Recently, a series of forest fires ravaged the landscape in Southern California. One particular fire burned many fine homes. The firefighters worked through the night to extinguish the fire and they were making progress. However, with the dawn came a change in circumstances: an increase in heat, a reduction in humidity and hot, dry winds from the south brought dry air and a fresh supply of oxygen that intensified the fire. Soon, a firestorm erupted creating flaming tornadoes.That is the perfect illustration of the inflammation that can occur in the human body. What may begin as a single spark of inflammation may erupt into an inflammatory disease that engulfs our entire body and threatens our life. Efforts to combat the inflammation may be affected by external forces that fan the flames until we are consumed.
Causes of inflammation
There are four common causes of inflammation:
- Trauma or injury
- Toxins and poisons
- Deficiencies of various kinds
- Emotional distress
An example of this may be inflammation triggered by toxins and fueled by emotional distress. Gout is a form of inflammation strongly linked to toxicity. For example, gout may be triggered in susceptible people by environmental toxins like carbon tetrachloride or dietary toxins such as HCFS (high fructose corn syrup) found in soft drinks. Gout may also be triggered by depression associated with loss, or by anxiety associated with chronic emotional distress. A new round of gout may be triggered by simple trauma to a previously affected toe or possibly a Vitamin C deficiency.
Adding multiple sources of inflammation together may trigger a firestorm of inflammation that rages out of control - creating serious signs of disease.
Triggers: known and unknown
The firefighters mentioned above lost that particular battle with the forest fire because they could not foresee all of the influences hampering their efforts.
The same is true with us:
We can not always foresee all of the inflammation triggers we face
We can not always tell when we trigger the process of inflammation
While we may remember our last soft drink, we may not know when we last breathed carbon tetrachloride, ate fruits and vegetables deficient in Vitamin C, or created micro-trauma by our sleeping position, sedentary lifestyle or choice of shoes. We may also not readily discern the impact of internalized stress.
I recently encountered three people who had different forms of inflammation. One individual suffered from episodes of gout, the second from chronic colitis and the third from osteoarthritis of the knees. They all experienced fast and profound benefits from Nopalea with its anti-inflammatory Betalains. They also later experienced a flare-up of symptoms when their life changed. In all three cases the inflammation appeared to be triggered by severe emotional upset: loss of a spouse, loss of a sibling and loss of a job.
Trying to quench the fire of inflammation created by these emotional extremes with a minimum serving of Nopalea was like trying to quench a forest fire with a single pail of water! We need to judge the severity of the inflammation and meet it with the appropriate anti-inflammatory response if we are to be successful. Don't be afraid to use 3 ounces or 6 ounces every day for a real "Betalain-Boost"!
Conclusion
When we experience any sign or symptom of distress we should interpret it as a communication from our body to our mind that something is wrong. The frequency, intensity and duration of the inflammation will determine how we should escalate our response.
As detectives we solve the mystery of pain by analyzing the four causes of inflammation. However, we must also realize that our ability to solve these puzzles is limited by our knowledge. The more we know about how we work, the greater the opportunity we have to discern the causes of inflammation, create an appropriate, strategic response and successfully put out the fire.
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