14 Signs of Inflammation and How to Stop It

The signs of inflammation are many and varied — it’s been linked to everything from bloating to joint pain to sinus congestion and skin rashes. Although a clinical assessment is the only way to determine for sure if you suffer from inflammation, the more of the following symptoms you experience, the more likely you have low-grade inflammation, says Mark Hyman, MD, author of The UltraSimple Diet (Pocket Books, 2007).

Bloating, belching, passing gas
Diarrhea or constipation
Fatigue, sluggishness
Itchy ears or eyes
Dark circles or bags under eyes
Joint pain or stiffness
Throat tickle, irritation or coughing
Stuffy noise, sinus trouble, excessive mucus
Acne, cysts, hives or rashes
Ruddy, inflamed-looking skin
Flushing
Water retention, skin puffiness
Craving certain foods
Compulsive or binge eating

The good news: Inflammation is fixable: “Our best tool to reverse inflammation isn’t a drug, but our diets,” says Barry Sears, PhD, a former research scientist at Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of the forthcoming Toxic Fat Syndrome. One of the best ways to snuff out inflammation is by heeding food sensitivities and intolerances. These are inflammatory responses that occur when the gut fails to break down certain foods.

The most notorious offenders are dairy, wheat, corn, sugar, soy, eggs and peanuts. Keep a food diary to identify negative reactions (which may be delayed by hours or days after you’ve eaten), then root out food sensitivities by following an elimination diet for at least a week. (For more on that, see “False Fat” in the March/April 2003 archives.)

By eliminating the foods that irritate your body and eating more of those that help your body combat inflammation, you’ll get rid of a lot of bloating and water retention, produce fewer “weight-gain” hormones, and have more energy for activity, says Elson Haas, MD, medical director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin in San Rafael, Calif., and author of The False Fat Diet (Ballantine, 2001). That sounds like a slim-down strategy we can all live with.

By Catherine Guthrie, Experience Life

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Charlene S.

8:57AM PST on Dec 26, 2011

Good suggestions. Many people have food sensitivities that they're unaware of.

send a green star

KS G.

6:17AM PDT on Sep 30, 2011

Thanks for the article.

Carol M.

11:36AM PDT on Sep 3, 2011

I love this.... I suffer awful , now finally I can do somthing about it.. thank you....

Joy W.

7:26PM PDT on Aug 29, 2011

Thanks for the info.

Ida J.

2:51AM PDT on Aug 29, 2011

thank you

Brenda B.

2:32PM PDT on Oct 6, 2010

Time to see your MD.

Teresa P.

4:28AM PDT on Aug 23, 2010

It looks to me like I need more essential fatty acids as I am retaining water and it makes my arthritic joints hurt.

Edwin K.

3:46AM PDT on Aug 12, 2010

Aside from eliminating foods that irritate your body, another way of fighting inflammation is by drinking aloe vera gel. Aloe vera contains anthraquinones, sterols and salicylic acid which are strong anti-inflammatory agents.

Linda J.

9:32AM PDT on Apr 30, 2010

True.

Grace J.

8:18AM PDT on Apr 2, 2010

Inflammation keeps being brought to my attention from all kinds of different places maybe the universe is telling me something! thanks