January 21, 2025 • 35 mins
In this episode, Dr. Alfred Alessi explores inflammation's impact on health, focusing on chronic inflammation and its silent symptoms. He critiques traditional care and shares a real-life example of effectively resolving inflammation. The episode includes a message from Authentic Nutrition and discusses lifestyle's role in managing inflammation. Dr. Alessi highlights functional medicine's approach, emphasizing stress management, sleep, detoxification, and environmental adjustments. Listeners receive practical tips to reduce inflammation. The episode concludes with a preview of the next episode featuring Zeke Samples and a reminder to connect with Alessi Functional Health.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
This is where traditional care can fall shortbecause focusing on symptoms when there are no
(00:06):
symptoms is gonna cause you to miss somethingthat is underneath the radar.
So we often miss this root cause problem thathas been going on for oftentimes years without
people noticing.
Welcome to Health decode, your number onesource for real health information with your
host, doctor Alessi and Matt Tack.
(00:28):
Alright.
Welcome to episode 3 of Health Decoded.
Today's episode, I'm doctor Alfred Alessi.
Today's episode, we are going to be talkingabout inflammation and more importantly,
decoding inflammation and what we call thesilent health saboteur.
And now why do we call it this is becauseoftentimes inflammation can go unnoticed and
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unmanaged in the body.
I wanna thank you for joining us.
I wanna thank you for coming back on the show.
If you listened to our last episode, wediscussed root cause medicine and how it
differs from the standard conventional westernmedicine approach, which is very much focused
on symptoms and addressing just pain relief andsymptom relief versus getting to the bottom of
(01:14):
an issue or the root cause as we call it andreally fixing the problem.
So as always, if if you've been listening tothe show and you're enjoying it, please sign up
for our newsletter.
You can go to Alessi functionalhealth.com.
Sign up for the newsletter to stay informed.
Subscribe so you don't miss any episodes of theshow every Tuesday.
And share this with somebody who you thinkwould benefit from the information that we are
(01:38):
discussing on the show.
So we have a really awesome episode today.
Tons of information.
This is going to be probably enlightening to alot of people.
And just a topic that I believe is veryimportant because it has snowballed over the
last decade of becoming from a buzzword to justa real problem in our society and in our
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country.
The concept of chronic inflammation.
Now I just really quickly wanna set the stagefor what this episode is gonna be about.
Today's conversation, we are gonna decode themystery of inflammation, separating the good
from the bad.
Let's dive into how chronic inflammationdevelops, its root causes, and why it's often
overlooked in traditional symptom based healthcare.
(02:24):
Importantly, we're gonna explore actionablestrategies to address inflammation at its root,
empowering you to take control of your health,reduce disease risk, and optimize your
well-being.
And, really, inflammation is not just aboutmanaging symptoms.
It's about understanding the why behind them.
Making sustainable changes to restore balanceand then live an optimal healthy lifestyle.
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So thank you for joining me.
Let's dive right in.
So why did we choose this topic?
And why is this something important foreveryone to have knowledge about?
It's because inflammation is good and bad.
And, you know, it really is a protectivemechanism in the body.
But when left out of balance and unchecked,inflammation can become detrimental and often
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life threatening.
So chronic inflammation is actually linked to 3out of the 5 leading causes of death worldwide.
Basically saying that a majority of deaths canbe prevented by managing chronic inflammation
or preventing issues that cause inflammation.
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So what is inflammation?
Right?
Let's start with that.
Inflammation is a natural and essentialbiological process that occurs when your immune
system detects injury, infection, or harmfulsubstances in the body, such as toxins or
chemicals.
It's your body's way of protecting and healingitself.
When you cut your finger or you get a cold,your immune system springs into action,
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releasing chemical signals that attract theimmune cells to the affected area.
This acute inflammatory response is beneficial.
It fights off infections, repairs damagedtissues, and it helps restore your body to its
normal state.
So this protective mechanism is a good thing.
This is something that we want, something thatshould happen.
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When you work out too hard, your body feelssore and tired.
That's inflammation.
It's a good thing.
It's rebuilding.
However, inflammation isn't always helpful.
When it becomes chronic, persisting for weeks,months, or even years, it can turn from a
protective mechanism into a destructive force.
Chronic inflammation occurs when the immunesystem is constantly triggered often due to
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underlying issues like poor diet, chronicstress, environmental toxins, or unresolved
infections.
These are latent pathogens possibly living inthe body, parasites, mold, heavy metals.
These things can constantly trigger thatinflammatory immune response.
And the problem is that chronic inflammationdoesn't announce itself with obvious symptoms.
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It quietly works in the background, causingdamage to tissues and organs over time, and
this is why we refer to it as a silentsaboteur.
So as we said, inflammation is beneficial,helps the body heal and recover.
It is is a cornerstone of your body's naturaldefense system.
When you experience the injury, infection, orirritation, your immune system then leaps into
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action, triggering that inflammatory responseto protect.
And here's the keyword, repair the affectedarea.
Your body's always trying to heal and repairand regenerate.
So you can really think of it as your body'sbuilt in emergency response team working
swiftly and efficiently to contain damage andbegin the healing process.
So here's how that acute inflammation works.
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This is what happens inside the body.
1st, the alarm gets triggered.
Right?
Your body detects a problem, like a sprainedankle or some kind of invading bacteria.
It sends out chemical signals such ashistamines and cytokines to alert your immune
system.
What happens next?
Increased blood flow.
So these signals cause blood vessels to dilate.
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That means get wider, increasing blood flow tothe affected area.
This delivers oxygen, nutrients, and immunecells to where they're needed most.
So it's basically opening the floodgates sothat the good guys can come and get to the
area.
This is why a swollen area like a sprainedankle often looks red, feels warm.
This is a sign of that increased blood flow andcirculation.
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Next, the body recruits immune cells.
White blood cells like neutrophils andmacrophages rush to the site to neutralize
these harmful invaders and clean up damagedtissue.
Then it facilitates the repair.
So the immune cells release growth factors thatstimulate tissue regeneration and repair.
