In my post last week I talked about how important treating chronic inflammation was to improving health outcomes - particularly as they relate to heart disease, diabetes, and cancer prevention.

This week I want to delve a little bit deeper as to what might be some warning signs that chronic inflammation is a problem for you.

Here are 5 signs that you are chronically inflamed and it's time to do something about it:

1. You feel bloated, gassy, or feel like you are retaining water - when you are chronically inflamed your cells become "leaky" and start to lose water. The water start to sit on the outside of the cell instead of the inside and you feel all of the above.
2. You are having trouble losing weight - belly fat is a "hot bed of inflammation". Fat cells in the abdomen make lots of inflammatory chemicals and the more fat you have, the more chemicals you make. Talk about the ultimate vicious cycle.
3. You are tired all the time - inflamed cells are sick cells and then they are sick they can't make any energy.
4. Your skin is itchy, you have hives or skin rashes - your skin is an outward expression of your digestive tract, a primary site for inflammation. Inflammation on your skin means inflammation in your gut.
5. You feel achy & sore a lot - this is probably the most obvious symptom attributed to inflammation but rarely do we think it could be triggered by our diet.

If you have any of these symptoms I invite you to join me on a inflammation detox. Preparation week starts next week so make sure you sign up before Friday at 2pm.

Look for the invitation I sent in your email that has all the details.

Now I would love to hear from you!  What symptoms of inflammation have you had and how did you treat them? Leave a comment below and I'll be back next week with another edition of Doctor as Teacher Tuesday!