Keep Inflammation at Bay With Daily Krill Oil
8 minute read
Despite the fact that we need the inflammatory response, chronic inflammation will only lead to more serious and complicated health problems. You may notice an achy joint in the morning, some afternoon brain fog, or perhaps a bloated stomach after dinner but never realize that something more serious is going on.
The chronic inflammatory cycle causes cell death, the breakdown of vital tissues, and contributes to obesity, autoimmunity, heart disease, type II diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, and degenerative joint diseases.
The good news is that a small krill oil supplement could be the answer to your inflammatory problems.
Know Your Enemy: Inflammation
Your immune system naturally emits an inflammatory response to address any invading pathogens or an injury. This response allows your white blood cells to reach the scene of an injury or locate invading bacteria to destroy it.
| Related: How to Release Stress and Relieve Inflammation |
On the surface, inflammation is beneficial for protecting us. As with many things in life, too much of a good thing can be bad, and chronic or uncontrolled inflammation is no different.
With some diseases, like arthritis, the body triggers an immune response when there is no foreign invader, and the body essentially attacks itself, destroying otherwise healthy cells and tissue.
The common symptoms to look for with chronic inflammation include:
♦ Redness and swelling
♦ Joint pain and stiffness
♦ Fever and chills
♦ Fatigue and loss of energy
♦ Chronic headaches
♦ Loss of appetite
♦ Muscle stiffness
If inflammation is left unaddressed, these inflammatory diseases can cause serious damage to your body internally. Depending on which organ is affected by the autoimmune disorder, damage can even be fatal.
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Myocarditis, which is inflammation of your heart, can lead to shortness of breath and fluid retention. If the small tubes transporting air to the lungs become inflamed, you can experience severe difficulty breathing.
Inflammation of the kidneys (nephritis) can cause high blood pressure or even kidney failure. Regardless of the targeted area, it is best to address chronic inflammation right away.
Good Things Come in Small Packages
Krill oil is quickly becoming the preferred choice over fish oil because it is a more-efficient method of getting the essential omega-3 fatty acids: EPA and DHA. It has also been shown to be more easily absorbed in our body because the DHA and EPA compounds are free and not bound, making them more available for the body to use.
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An additional benefit of krill oil supplements is their smaller capsule size, which many people think is easier to handle than the larger fish oil alternatives. Plus, they do not leave the strongly disliked fishy aftertaste that many complain of.
Krill oil contains many important compounds like vitamins A, E, B9 (folate) and B12 which means you can replace all those daily vitamin pills with one small supplement. Additionally, krill oil contains choline, which transports fats and reducing homocysteine, and the fat-soluble pigment, astaxanthin, a powerful antioxidant.
These beneficial components of krill oil help to restore normal endocannabinoid system function, which plays a pivotal role in motivation, mood and memory.
In the 1980s, researchers discovered the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which is a unique and powerful system in our bodies. There are cannabinoid receptors in almost every part of the body as a part of this extensive system.
The ECS is responsible for the release of cannabinoids, which stabilize any irregular or damaged cells. This potential damage can be caused by stress, tension, excessive growth and so on.
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The stabilization process of the ECS enables your cells to carry our apoptosis (programmed cell death) when required. Without this, old cells remain in the body and can accumulate to form cancer or tumor growths.
How Krill Fights Inflammation
There are two types of inflammation that you should be familiar with: One is acute, which occurs when you are fighting an illness, coughing or healing a sprained ankle.
The other is chronic, which is the one you may not even notice until it is too late. It sneaks up on you and slowly damages your overall health, increasing your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis.
Research has shown that omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in krill oil supplements, can have a positive impact on both types of inflammation.
| Related: Harness The Omega-3 Power of Krill Oil To Protect Your Brain |
To understand how omega-3 fatty acids are able to reduce inflammation and cut it down, you need to be more aware of what you are not getting.
Omega-6 fatty acids are plentiful in the common American diet and are converted by the body into inflammatory-related chemicals. Both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are required as precursors to many essential substances needed for good health.
However, when our diets are not as rich in omega-3s and antioxidants as they need to be, chronic inflammation rears its ugly head.
Omega-3s have their own chemicals, called resolvins, that turn off the inflammatory response, thereby decreasing the damage it can cause. With more omega-3 food sources in your diet or a supplemental source like krill oil, there would not be enough omega-6 in your body to cause this widespread inflammation.
Given that some of the common symptoms of inflammation include redness, swelling, and pain, the reduction in inflammation brought about by krill oil can relieve these and bring you comfort.
If you are currently suffering from chronic inflammation or any of the autoimmune diseases associated with it, know that you do not have to continue suffering. Krill oil is a natural and very effective compound for decreasing inflammation.
At the same time, it increases much-needed nutrient flow to your bloodstream. A daily krill oil supplement is easy to add to your life and safe.
The Bottom Line
Full of the essential omega-3 fatty acids that are lacking in most diets, antioxidants, and vitamins, krill oil is a powerful tool in combating chronic inflammatory symptoms. Considering it's value and bioavailability, it's no wonder it has begun replacing fish oil as the omega-3, antioxidant supplement of choice.
