can be many underlying reasons why someone has a problem with inflammation. Generally, it has to do with the body’s inability to flush out toxins.
Remember, inflammation is a response to an injury, illness or disease. An inflammatory response to a physical injury (broken bones, cuts, bruises, etc.) will usually resolve over time.
When the injury, illness or disease is caused by toxins, it is because the toxins aren’t being eliminated fast enough by the lymphatic system, kidney or liver. If these organs can’t move the toxins out quickly, the immune system will step in with an inflammatory response to try and solve the problem.
My inflammation detox program was designed to get rid of inflammation by restoring the body’s ability to eradicate toxins, which in turn eliminates the need for an inflammatory response. In other words, it addresses the underlying cause of the problem.
The first program step is to find out what areas of the body are having trouble with toxin elimination. These areas are then detoxed with special, highly concentrated liquid herbal formulas. I developed these formulas over several years after extensive research and testing on hundreds of different Chinese herbs.
Using Chinese herbs for inflammation the body will naturally heal itself and the inflammatory response will stop.
A story about inflammation
A waitress noticed she had shortness of breath. She went to the doctor and was told to use an inhaler. She used the inhaler as prescribed by still had shortness of breath. It started getting worse. She had to take more breaks during her shift and eventually couldn’t work at all. She went back to the doctor and was given antibiotics.
She took the antibiotics as prescribed but was still out of breath. Then her kidneys started to hurt. Now she was out of breath and had kidney pain.
She came to my office, and we started working on her kidneys to repair the damage caused by antibiotics. The kidneys (and liver) have to be functioning well to eliminate toxins in her body.
This was an important step in her detox program because her lungs were filled with toxins. The toxins had built up in her air sacs and that’s why she couldn’t get enough oxygen. Inhalers weren’t getting rid of the mucus. Antibiotics weren’t getting rid of the mucus. Nothing she had been prescribed was cleaning out her air sacs to allow oxygen absorption.
Once the toxins were eliminated, she completed the lung detox and repair program. Once her lungs were fully repaired, she was able to go back to work. She’s been back to her normal life without inhalers or drugs since completing this program.
If you would like to find out more about inflammation and how it affects the body, or how to repair and restore your immune system, click on this link and schedule a phone consultation today.
