By now, everyone is familiar with the word “inflammation.” Inflammation is deemed negative, but inflammation is a good thing because it is activated when our body needs to heal an injury, foreign invader or toxin. Luckily, we have pathways in our body to increase inflammation and decrease inflammation as necessary. The problem is when our body is inflamed all the time and does not have a way to anti-inflame.
Inflammation Pathways
Hormone-like substances called prostaglandins regulate inflammation. There are two anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, PG1 and PG3, and one pro-inflammatory prostaglandin, PG2. These three prostaglandins can be formed from food we eat and even supplements. Polyunsaturated fats produce the anti-inflammatory prostaglandins. PG1 is formed from omega-6 fatty acids and PG3 is formed from omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-6 and omega-3 are termed “essential fatty acids” because we cannot make them in our body, so we must get them from an external source. Saturated fats produce the inflammatory prostaglandin, PG2. Now this looks like a bad thing but again, inflammation comes to the rescue to help you heal. You must first inflame before you anti-inflame.
Pathway Inhibitors
Many factors can inhibit these pathways. Wherever there is pain, there is inflammation. What does society normally do when they feel pain? Pop an aspirin or ibuprofen, which are classified as an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug). Steroids are also common drugs used for pain relief. These work by blocking the enzymes that form the prostaglandins. However, these are not selective to only the pro-inflammatory pathway (PG2) but they can inhibit the anti-inflammatory pathways (PG1 and PG3) as well. So blocking the PG2 pathway is what ultimately reduces the inflammation and therefore the pain one senses. Alcohol is another prostaglandin inhibitor, but it is unique because it only inhibits PG1 and PG3 and does not stop PG2.
Alternatives
When you experience pain, a better alternative to drugs is to take a fish oil supplement. Fish oil is an omega-3 fatty acid that can push the PG3 pathway and it also inhibits the PG2 pathway because of the EPA it contains. Turmeric is also a good supplement to take because it can inhibit PG2.
Ultimately, all three need to be present and in balance in your diet. If we eat too much poor quality saturated fat or eat rancid polyunsaturated fats, this pushes the PG2 pathway, which causes inflammation with no way to stop it. We need saturated fat to signal inflammation to heal our body and polyunsaturated fats to turn this response off.
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