“I am noticing that when I start telling a story, halfway through, I forget the thread completely.”
“My friends always look much more energetic than I do. But why do I feel tired all the time?”
“I don’t know, maybe it’s all in my head.”
If this sounds familiar to you, read on, as these symptoms are not figments of your imagination. These are symptoms of something we often find in health blogs but don’t fully understand: chronic inflammation.
Inflammation is a process that helps our body heal. For example, when we catch a cold, we get a swollen throat. This is how our immune system fights against the germs causing the infection.
But if it starts to affect the healthy tissues of our body and it goes on for too long, inflammation becomes chronic, and it can adversely affect our health.
So what does chronic low-grade inflammation actually look like?
1. Your stomach treats food like it’s an enemy
You try to be as careful with your diet as possible, avoiding sweets or excessive salt in your food. But no matter what you eat, you have to rush to the bathroom after every meal.
In Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), our immune system mistakenly attacks our digestive system, thinking it’s a foreign invader. As a result, those tissues become chronically inflamed for years, and we get chronic diarrhoea, despite eating healthy, homemade food.
If you have diarrhea that doesn’t go away even after a week, get yourself checked by a Gastroenterologist.
2. You’re Tired ( even after sleeping well)
Imagine there’s a smartphone and all its apps are constantly working in the background. So, it loses the power to do the necessary tasks even in the foreground. That’s exactly what happens to your energy level when you are chronically inflamed. You feel too weak to do even your regular tasks as your immune system is constantly overworking behind the scenes.
There are some yogas that you can do to increase blood circulation, such as Viparita Karani (Legs-Up-the-Wall Pose) and Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose). They make you more energetic by gently awakening your key muscles and reducing muscle fatigue.
3. Random Skin Rashes Mysteriously Appear and Disappear
Chronic inflammation makes our skin cells too sensitive, and they lose their ability to protect us from the outside world. As a result, we frequently get acne or itchiness even without any external triggers.
Salmon, flaxseeds, and walnuts contain Omega-3 fatty acids, and adding them to your diet can moisturise your skin naturally, besides protecting it from inflammation.
4. Balancing On Your Feet Is Difficult For You
The parts of our brain that help us stay on our feet are very sensitive to our body’s internal environment. When any part is inflamed and that environment is disrupted, our nerves find it difficult to maintain balance.
You can sign up for a yoga or dance class, as these exercises train your body to transfer weight from one leg to the other while staying in control. But if you are a mother, managing time with a family can be difficult. So you can join the classes that offer Free Yoga Online.
For example, a woman from Thane who is a busy mother of two had joined an offline yoga class in Thane, but by the time she reached the class, most of it would already be over. Thanks to the rise of the internet and many yoga channels teaching free yoga online, she now does a 20-minute session right after her kids leave for school.
5. You Have Frequent Mood Swings
Have you ever prepared a list of series to watch on Netflix, but didn’t feel like watching any of them? Well, don’t start blaming your concentration just yet.
When our immune system gets hyperactive from inflammation, it interferes with serotonin and dopamine production, the neurotransmitters that make us feel happy and content. Hence, we frequently find ourselves procrastinating over small things in life.When these mood swings persist over time, they can lead to chronic depression.
If you feel chronically depressed, online settings just don’t work. If you live in a city like Thane, you can join the offline Yoga Classes in Thane . Nothing can cure depression better than the laughter you share when we collectively fall from practicing the tree pose!
But if you catch inflammation early, it’s still fixable
Most of the signs of chronic inflammation are very subtle and may take years before you finally notice them. The only way we can control this is by realising it exists before any serious problem arises.
Just don’t ignore the early signs, act on them in time, and you’ll rewrite your own health story.