Why it's INFLAMMATION that makes your body age and here's how to stop it trends now

Everything — the air we breathe, the food and water we consume, the beauty products we use and the stress we are under — impacts our health both now and down the road.

Our immune system is under attack every day, and most of the time we stay healthy because of the trillions of cells inside the body constantly at work to keep us safe.

But when our bodies encounter too many chemicals, our defence systems can malfunction, and this results in inflammation — one of the most serious yet overlooked factors affecting how we age and how long we will live.

It is implicated in everything from arthritis to heart disease and cancer — and, as an immunologist, I’ve seen time and again the havoc it can wreak.

When any kind of threat — bacteria, toxins, trauma, even extremes of temperature — injures our tissues, they become inflamed as part of the immune response.

This is usually only temporary, and the inflammation is crucial in triggering the process by which the body protects and heals itself.

But in some situations, the inflammation can result in DNA damage because too many defence cells (white blood cells) heed the body’s call and join the fight.

Our immune system has one job: to defend our bodies.

So when we introduce problematic chemicals constantly — whether that be the hormones released during periods of excess stress, or the ingredients in ultra-processed foods — the immune system thinks it’s under attack, and will unleash an overabundance of white blood cells to try to protect us.

Sometimes these cells attack our own organs or otherwise healthy tissues and cells, causing DNA damage.

Those attacks age our tissues, eroding our overall health, and can, in some cases, lead to auto-immune conditions such as coeliac disease or multiple sclerosis. Researchers call this reaction ‘inflammaging’ (inflammation plus ageing).

When our cells face near-constant attack, inflammaging can push them into senescence, or old age, meaning they stop multiplying and growing. 

Cellular senescence initiates a cascade of negative immune responses, opening the door to cancer, osteoarthritis and ageing-related diseases. 

When our body’s inflammatory responses are so severe, our immune system may become less resilient, potentially lessening the ability to resist the effects of ageing.

In the Covid-19 pandemic, older adults, particularly those with pre-exisiting medical conditions including obesity, showed an increased risk of experiencing uncontrolled inflammatory responses called cytokine storms, which can result in multi- organ failure. Many of these people died.

So far, so grim. But the power to change this dire outcome lies in your hands. Think of your body like a car. The more you expose it to extreme wear and tear, the more damaged it will become.

But if you fill it with high-quality fuel, do preventative maintenance, and give it regular tune-ups, the better it will run and the longer it will last.

Follow the simple guidance in my exclusive new series, which starts today and continues in The Mail on Sunday tomorrow, and I can help you prevent unnecessary wear and tear.

By giving you the keys to strengthen your immune system and reduce inflammation, I can really aid you in slowing the effects of ageing, improve your health and ultimately live longer.

EAT TO NOURISH CELLS NOT SATISFY CRAVINGS

The stark truth is that today’s children may live shorter, less healthy lives than their parents.

One of the main factors behind this is what we feed them — not to mention what we feed ourselves. Over the past few decades, obesity and diabetes have risen to epidemic levels.

Unhealthy life habits which cause this excessive weight gain, such as eating sugar and carbohydrates in excess, can lead to chronic inflammation. This undermines the immune system and shortens your life.

With the explosion in availability of fast, processed foods, it’s easy to forget that what we eat is supposed to fuel the body, maintain health and prevent disease, rather than just satisfying our cravings. Food gives our cells nutrients and nourishes the body.

The quality of what you eat becomes even more important if you are recovering from an infection, pregnant or breastfeeding. Consuming the right nutrients vitally restores the balance within our bodies, lowers inflammation and boosts the immune system.

If you’re consuming the wrong foods, including sugar and alcohol, not only will you be ageing your body faster but you probably weigh more than you should.

Some studies have found that, for women, a large waistline increased the risk of dying of cardiovascular disease, even when their body mass index (BMI) was considered to be within the normal range. Fat tissue creates adipocytokines, molecules which can promote inflammation. That’s why obesity results in low-grade, chronic inflammation which can put stress on your immune system.