Much like that working out example I mentioned,when you work out, your body feels sore.
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You have torn down muscle fibers and brokendown tissue.
Your body repairs, rebuilds stronger.
Right?
Think of, like, scaffolding on a building thatthey're repairing.
The building was good, but there were someinternal issues.
They put the scaffolding up, then they fixeverything, and then they take it down, and now
it's better.
Right?
And so, you know, I I think the best examplemost people can align with is the twisted ankle
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or the sprained ankle.
Swells becomes tender.
Again, this is this swelling is a result offluid and immune cells flooding to the area to
protect and begin the healing process.
While it does feel uncomfortable, it is a signthat your body is working to repair that
damage.
Another great, example is when you get a feverduring an infection.
A lot of people wanna reduce the fever, but infact, the fever is actually a good thing.
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The fever is your body's positive response toan infection.
When you have the flu, your body raises itstemperature to create an environment that's
less hospitable to invading viruses orbacteria.
So it's basically trying to push the bad guysout while it's bringing the good guys in.
Now while fevers can feel miserable andannoying and obviously they are not not
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comfortable, it's a very important tool in yourimmune system's arsenal to help fight off that
infection more effectively.
So why is it was why is acute inflammation agood thing?
Because it's fast acting and targeted.
It responds only to the areas where it'sneeded.
It helps to prevent further injury or infectionby isolating the problem, and it's temporary,
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only lasting until the issue is resolved.
So in essence, acute inflammation is alifesaver.
It's your body's way of saying, hey.
I've got this.
Give me some time to repair and recover.
Understanding that this process helps usappreciate why a little swelling or discomfort
isn't always bad.
Right?
The same reason again, I keep going back to theworkout, analogy.
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When you work out, you should have a little bitof soreness.
That means you did a good job, and your body isnow going to repair.
It's doing exactly what it's designed to do.
Now when does inflammation shift from apositive beneficial thing to now harmful?
And this is when it becomes chronic, whenlifestyle factors may cause a high level of
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inflammation.
Things like stress, poor diet, environmentaltoxins, or even working out too much can be 1.
This is something we see a lot.
And so some of the hidden dangers of chronicinflammation are things like heart disease,
diabetes, autoimmune disorders, digestiveissues, such as IBS or leaky gut, and even
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things like cognitive decline and Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's is actually more commonly known nowas type 3 diabetes due to the inflammatory
nature that occurs within the brain due to highblood sugar.
That excess sugar in the blood is inflammatoryto the nervous system.
And so, again, the the roles of inflammation inhealth and disease, the positive is the acute
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inflammation helps with wound healing andfighting off infections.
It's a key player in the immune response andtissue regeneration.
However, the negative role is in things likeheart disease.
Chronic inflammation contributes to the buildupof plaque in arteries, which is a hallmark of
cardiovascular disease.
Elevated levels of c reactive protein or CRP isa marker of inflammation strongly linked to
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heart attack risk.
Something that we look for as functionalmedicine providers on almost all blood work is
a level of c reactive protein.
Inflammation is persistent in diabetes and caninterfere with insulin signaling, leading to
insulin resistance, which is basically aprecursor to type 2 diabetes.
It is present in autoimmune conditions likerheumatoid arthritis or lupus.
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The immune system is mistakenly attackinghealthy tissue driven by this chronic
inflammation.
We discussed that in our last episode, rootcause medicine.
So go back and listen to that.
It'll make a little bit more sense.
Inflammation is highly present in cancer.
Chronic inflammation can promote tumor growthby supplying cancer cells with growth factors
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and creating a conducive environment for theirsurvival.
And like I said, neurodegenerative diseases,chronic brain inflammation is implicated in
conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson'sdisease.
And so oftentimes, many of those things I justtalked about, those diseases, cognitive
disease, cancer, autoimmune, diabetes, heartdisease, there's not an initial sign that these
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are coming until perhaps you get some bloodwork and you realize, wow, there's a problem.
And so that's why we talk about it as thissilent saboteur kind of lurking underneath the
radar until disease sets in.
And so it progresses chronic inflammation,unlike acute inflammation, progresses slowly
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and quietly.
Often, no noticeable symptoms until significantdamage has been done.
It is contributing to the aging process.
Obviously, it has earned the nicknameinflammaging, is now a term being used to talk
about the aging process that is coming fromthis chronic inflammation.
It disrupts hormonal balance.
It impairs gut health and healing, and itweakens your immune system over time, leaving
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you more vulnerable to diseases.
So, you know, this is where traditional carecan fall short.
Because focusing on symptoms when there are nosymptoms is gonna cause you to miss something
that is underneath the radar So we often missthis root cause, problem that has been going on
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for oftentimes years without people noticing Soone of the most common frustrations we hear
from pay patients is I've been treating thisproblem for years, but it keeps coming back.
And that's because many of the conventionaltreatments are symptom focused.
They aim to manage pain, fatigue, or discomfortwithout asking why these symptoms are happening
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in the 1st place.
Chronic inflammation is often under the radarbecause it doesn't always present like acute
inflammation with swelling or redness.
Instead, it operates silently, fueling a hostof seemingly unrelated issues like fatigue,
joint pain, digestive problems, or even anxietyand depression.
Things that people think they just have to livewith, and they kind of just power through on a
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daily basis, not realizing these are actualissues being caused by a root cause problem,
that being inflammation.
And so a good example, I'm gonna I wanna sharea real life example of, you know, resolving
chronic inflammation to address said healthissue.
So we saw a patient.
Let's just say well, let's just call her Sarah,not her real name, but she didn't wanna
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sharing.
So she came to us with chronic joint pain andfatigue.
She'd been prescribed pain relievers,antidepressants because her symptoms had been
affecting her mental health.
Although her depression and mental health wasnot the cause.
So, again, put on multiple medications.
None of the doctors she had seen, and she hadbeen to a few, really dug deep enough to
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understand why she was feeling this way.
And so through some testing, we found that shehad markers of systemic inflammation linked to
diet and gut health.
We ran a pretty comprehensive panel on her,over a 100 different foods sensitivities.
