All About Inflammation

So... What is inflammation?

In simple terms, inflammation is a process that occurs when your body tries to heal itself in response to something that damages it, such as an injury, infection, or toxins. In more scientific terms, inflammation occurs when an unknown change to your body ( for example, a herniated disk or an infected wound) results in a chemical response from your body to defend itself.

This includes the release of antibodies and proteins, and triggers increased blood flow to the affected area. Increased blood flow produces more white blood cells, which release toxins to kill any microorganisms in their path – not just unwanted pathogens, but also their adjacent cells, regardless of whether they are sick or healthy. [1]

While this rampage of white blood cells sounds scary, it only happens to protect, heal, and cleanse your body of bad things. [1]

This process usually lasts a few hours to a few days and is known as acute inflammation. This is a necessary step in the body's natural healing process. However, if the inflammation process is prolonged, it becomes chronic inflammation. This leaves your body in a constant state of alert, and studies suggest that this can lead to DNA damage or even cancer [2]. 🧬🙁

Inflammatory diseases

There are some conditions in which chronic inflammation persists. These include asthma, tuberculosis, and Crohn's disease [1]. While some of these conditions cannot be cured, their symptoms can potentially be reduced with the right medication or by following an anti-inflammatory diet.

The role of nutrition

Several studies have been conducted with the goal of finding the optimal anti-inflammatory diet. Oregon State University combined the results of many of these studies that looked at specific indicators of inflammation, to see how the body responds to various nutrients. The findings found that the following reduced inflammation [1]:

1. A low cholesterol diet. That means less alcohol, more fruits and vegetables, and a delicious guacamole instead of a Big Mac. 🍔❌
2. A low glycemic index diet, as foods with a high glycemic index (GI of 70 or higher) will spike blood sugar and cause increased inflammation [3]. Low GI foods include white bread, rice cakes, bagels, and croissants. If you want to learn more about Jimmy Joy’s GI, check out our diabetes article.
3. Omega-3 fatty acids, which can be found in fish, flax seeds, walnuts, and canola oil.🐟
4. Arginine, an amino acid found in meat, fish, dairy, and eggs. Vegetarian or vegan? You're in luck! The main ingredient in our Plenny shake is oats, a cereal that not only contains arginine, but is also full of fiber, which can help protect against the development of some inflammatory diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. 🥩🥚🧀🧡

Now for the real fun; micronutrients. Not only do they sound nice, but they're also the real winners. In short, if you have the recommended daily allowance of these, your body will be healthier and better able to fight off chronic inflammation.

Not only is vitamin C a good antioxidant, but trials have also found that people who took vitamin C supplements experienced less inflammation than those who didn’t. It may also help protect against a number of diseases with inflammatory components, from coronary heart disease to gout🍊. Similarly, evidence shows that those who don’t consume the recommended daily amount of magnesium tend to experience increased inflammation. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to cardiovascular disease and inflammatory bowel diseases (like Crohn’s disease), and a component of vitamin E uses a bunch of complicated biochemical mechanisms to successfully counteract the effects of inflammation in cardiovascular disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Additionally, lipoic acid has also been shown to reduce inflammation. It occurs naturally in the body, but can also be obtained by eating tomatoes, leafy greens, and cruciferous vegetables. Since most people don’t meet their daily requirements for any of these sexy micronutrients, simply taking multivitamin supplements has been found to significantly alleviate inflammation as well. Now if only there was a way to get all of these vitamins into your body in a quick and delicious meal replacement ...

Some micronutrients come from plants that are bros and create chemicals that could be helpful for human health. We call them phytochemicals because they keep you phyt. Hehe.

Carotenoids are phytochemicals that make many things yellow, orange, red, or pink. Examples of foods are carrots, tomatoes, pumpkins, berries, shrimp. Flamingos even get their color from the food they eat. All of these counteract inflammation (but don't eat flamingos now). Flavonoids, found in soy, berries, tea, apples, chocolate, onions, and many others, may also have an anti-inflammatory effect [4]. Other studies point to curcumin (turmeric), garlic, and ginger as being helpful against chronic inflammation.

Some help from us

We have received numerous messages and reviews from people with inflammation-related conditions, such as Crohn's disease, reporting that they experience less inflammation due to Jimmy Joy.

Marcella says: “Not only is it very tasty, but I have Crohn's disease and my body can barely do anything. By eating only solid food, I lost 8 kilos in a few months and I simply can't eat normally (I'm full by default, I'm not hungry). Then I discovered your products 2 months ago! I now live fully and my stomach can handle this much better. And finally I don't lose so much anymore. So thank you🙏🏻"

Since we did not conduct a clinical trial regarding inflammation, we cannot say for certain that Jimmy Joy is anti-inflammatory. Whether they will reduce your inflammation depends on your body's individual needs. However, the ingredients in our products do include anti-inflammatory components.

Specifically, the Plenny Shake Active neutral may be your best bet due to its low glycemic index and lack of flavoring. It is packed with vitamins and healthy fatty acids like omega 3, which consistently improve your health, and oats and soy, which studies have shown have anti-inflammatory qualities.

We hope that more research (with human subjects) will be conducted in the future so that we can keep you updated and provide you with more detailed research on inflammation. But for now, we hope that we have informed you well enough to come to your own conclusion about whether Jimmy Joy is right for you and your condition.

Comments from people with inflammation-related diseases

Sources

1. [1] Oregon State University (2020). Inflammation.
2. [2] National Cancer Institute (2015). Risk Factors: Chronic Inflammation.
3. [3] Harvard Health Publishing (2020). A good guide to carbs: The glycemic index.
4. [4] Oregon State University (2020). Flavonoids.