Oftentimes, the word inflammation calls for the red alert and makes everyone run for hills. But it’s not truly an evil entity in essence. Inexplicably, it is one of the top healthcare conundrums of all time.
To clarify the situation, our science folks have declared its two types: acute and chronic inflammation. Acute inflammation, which we typically encounter, is characterized by 4 cardinal responses: rubor (redness), (calor) heat, tumor (swelling), and dolor (pain). All these responses hail the white blood cells to fight the invaders that may cause the infection and initiate the healing process.
In chronic inflammation, contrarily, the flame survives the intrinsic attacks while the WBCs end up swamping the region with more problems by damaging the nearby healthy cells, tissues, and organs.
The goal is to keep the course of inflammation in check as it spreads like wildfire if stays unattended. It wouldn’t harm to call inflammation a two-edged sword. On one side, it plays an essential role along with the immune system to keep the body healthy. However, on the flip side, it can lead to heart diseases, arthritis, and even cancer.
Inflammation is not at all unavoidable. For learning how to treat it, here are the top 3 ingredients at your service.
Turmeric
Turmeric root (Curcuma longa) is the golden ingredient to cater to wild inflammation. Its active ingredient curcumin is a well-known anti-inflammatory substance that blocks certain enzymes and pathways to mitigate inflammation.
The excellent anti-inflammatory property of turmeric helps with various inflammatory diseases, including arthritis, osteoarthritis, heart diseases, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), diabetes, pancreatitis, obesity, autoimmune disorders, and even cancer.
Birch Polypore
Birch polypore (Fomitopsis betulina) is a mushroom that grows on birch trees in cold regions. It can be easily located on a dead birch log. Apart from its anti-parasitic action, it has garnered some special light due to its remarkable anti-inflammatory property.
Birch polypore contains ketones, aliphatic alcohols, and triterpenic acids which account for its inflammation-combating property. It reduces the redness and swelling, all the while protecting the monocytes and WBCs, and easing inflammatory conditions.
Basil
Basil (Ocimum basilicum) is a one-stop-shop for all your problems. Be it indigestion or depression, liver dysfunction or diabetes, basil knows exactly how to take down its opponents in one go. And inflammation is no exception to it.
Basil is brimmed with eugenol, linalool, and citronellol, which helps combat inflammation. This way, basil can be used to prevent and treat arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and other inflammatory conditions.
More medicinal herbs that can be used for inflammation.