She had basically leaky gut SIBO, overgrowth ofcandida.
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And she was consuming foods that she didn'trealize were causing inflammation.
1 in particular being gluten, which is this isa very common thing we see.
And highly processed foods, things high insugar and, you know, seed oils and processed
chemicals.
So what was the approach?
Number 1, we had to eliminate those.
We got rid of those triggers.
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We started to rebuild her gut, supporting hergut health with things like probiotics,
nutrient fiber, dense foods, and weincorporated movement to improve circulation.
We did this through chiropractic care and aprogrammed functional movement exercise
routine.
Within honestly, just within a few months, herjoint pain was was nearly gone, if not almost
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gone.
Energy levels were through the roof, and shefelt like a different person, and we weren't
even done yet.
However, we had started with that eliminationapproach, and it made a dramatic impact on on
Sarah's life.
So, you know, this is why focusing on symptomswill always miss the mark because without
addressing the underlying problem, chronicinflammation, the the underlying problem
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persists and the symptoms will inevitablyreturn.
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Now back to the episode.
Let's get into a little bit of nuts and boltshere, the role of of lifestyle and chronic
inflammation.
So modern habits play a significant role inchronic inflammation, and here's how.
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Poor diet, number 1 on our list.
Diets high in refined sugars, processed foods,and unhealthy fats, they create a perfect storm
for inflammation in the body.
These foods are gonna disrupt gut health, spikeblood sugar, and trigger those inflammatory
pathways.
And so if they're constantly coming in, that isconstantly gonna be on.
(17:35):
Right?
So facts you know, studies show that a westerndiet rich in processed foods is strongly linked
to higher levels of what we talked aboutearlier, the c reactive protein, which is a
hallmark for inflammation.
So focusing on what can we do about it.
Right?
Focusing on an anti inflammatory diet, rich inwhole foods, like vegetables, fruits, omega 3
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fats, lean proteins, such as grass fed, grassfinished red meat, and things like herbs.
Thing herbs like turmeric, ginger.
These are highly anti inflammatoryincorporating these into our diet.
So one of the other things that can thencontribute to chronic inflammation, a sedentary
lifestyle.
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So long periods of inactivity slow circulation.
It's gonna impair your body's lymphatic systemfrom draining, and it's gonna allow those
inflammatory markers to build up and not beeliminated.
A study published in the journal of clinicalendocrinology and metabolism found that just 20
minutes of moderate exercise reducesinflammation markers in the body.
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So this is why we always encourage dailymovement, whether it's a brisk walk, yoga, or
strength training, tracking this.
So using a watch similar to this one I havehere to track your steps.
You should be getting around 7000 if not 8000steps a day.
More is always better.
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The next thing that can contribute to chronicinflammation is chronic stress.
Whether this is mental emotional stress,physical stress, biochemical stress, body
handles stress all the same.
Stress causes the body to release cortisol,which in small doses can be helpful.
This is gonna help you respond to an emergency.
However, chronic stress leads to sustained highcortisol levels, which contribute to chronic
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inflammation and suppress your body's immunefunction.
It can inhibit your body's ability to balanceits circadian rhythm and get rest at night,
thus fueling the fire.
Research has linked chronic stress to anincreased risk of inflammatory conditions like
heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmunedisorders.
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So how do we combat this?
Incorporating stress reduction techniques, suchas mindfulness, meditation, journaling, or what
we call vitamin n, spending time in nature.
All of these things have been shown to lowerstress, especially the mental, emotional stress
that many people in this country are dealingwith.
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As Americans, we're always go go go on on on.
How do we turn it off?
Right?
Another cause of chronic inflammation we havehere on the list is environmental factors.
And this is probably one of the toughest onesbecause it is just all around us.
Exposure to toxins from pollution in the air,plastics, chemical laden products, these can
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overload your body's detoxification system andthus promote inflammation.
Poor sleep hygiene, just we talked about, suchas inconsistent sleep patterns or excessive
screen with blue lights disrupts your body'srepair process, thus exacerbating inflammation.
Studies have found that even one night of poorsleep can increase inflammatory markers in the
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blood.
So what do we do about it?
We prioritize clean living by choosing nontoxicproducts.
There is multiple apps that you can use whenyou're shopping, scan a barcode of a product,
and it tells you a toxicity scale.
You want it to be a clean product minus thephthalates and those BPAs and these chemicals
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that are what we call forever chemicals becausethey leach into the skin.
If we're talking about topical products or ifyou're consuming it, it's getting into the
body, and they live in your body because thebody doesn't know how to handle them other than
to mount a immune response.
And so prioritizing the clean living,maintaining consistent, and high quality sleep
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habits are gonna help combat chronicinflammation.
So takeaway, you know, by focusing on lifestylefactors, we can really address the root cause
of inflammation, which is obviously the goal.
Rather than just masking symptoms by takingsome type of medication, and oftentimes,
functional medicine can can be vilified bydoctors saying they practice functional
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medicine, but they really are just giving yousupplements instead of medication.
But the approach is the same.
They're not addressing lifestyle.
So we must address the lifestyle.
Chronic inflammation doesn't have to beinevitable.
It's often just a result of modern livinghabits, the the world we live in.
By making by making small intentional changes,we can empower ourselves to live healthier
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inflammation free lives.
And so let let's discuss a little bit more andunpack how we can move away from symptom based
care to a more comprehensive root causeapproach to health.
So I'm gonna explain a little bit howfunctional medicine focuses on identifying and
reducing the the sources of chronicinflammation.
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So in functional medicine, we take a differentapproach compared to traditional health care.
Instead of merely managing symptoms, we'regonna focus on understanding the why behind a
patient's condition.
As we talked about chronic inflammation isoften a root cause of many chronic diseases and
is not always obvious where it's coming from.
That's where functional medicine steps in.
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Step 1 is identifying sources of chronicinflammation through comprehensive testing.
Functional medicine looks deeper intobiomarkers that indicate inflammation, such as
c reactive protein, homocysteine levels, andinflammatory cytokines.
These are all things that we can test.
We also examine gut health, food sensitivities,hormonal imbalances, all factors that can
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quietly drive inflammation for years.
