“If you eat a standard American diet, you get the standard American disease.”
-Ocean Robbins
Grandson of Baskin Robbins founder, Irv Robbins
How does John Robbins, the only son and heir to the Baskin-Robbins empire, trade his place and stake in the iconic American ice cream company for the rocky road of entrepreneurship and promotion of a plant-powered lifestyle? Like many Americans, John Robbins saw a member of his family become sickened with heart disease and made the unpopular decision to shift his family’s story in favor of longevity and health. Heart disease, among the other top American diseases such as diabetes, obesity, altzheimers, depression and cancer, have been cited by Harvard Health as linked to chronic inflammation. It has been widely recommended by health professionals that one of the best ways to combat chronic inflammation is by making wise decisions at the grocery store through daily food choices.
Over the last ten years, leaders in the field of fascial research have begun to study the effects of chronic inflammation on fascia, or connective tissue. Research continues to build in this relatively new field, and recent findings show that chronic inflammation precursors fibrosis, a hardening of fascial tissue, that is directly correlated to metastatic cancer. Keeping in mind the role microbiome, genetic and epigenetic differences play in influencing outcomes for all individuals, connections between inflammation and fibrosis are interesting to our work at Delos Therapy because we see the life-altering impacts of chronic pain and fibrotic tissue for many of our patients every day.
What is inflammation and its connection to fibrosis?
Simply put, inflammation is our body’s healing mechanism that fights and removes harmful elements in our bodies. It is an important orchestrated movement of chemical messengers, neurological signalling and cell activity that’s responsible for wound healing and the removal of inflections and toxins. While an acute and strong inflammatory response is essential to heal and protect the body, a sustained or “chronic” response (anything lasting longer than 4 days) has been shown to cause cell differentiation. This, in turn, develops low-grade internal scarring of the fascia, which begins around neurovascular bundles, and then proliferates through muscles and organs.
Repetitive movement in the presence of inflammation increases the rigidity of the fascial net. Dr. Paul Hodges observed changes in muscle fiber type, connective tissue build up, and fatty infiltration within local tissues after only 6 months of sustained inflammation. Fatty infiltration increases proinflammatory cytokines, or chemical messengers responsible for calling in inflammatory immune cells (macrophages), and is a known contributor to organ dysfunction, diabetes and obesity. Inflammation is shown to degrade slow-twitch muscle fibers increasing the ratio of fast-twitch muscle fibers in the affected area. This coupled with the rigidity of connective tissue produced by chronic inflammation decreases muscular endurance, compromises good form and loading, can increase muscle soreness, and makes local pain receptors (nociceptors) more sensitive to sensory input.
So how can an anti-inflammatory diet help?
Aside from the obvious instances of injury and sickness, a high stress lifestyle takes energy for your body to process. We know that mental stress, environmental pollution, UV exposure, poor diet choices, and caloric overload all impact the body’s energy stores to speed up cellular degradation and shift energy away from essential repair processes. A diet rich in nutrients, healthy fats, and high in antioxidants is a way to replenish these cellular energy stores. Anti-inflammatory foods support the clean-up, repair, and recycling mechanisms that reset cellular metabolism, restore the balance and allow your body to more easily handle continuous stressors and instances of injury or sickness.
Your mom was right – eat your veggies!
Popular anti-inflammatory food options include veggies, berries, legumes, nuts & seeds, foods high in omega-3, like chia seeds or salmon. Experts recommend shifting away from the major dietary players known to cause inflammation – refined sugar and refined vegetable oil. Be sure to read the labels too since many “healthier” alternatives on the shelves are mixed with problematic oils like palm and canola. Additionally, new research is finding that cooking food at lower temperatures is great for you because it lessens the formation of non-enzymatic crosslinking, known as advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs occur as an effect of the Maillard reaction, or when you get that crispy char on food cooked on high heat. AGEs happen to be a component in the development of fibrosis which is interesting to consider for what we see in our clinic. Some anti-inflammatory foods have been found to have molecular agents that help to protect against the formation of AGEs.
Dr. Sandra Kaufman explains how molecular agents found in anti-inflammatory foods help to neutralize unstable molecules, downregulate the production of inflammatory markers, protect and repair damaged DNA, mobilize fatty infiltration and lipids, and recycle damaged proteins. Restoration of cellular energy not only decreases chronic inflammation, but also increases your body’s capacity for exercise, improves memory, vision and skin appearance, quickens healing time after injury, safe-guards against fibrosis, and slows aging.
How can work at Delos Therapy help to manage inflammation?
For years, we have seen patients on all levels of the spectrum of pain and stiffness, from athletic performance limitations to those experiencing chronic pain and injury. Regardless of the degree of discomfort, we have often found that a critical underlying component of pain is hard and fibrotic fascial tissue. By applying our precise and systematic combination of pressure and shear into the tightest fascia, we are able to stretch tissue previously unaffected by conventional stretching and self-care techniques. Over a short period of time, we can restructure the connective tissue and relieve the pain and stress caused by facial rigidity. This enables the movement of cells to bring hydration and nutrients into tissues, reduces aggravation of nerve receptors, and increases the amount of resolvins responsible for closing inflammatory responses. In addition to opening up the capacity for movement by reinstating pliability of our tissues, Delos Therapy restructures the environment for cells and mechanisms to balance and modulate inflammation.
How do anti-inflammatory foods aid Delos Therapy?
It is important, as we open the avenues for cellular metabolism, to not be deficient in the nutrients needed to restore balance, and to be mindful of bio-individuality when assessing the results. Anti-inflammatory foods can supply our bodies with the ingredients it needs to combat inflammation, and protect against key players in fibrosis development, along with assisting popular weight-loss goals, slowing down the aging process, and improving the overall capacity for pain-free movement and muscular health. By incorporating Delos Therapy and anti-inflammatory foods into a long-term wellness plan, patients can support their efforts for a healthy lifestyle and may address the root cause of conditions influenced and amplified by inflammation.
- Nutrition & Muscular Health: The Missing Link in Absorption, Part II - September 17, 2020
- Nutrition & Muscular Health: The Missing Link in Absorption, Part I - September 10, 2020
- An Anti-Inflammatory Diet for Muscular Health - July 7, 2020