How to Eliminate Inflammatory Aggravators from Your Life 
Here's some basic info and ways to start eliminating inflammatory aggravators in your diet and life. Basically, the the body cannot heal when it's in an inflammatory state, so the goal is to bring down that inflammation systemically (throughout your whole body) and allow the tissues to heal and make new healthy cells. First and foremost, make sure you're seeing your chiropractor regularly, because the body cannot regulate inflammation properly without having a fully clear and functioning nervous system. Second, things that cause inflammation in your body are unique to you, here I'll give you some common inflammation creators and you can see how your body does when eliminating them from your diet. Another way to go about this is getting a naturopath or functional medicine Doctor and working with them, getting some blood work done and seeing what irritates your body and causes an inflammatory reaction. Along with foods, toxins and chemicals can cause a reaction in your body. So taking a look at the types of products you use on your body, in your house, and what you wash your clothes with will be another factor. The basic premise is that the bodies inability to regulate inflammation is the underlying cause of all disease. So making sure your nervous system is functioning properly (via chiropractic) is so important because your nervous system controls your inner chemistry (aka how your body regulates inflammation). Next the foods and things that our body comes into contact with will either irritate and challenge your body OR support it in a positive way.

Common Foods that cause inflammation in the system: (Avoid these foods)
-wheat and gluten, SUGAR, dairy, eggs, nut allergies, any foods that you're allergic to or intolerant to, alcohol, caffeine, MSG (monosodiumglutamate), anything that is GMO, any other additives (aka foods with ingredients that seem like they came out of a lab and not the ground).

What to eat to support the body:
-eat/use only ALL ORGANIC foods and products. Fresh fruits and vegetables. Only eat grass fed organic beef/milk/butter, organic free range chicken, WILD fish (no farmed!), brown rice/quinoa, sweet potatoes (no regular potatoes), use coconut oil for cooking and extra virgin olive oil (no canola oil or vegetable oil). Cook at home, eating out you never know what you're gonna get and what types of oils and additives they use. When reading labels on foods, make sure to not get them even if they say "natural flavors" because that means they have MSG in it.

Supplements to take that will help decrease inflammation:
-Fish oil (good source is important, not from Costco!), tumeric, Vit. D, Vit B complex, Vit K2, and resveritrol. (Talk with a naturopath about doses, to get a better idea of how much you should be taking of each)

Lastly, take a look at the products you use in your home and hair care and makeup and such. Coconut oil for skin as a lotion works really nice.

-Amy Markhoff, D.C.