Studies have shown that gut dysbiosis or animbalance of good and bad gut bacteria is a
major contributor to systemic inflammation andconditions like autoimmune disease.
Quick tangent, I myself had an autoimmunethyroid condition that I was able to heal by
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figuring out the root cause was gut dysbiosisand leaky gut.
I had grown up in the nineties where there wasnot enough much information around certain
foods, and thus was on probably multipleantibiotics as a kid.
And I just had a dysbiotic gut system, alwaysstruggled with gut issues.
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It wasn't until I became a doctor that I reallywas starting to feel some issues and this
chronic inflammation that had been going on myentire life.
And so I took a step back.
I ran some comprehensive labs.
I tested.
I used myself as a guinea pig to what I now doto help many, many people in my in my practice.
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And so an example would be a patient withchronic headaches might find relief not through
just painkillers by identifying foodsensitivities.
When there's a food intolerance or foodsensitivity and they eat that food, they always
get a headache.
And so if we can take a step back, 30,000 footview, and start to make these correlations, we
can obviously identify the root causes.
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Now to speed that process up, because that cantake a long time, we can run food sensitivity
testing.
They are pretty specific tests that are able totell us what foods are triggering an immune
response in the body.
Some of the major ones being gluten, dairy,eggs, things that people eat on a daily basis.
We can incorporate lifestyle and environmentalassessments.
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We are able to evaluate the patient's entirelifestyle, including their diet, sleep, stress
levels, physical activity, and exposure toenvironmental toxins.
We can run specific tests to look at thingslike heavy metals, pesticides, all linked to
inflammatory conditions such as heart diseaseand metabolic disorders.
Imagine somebody struggling with chronicfatigue and instead of dismissing it as stress
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related, we investigate factors like what isthe air quality in their home?
Is there mold?
Do they have exposure to heavy metals?
Maybe an amalgam filling that they had removedthat then allowed mercury to leach into the
blood, or even mold toxicity, all hiddencontributors to inflammation.
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So then what is the implementation once we'vedone this testing?
Well, to reduce the chronic inflammation, weincorporate personalized nutrition and
supplementation plans.
So we create tailored nutrition strategiesbased on each patient's unique needs, anti
inflammatory diets, focusing on whole nutrientdense foods, while also eliminating common
triggers like refined sugars, trans fats,processed foods, and food sensitivities.
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Research in the journal of nutritionalbiochemistry confirmed that polyphenols in
foods like berries, green tea, and turmerichave profound anti inflammatory effects.
Patients are often encouraged to adopt in ourpractice a meditary Mediterranean style eating
pattern or a paleo approach emphasizing healthyfats, lean proteins, and colorful vibrant plant
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based foods.
The biggest thing that we see not saying thisis the only one, but the biggest thing we see
is the gut inflammation connection.
So addressing this is paramount to getting ridof chronic inflammation.
70% of your immune system resides in the gut.
So healing the gut is key to inflammation toreducing inflammation.
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Strategies include removal of of offendingfoods, balancing the gut with probiotics and
prebiotics, digestive support to rebalance thegut flora, using things like enzymes to help
the body to better process food anddetoxification.
Studies show that leaky gut or intestinalpermeability allows inflammatory molecules to
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enter the bloodstream, exacerbating systemicinflammation.
Now this is something that we get a ton ofquestions on, and so I'm going to film a course
on leaky gut and what it is so that people canreally understand what to look for and how to
fix this problem.
So stay tuned for that.
Next step in our approach is managing stressand sleep.
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Chronic stress and poor sleep disrupt thebody's natural repair mechanisms, keeping
inflammation levels high.
Functional medicine incorporates mindfulnesstechniques, such as meditation or breath work
alongside sleep optimization strategies.
There are certain supplements, herbs, as wellas mindfulness practices we can use to enhance
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deep sleep, which is the repairing part of yoursleep circadian rhythm.
A study in psychoneuroendocrinology found thata mindfulness practice significantly reduced
pro inflammatory cytokines in stressedindividuals.
And then last but not least, probably far fromleast, is detoxification and environmental
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adjustments.
Removing toxins and supporting the body'snatural detox pathways are crucial for reducing
inflammation.
Pretty much every patient I have ever workedwith in functional medicine begins with some
sort of detoxification because it is rampantthat we have a buildup in our system of
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external toxic compounds that if we can'teliminate those, we're not gonna even touch the
inflammation.
Functional medicine recommends sweating.
So we always use we used to have in our clinic.
We no longer do.
However, we recommend getting sweating throughexercise or sauna, consuming liver supporting
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foods, certain herbs, and drinking plenty ofwater, minimizing exposure to harmful
chemicals.
And this is where using the apps to takeinventory of your living environment.
Are we sleeping on plastic sheets?
Are we putting heavy chemical processed, creamsand moisturizers onto our face and on our skin?
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Toxins such as BPA and phthalates have beenshown to trigger inflammatory pathways even at
low levels.
These are very common in the cookware that weuse.
The lining of many of the pans that arenonstick contain these chemicals.
Now it's getting into the food, plasticTupperware, all these sorts of things.
And so not to overwhelm anyone, but makeincremental changes over time.
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Do one thing that works.
Shift from plastic to glass Tupperware.
Easy fix.
And so why is this important?
Why should we care?
Well, functional medicine doesn't settle forthe temporary fix.
It aims to uncover the deeper causes ofinflammation and address them comprehensively.
Whether we're helping patients identify hiddenfood triggers, repairing the gut, or mitigating
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stress, the goal is always, always, always longterm health and resilience.
So to backtrack and summarize, chronicinflammation doesn't happen overnight, and it
doesn't resolve overnight either.
But by implementing the right tools and aholistic approach, we can identify the sources,
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reduce the burden, and give patients a pathback to vitality.
This is the cornerstone of functional medicineand what we do with our clinics as well, And
it's how we help people break free from thecycle of symptom based care and truly get them
back to a state of optimal health to live avibrant, long, healthy life.
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So some practical strategies I wanna leave youwith, things that you can implement today.
