Inflammation, Inflammation, Inflammation!

Recently I was playing baseball and a teammate slid into second base and then started flopping around like he had been shot in the leg. People were running out to see what had happened. The way he was rolling around I could see he was in a lot of pain. It was his knee. Then everyone starts yelling for me. I'm the unofficial official team doctor. I'm technically not a doctor yet but my teammates assume since I am in my last few months of chiropractic school that I am a doctor already because I treat people in the Palmer West clinic. My first questions are, "Did you hear or feel anything pop? Is there any burning pain? What happened?" That should have been my first question because from what I saw I was thinking ankle. When he told me he came down hard on it and slammed it on the hard dirt. So I asked him to lay still and I just wanted to perform a couple of instability tests on him. He was fine. He has a very bad bone bruise on the patella and the superior aspect of the patellar tendon. It was painful. Ice and compression to keep the inflammation down. Then he asks if he should start popping anti inflammatory pills. He is surprised when I say no. Inflammation is good at this point. Your knee is a high tissue turnover area and right now you do not want to turn off this natural response. He is even more confused , so I explain it to him in a little more detail that makes since and he just agrees to not take any anti-inflammatory drugs right now. So many people have the wrong information. Athletes just want to get back on the field so they say Doc just give me the cortisone so I can get back in the game. They get the shot, feel better, go back and play and all this time the bodies natural healing process has been turned off. The shoulder or knee gets worse and eventually their career ends prematurely because of arthritis pain that is unbearable and performance has diminished. Inflammation is good sometimes. When tissues are injured inflammation is a huge part of the healing process. So where in the body is inflammation bad? How about your digestive tract. If your Gastrointestinal (GI) tract is inflamed then you are going to have all sorts of problems. People with GI problems report painful joints, fatigue, muscle weakness, gas and bloating, nausea, constipation, diarrhea and many many more. Why would a chiropractor be concerned about the GI tract? People come to see us for joint pain. When I find functional and structure issues with the spine I will run a trial of care. Some time the person reports they feel better and normal after a few weeks. But I have had patients that come back and have the same complaint week after week. This is not a chiropractic problem. This is an inflammation problem. I am willing to say that ninety percent of these people have inflammation related GI problems. They are overweight, on all kinds of medications, dehydrated, report food allergies, fibromyalgia, celiac disease that is unresolved when taken of gluten. There history tells me this is the case loud and clear. I though I once had chronic neck and lower back pain. Once I put myself on an anti-inflammatory diet my problems began to go away. For one month I ate no dairy or meat. I lost twenty pounds, my skin looked younger healthier and was softer. Then next month I reintroduced dairy. I added cheese to my food and salads, butter in my coffee. The gas and smelly stools returned and my head is full of mucus. I even got sick for the first time in two years. My lungs are now full of mucus too. So I'm off the dairy again for good. I do drink coffee but instead of butter I use coconut oil and it is still creamy. I'm tired of being a nice about people's health. I'm at the point where I care about people to much to sugar coat what they are doing to themselves. If your body is in a constant state of inflammation then you are slowly killing yourself. If your body is too acidic and is a breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria and even cancer. You are consciously choosing to kill yourself buy the eating choices that you make so here is some "Tough love". Sorry to be so straight forward, I am just sick of the lies you are being told so really I'm not sorry. If your food last for months in your fridge then it is not food, it is food stuff or food product. These food products have very little nutritional value. Food spoils in days. It is living and therefore it dies. You must consume it while it is living to keep life in your body.
Does this make since? Why do you think people are aging faster? People are dying faster is the reason. The human body is designed to live to 120-140 yet ours are done at 75, and its a miserable 75 years at the end. If you have questions about an anti-inflammatory diet and how to reboot your system email me at greg@baseballchiro.com.