Number 1, eating an anti inflammatory diet.
Prioritizing whole foods, shopping the outsideof the grocery store, and not the aisles.
If it comes in a package, don't eat it.
Using anti inflammatory supplements, such asomega threes, like fish and krill oil.
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Prioritizing stress management, incorporating ameditation practice.
Highly recommend you look for the app calledHappy Happio.
Happy is a app that guides meditation andallows you to not have to focus on, am I
meditating correctly?
Am I doing it right?
They guide you through it all, and you just sitback and meditate.
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Getting adequate sleep and staying active.
Again, 8,000 steps a day.
And addressing addressing gut health.
If you think you have some sort of gutdysbiosis, if you struggle with bloating,
constipation, diarrhea at least once a week,there's something going on.
These are not normal.
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And so these are all things that you canimplement today.
Highly recommend that you look for apractitioner or give us a call if you want to
dig deeper and and find out what chronicinflammation could be doing inside your body.
And so I encourage you to take inventory ofyour life, journal your symptoms, and not
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settle for a symptom based approach, but ratherget to the bottom of the problem and figure it
out so that you can get back to full health.
As always, you can reach out and get in touchwith us at Alessi functional health dot com.
You can book a consultation with myself or oneof my team, and you can learn what it looks
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like to take the next step.
We can guide you through the process of gettingfunctional medicine blood work.
We can guide you through the process of healthyeating and implementing supplementation.
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(33:30):
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(33:53):
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(34:14):
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(34:37):
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(35:00):
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(35:20):
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Stay curious, stay empowered, and remember,your health is in your hands.
This is where traditional care can fall shortbecause focusing on symptoms when there are no
(00:06):
symptoms is gonna cause you to miss somethingthat is underneath the radar.
So we often miss this root cause problem thathas been going on for oftentimes years without
people noticing.
Welcome to Health decode, your number onesource for real health information with your
host, doctor Alessi and Matt Tack.
(00:28):
Alright.
Welcome to episode 3 of Health Decoded.
Today's episode, I'm doctor Alfred Alessi.
Today's episode, we are going to be talkingabout inflammation and more importantly,
decoding inflammation and what we call thesilent health saboteur.
And now why do we call it this is becauseoftentimes inflammation can go unnoticed and
(00:52):
unmanaged in the body.
I wanna thank you for joining us.
I wanna thank you for coming back on the show.
If you listened to our last episode, wediscussed root cause medicine and how it
differs from the standard conventional westernmedicine approach, which is very much focused
on symptoms and addressing just pain relief andsymptom relief versus getting to the bottom of
(01:14):
an issue or the root cause as we call it andreally fixing the problem.
So as always, if if you've been listening tothe show and you're enjoying it, please sign up
for our newsletter.
You can go to Alessi functionalhealth.com.
Sign up for the newsletter to stay informed.
Subscribe so you don't miss any episodes of theshow every Tuesday.
And share this with somebody who you thinkwould benefit from the information that we are
(01:38):
discussing on the show.
So we have a really awesome episode today.
Tons of information.
This is going to be probably enlightening to alot of people.
And just a topic that I believe is veryimportant because it has snowballed over the
last decade of becoming from a buzzword to justa real problem in our society and in our
(02:01):
country.
The concept of chronic inflammation.
Now I just really quickly wanna set the stagefor what this episode is gonna be about.
Today's conversation, we are gonna decode themystery of inflammation, separating the good
from the bad.
Let's dive into how chronic inflammationdevelops, its root causes, and why it's often
overlooked in traditional symptom based healthcare.
(02:24):
Importantly, we're gonna explore actionablestrategies to address inflammation at its root,
empowering you to take control of your health,reduce disease risk, and optimize your
well-being.
And, really, inflammation is not just aboutmanaging symptoms.
It's about understanding the why behind them.
Making sustainable changes to restore balanceand then live an optimal healthy lifestyle.
(02:49):
So thank you for joining me.
Let's dive right in.
So why did we choose this topic?
And why is this something important foreveryone to have knowledge about?
It's because inflammation is good and bad.
And, you know, it really is a protectivemechanism in the body.
But when left out of balance and unchecked,inflammation can become detrimental and often
(03:14):
life threatening.
So chronic inflammation is actually linked to 3out of the 5 leading causes of death worldwide.
Basically saying that a majority of deaths canbe prevented by managing chronic inflammation
or preventing issues that cause inflammation.
(03:39):
So what is inflammation?
Right?
Let's start with that.
Inflammation is a natural and essentialbiological process that occurs when your immune
system detects injury, infection, or harmfulsubstances in the body, such as toxins or
chemicals.
It's your body's way of protecting and healingitself.
When you cut your finger or you get a cold,your immune system springs into action,
(04:02):
releasing chemical signals that attract theimmune cells to the affected area.
This acute inflammatory response is beneficial.
It fights off infections, repairs damagedtissues, and it helps restore your body to its
normal state.
So this protective mechanism is a good thing.
This is something that we want, something thatshould happen.
(04:23):
When you work out too hard, your body feelssore and tired.
That's inflammation.
It's a good thing.
It's rebuilding.
However, inflammation isn't always helpful.
When it becomes chronic, persisting for weeks,months, or even years, it can turn from a
protective mechanism into a destructive force.
Chronic inflammation occurs when the immunesystem is constantly triggered often due to
(04:48):
underlying issues like poor diet, chronicstress, environmental toxins, or unresolved
infections.
These are latent pathogens possibly living inthe body, parasites, mold, heavy metals.
These things can constantly trigger thatinflammatory immune response.
And the problem is that chronic inflammationdoesn't announce itself with obvious symptoms.
(05:13):
It quietly works in the background, causingdamage to tissues and organs over time, and
this is why we refer to it as a silentsaboteur.
So as we said, inflammation is beneficial,helps the body heal and recover.
It is is a cornerstone of your body's naturaldefense system.
When you experience the injury, infection, orirritation, your immune system then leaps into
(05:35):
action, triggering that inflammatory responseto protect.
And here's the keyword, repair the affectedarea.
Your body's always trying to heal and repairand regenerate.
So you can really think of it as your body'sbuilt in emergency response team working
swiftly and efficiently to contain damage andbegin the healing process.
So here's how that acute inflammation works.
(05:57):
This is what happens inside the body.
1st, the alarm gets triggered.
Right?
Your body detects a problem, like a sprainedankle or some kind of invading bacteria.
It sends out chemical signals such ashistamines and cytokines to alert your immune
system.
What happens next?
Increased blood flow.
So these signals cause blood vessels to dilate.
(06:18):
That means get wider, increasing blood flow tothe affected area.
This delivers oxygen, nutrients, and immunecells to where they're needed most.
So it's basically opening the floodgates sothat the good guys can come and get to the
area.
This is why a swollen area like a sprainedankle often looks red, feels warm.
This is a sign of that increased blood flow andcirculation.
(06:41):
Next, the body recruits immune cells.
White blood cells like neutrophils andmacrophages rush to the site to neutralize
these harmful invaders and clean up damagedtissue.
Then it facilitates the repair.
So the immune cells release growth factors thatstimulate tissue regeneration and repair.
Much like that working out example I mentioned,when you work out, your body feels sore.
(07:04):
You have torn down muscle fibers and brokendown tissue.
Your body repairs, rebuilds stronger.
Right?
Think of, like, scaffolding on a building thatthey're repairing.
The building was good, but there were someinternal issues.
They put the scaffolding up, then they fixeverything, and then they take it down, and now
it's better.
Right?
And so, you know, I I think the best examplemost people can align with is the twisted ankle
(07:28):
or the sprained ankle.
Swells becomes tender.
Again, this is this swelling is a result offluid and immune cells flooding to the area to
protect and begin the healing process.
While it does feel uncomfortable, it is a signthat your body is working to repair that
damage.
Another great, example is when you get a feverduring an infection.
A lot of people wanna reduce the fever, but infact, the fever is actually a good thing.
(07:51):
The fever is your body's positive response toan infection.
When you have the flu, your body raises itstemperature to create an environment that's
less hospitable to invading viruses orbacteria.
So it's basically trying to push the bad guysout while it's bringing the good guys in.
Now while fevers can feel miserable andannoying and obviously they are not not
(08:11):
comfortable, it's a very important tool in yourimmune system's arsenal to help fight off that
infection more effectively.
So why is it was why is acute inflammation agood thing?
Because it's fast acting and targeted.
It responds only to the areas where it'sneeded.
It helps to prevent further injury or infectionby isolating the problem, and it's temporary,
(08:33):
only lasting until the issue is resolved.
So in essence, acute inflammation is alifesaver.
It's your body's way of saying, hey.
I've got this.
Give me some time to repair and recover.
Understanding that this process helps usappreciate why a little swelling or discomfort
isn't always bad.
Right?
The same reason again, I keep going back to theworkout, analogy.
(08:54):
When you work out, you should have a little bitof soreness.
That means you did a good job, and your body isnow going to repair.
It's doing exactly what it's designed to do.
Now when does inflammation shift from apositive beneficial thing to now harmful?
And this is when it becomes chronic, whenlifestyle factors may cause a high level of
(09:15):
inflammation.
Things like stress, poor diet, environmentaltoxins, or even working out too much can be 1.
This is something we see a lot.
And so some of the hidden dangers of chronicinflammation are things like heart disease,
diabetes, autoimmune disorders, digestiveissues, such as IBS or leaky gut, and even
(09:37):
things like cognitive decline and Alzheimer's.
Alzheimer's is actually more commonly known nowas type 3 diabetes due to the inflammatory
nature that occurs within the brain due to highblood sugar.
That excess sugar in the blood is inflammatoryto the nervous system.
And so, again, the the roles of inflammation inhealth and disease, the positive is the acute
(10:02):
inflammation helps with wound healing andfighting off infections.
It's a key player in the immune response andtissue regeneration.
However, the negative role is in things likeheart disease.
Chronic inflammation contributes to the buildupof plaque in arteries, which is a hallmark of
cardiovascular disease.
Elevated levels of c reactive protein or CRP isa marker of inflammation strongly linked to
(10:25):
heart attack risk.
Something that we look for as functionalmedicine providers on almost all blood work is
a level of c reactive protein.
Inflammation is persistent in diabetes and caninterfere with insulin signaling, leading to
insulin resistance, which is basically aprecursor to type 2 diabetes.
It is present in autoimmune conditions likerheumatoid arthritis or lupus.
(10:49):
The immune system is mistakenly attackinghealthy tissue driven by this chronic
inflammation.
We discussed that in our last episode, rootcause medicine.
So go back and listen to that.
It'll make a little bit more sense.
Inflammation is highly present in cancer.
Chronic inflammation can promote tumor growthby supplying cancer cells with growth factors
(11:11):
and creating a conducive environment for theirsurvival.
And like I said, neurodegenerative diseases,chronic brain inflammation is implicated in
conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson'sdisease.
And so oftentimes, many of those things I justtalked about, those diseases, cognitive
disease, cancer, autoimmune, diabetes, heartdisease, there's not an initial sign that these
(11:35):
are coming until perhaps you get some bloodwork and you realize, wow, there's a problem.
And so that's why we talk about it as thissilent saboteur kind of lurking underneath the
radar until disease sets in.
And so it progresses chronic inflammation,unlike acute inflammation, progresses slowly
(11:55):
and quietly.
Often, no noticeable symptoms until significantdamage has been done.
It is contributing to the aging process.
Obviously, it has earned the nicknameinflammaging, is now a term being used to talk
about the aging process that is coming fromthis chronic inflammation.
It disrupts hormonal balance.
It impairs gut health and healing, and itweakens your immune system over time, leaving
(12:19):
you more vulnerable to diseases.
So, you know, this is where traditional carecan fall short.
Because focusing on symptoms when there are nosymptoms is gonna cause you to miss something
that is underneath the radar So we often missthis root cause, problem that has been going on
(12:41):
for oftentimes years without people noticing Soone of the most common frustrations we hear
from pay patients is I've been treating thisproblem for years, but it keeps coming back.
And that's because many of the conventionaltreatments are symptom focused.
They aim to manage pain, fatigue, or discomfortwithout asking why these symptoms are happening
(13:01):
in the 1st place.
Chronic inflammation is often under the radarbecause it doesn't always present like acute
inflammation with swelling or redness.
Instead, it operates silently, fueling a hostof seemingly unrelated issues like fatigue,
joint pain, digestive problems, or even anxietyand depression.
Things that people think they just have to livewith, and they kind of just power through on a
(13:23):
daily basis, not realizing these are actualissues being caused by a root cause problem,
that being inflammation.
And so a good example, I'm gonna I wanna sharea real life example of, you know, resolving
chronic inflammation to address said healthissue.
So we saw a patient.
Let's just say well, let's just call her Sarah,not her real name, but she didn't wanna
(13:45):
sharing.
So she came to us with chronic joint pain andfatigue.
She'd been prescribed pain relievers,antidepressants because her symptoms had been
affecting her mental health.
Although her depression and mental health wasnot the cause.
So, again, put on multiple medications.
None of the doctors she had seen, and she hadbeen to a few, really dug deep enough to
(14:06):
understand why she was feeling this way.
And so through some testing, we found that shehad markers of systemic inflammation linked to
diet and gut health.
We ran a pretty comprehensive panel on her,over a 100 different foods sensitivities.
She had basically leaky gut SIBO, overgrowth ofcandida.
(14:26):
And she was consuming foods that she didn'trealize were causing inflammation.
1 in particular being gluten, which is this isa very common thing we see.
And highly processed foods, things high insugar and, you know, seed oils and processed
chemicals.
So what was the approach?
Number 1, we had to eliminate those.
We got rid of those triggers.
(14:48):
We started to rebuild her gut, supporting hergut health with things like probiotics,
nutrient fiber, dense foods, and weincorporated movement to improve circulation.
We did this through chiropractic care and aprogrammed functional movement exercise
routine.
Within honestly, just within a few months, herjoint pain was was nearly gone, if not almost
(15:11):
gone.
Energy levels were through the roof, and shefelt like a different person, and we weren't
even done yet.
However, we had started with that eliminationapproach, and it made a dramatic impact on on
Sarah's life.
So, you know, this is why focusing on symptomswill always miss the mark because without
addressing the underlying problem, chronicinflammation, the the underlying problem
(15:36):
persists and the symptoms will inevitablyreturn.
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Now back to the episode.
Let's get into a little bit of nuts and boltshere, the role of of lifestyle and chronic
inflammation.
So modern habits play a significant role inchronic inflammation, and here's how.
(17:14):
Poor diet, number 1 on our list.
Diets high in refined sugars, processed foods,and unhealthy fats, they create a perfect storm
for inflammation in the body.
These foods are gonna disrupt gut health, spikeblood sugar, and trigger those inflammatory
pathways.
And so if they're constantly coming in, that isconstantly gonna be on.
(17:35):
Right?
So facts you know, studies show that a westerndiet rich in processed foods is strongly linked
to higher levels of what we talked aboutearlier, the c reactive protein, which is a
hallmark for inflammation.
So focusing on what can we do about it.
Right?
Focusing on an anti inflammatory diet, rich inwhole foods, like vegetables, fruits, omega 3
(17:57):
fats, lean proteins, such as grass fed, grassfinished red meat, and things like herbs.
Thing herbs like turmeric, ginger.
These are highly anti inflammatoryincorporating these into our diet.
So one of the other things that can thencontribute to chronic inflammation, a sedentary
lifestyle.
(18:18):
So long periods of inactivity slow circulation.
It's gonna impair your body's lymphatic systemfrom draining, and it's gonna allow those
inflammatory markers to build up and not beeliminated.
A study published in the journal of clinicalendocrinology and metabolism found that just 20
minutes of moderate exercise reducesinflammation markers in the body.
(18:39):
So this is why we always encourage dailymovement, whether it's a brisk walk, yoga, or
strength training, tracking this.
So using a watch similar to this one I havehere to track your steps.
You should be getting around 7000 if not 8000steps a day.
More is always better.
(18:59):
The next thing that can contribute to chronicinflammation is chronic stress.
Whether this is mental emotional stress,physical stress, biochemical stress, body
handles stress all the same.
Stress causes the body to release cortisol,which in small doses can be helpful.
This is gonna help you respond to an emergency.
However, chronic stress leads to sustained highcortisol levels, which contribute to chronic
(19:23):
inflammation and suppress your body's immunefunction.
It can inhibit your body's ability to balanceits circadian rhythm and get rest at night,
thus fueling the fire.
Research has linked chronic stress to anincreased risk of inflammatory conditions like
heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmunedisorders.
(19:43):
So how do we combat this?
Incorporating stress reduction techniques, suchas mindfulness, meditation, journaling, or what
we call vitamin n, spending time in nature.
All of these things have been shown to lowerstress, especially the mental, emotional stress
that many people in this country are dealingwith.
(20:04):
As Americans, we're always go go go on on on.
How do we turn it off?
Right?
Another cause of chronic inflammation we havehere on the list is environmental factors.
And this is probably one of the toughest onesbecause it is just all around us.
Exposure to toxins from pollution in the air,plastics, chemical laden products, these can
(20:27):
overload your body's detoxification system andthus promote inflammation.
Poor sleep hygiene, just we talked about, suchas inconsistent sleep patterns or excessive
screen with blue lights disrupts your body'srepair process, thus exacerbating inflammation.
Studies have found that even one night of poorsleep can increase inflammatory markers in the
(20:50):
blood.
So what do we do about it?
We prioritize clean living by choosing nontoxicproducts.
There is multiple apps that you can use whenyou're shopping, scan a barcode of a product,
and it tells you a toxicity scale.
You want it to be a clean product minus thephthalates and those BPAs and these chemicals
(21:10):
that are what we call forever chemicals becausethey leach into the skin.
If we're talking about topical products or ifyou're consuming it, it's getting into the
body, and they live in your body because thebody doesn't know how to handle them other than
to mount a immune response.
And so prioritizing the clean living,maintaining consistent, and high quality sleep
(21:31):
habits are gonna help combat chronicinflammation.
So takeaway, you know, by focusing on lifestylefactors, we can really address the root cause
of inflammation, which is obviously the goal.
Rather than just masking symptoms by takingsome type of medication, and oftentimes,
functional medicine can can be vilified bydoctors saying they practice functional
(21:54):
medicine, but they really are just giving yousupplements instead of medication.
But the approach is the same.
They're not addressing lifestyle.
So we must address the lifestyle.
Chronic inflammation doesn't have to beinevitable.
It's often just a result of modern livinghabits, the the world we live in.
By making by making small intentional changes,we can empower ourselves to live healthier
(22:15):
inflammation free lives.
And so let let's discuss a little bit more andunpack how we can move away from symptom based
care to a more comprehensive root causeapproach to health.
So I'm gonna explain a little bit howfunctional medicine focuses on identifying and
reducing the the sources of chronicinflammation.
(22:36):
So in functional medicine, we take a differentapproach compared to traditional health care.
Instead of merely managing symptoms, we'regonna focus on understanding the why behind a
patient's condition.
As we talked about chronic inflammation isoften a root cause of many chronic diseases and
is not always obvious where it's coming from.
That's where functional medicine steps in.
(22:58):
Step 1 is identifying sources of chronicinflammation through comprehensive testing.
Functional medicine looks deeper intobiomarkers that indicate inflammation, such as
c reactive protein, homocysteine levels, andinflammatory cytokines.
These are all things that we can test.
We also examine gut health, food sensitivities,hormonal imbalances, all factors that can
(23:21):
quietly drive inflammation for years.
Studies have shown that gut dysbiosis or animbalance of good and bad gut bacteria is a
major contributor to systemic inflammation andconditions like autoimmune disease.
Quick tangent, I myself had an autoimmunethyroid condition that I was able to heal by
(23:43):
figuring out the root cause was gut dysbiosisand leaky gut.
I had grown up in the nineties where there wasnot enough much information around certain
foods, and thus was on probably multipleantibiotics as a kid.
And I just had a dysbiotic gut system, alwaysstruggled with gut issues.
(24:03):
It wasn't until I became a doctor that I reallywas starting to feel some issues and this
chronic inflammation that had been going on myentire life.
And so I took a step back.
I ran some comprehensive labs.
I tested.
I used myself as a guinea pig to what I now doto help many, many people in my in my practice.
(24:24):
And so an example would be a patient withchronic headaches might find relief not through
just painkillers by identifying foodsensitivities.
When there's a food intolerance or foodsensitivity and they eat that food, they always
get a headache.
And so if we can take a step back, 30,000 footview, and start to make these correlations, we
can obviously identify the root causes.
(24:45):
Now to speed that process up, because that cantake a long time, we can run food sensitivity
testing.
They are pretty specific tests that are able totell us what foods are triggering an immune
response in the body.
Some of the major ones being gluten, dairy,eggs, things that people eat on a daily basis.
We can incorporate lifestyle and environmentalassessments.
(25:07):
We are able to evaluate the patient's entirelifestyle, including their diet, sleep, stress
levels, physical activity, and exposure toenvironmental toxins.
We can run specific tests to look at thingslike heavy metals, pesticides, all linked to
inflammatory conditions such as heart diseaseand metabolic disorders.
Imagine somebody struggling with chronicfatigue and instead of dismissing it as stress
(25:32):
related, we investigate factors like what isthe air quality in their home?
Is there mold?
Do they have exposure to heavy metals?
Maybe an amalgam filling that they had removedthat then allowed mercury to leach into the
blood, or even mold toxicity, all hiddencontributors to inflammation.
(25:52):
So then what is the implementation once we'vedone this testing?
Well, to reduce the chronic inflammation, weincorporate personalized nutrition and
supplementation plans.
So we create tailored nutrition strategiesbased on each patient's unique needs, anti
inflammatory diets, focusing on whole nutrientdense foods, while also eliminating common
triggers like refined sugars, trans fats,processed foods, and food sensitivities.
(26:17):
Research in the journal of nutritionalbiochemistry confirmed that polyphenols in
foods like berries, green tea, and turmerichave profound anti inflammatory effects.
Patients are often encouraged to adopt in ourpractice a meditary Mediterranean style eating
pattern or a paleo approach emphasizing healthyfats, lean proteins, and colorful vibrant plant
(26:42):
based foods.
The biggest thing that we see not saying thisis the only one, but the biggest thing we see
is the gut inflammation connection.
So addressing this is paramount to getting ridof chronic inflammation.
70% of your immune system resides in the gut.
So healing the gut is key to inflammation toreducing inflammation.
(27:06):
Strategies include removal of of offendingfoods, balancing the gut with probiotics and
prebiotics, digestive support to rebalance thegut flora, using things like enzymes to help
the body to better process food anddetoxification.
Studies show that leaky gut or intestinalpermeability allows inflammatory molecules to
(27:30):
enter the bloodstream, exacerbating systemicinflammation.
Now this is something that we get a ton ofquestions on, and so I'm going to film a course
on leaky gut and what it is so that people canreally understand what to look for and how to
fix this problem.
So stay tuned for that.
Next step in our approach is managing stressand sleep.
(27:53):
Chronic stress and poor sleep disrupt thebody's natural repair mechanisms, keeping
inflammation levels high.
Functional medicine incorporates mindfulnesstechniques, such as meditation or breath work
alongside sleep optimization strategies.
There are certain supplements, herbs, as wellas mindfulness practices we can use to enhance
(28:16):
deep sleep, which is the repairing part of yoursleep circadian rhythm.
A study in psychoneuroendocrinology found thata mindfulness practice significantly reduced
pro inflammatory cytokines in stressedindividuals.
And then last but not least, probably far fromleast, is detoxification and environmental
(28:40):
adjustments.
Removing toxins and supporting the body'snatural detox pathways are crucial for reducing
inflammation.
Pretty much every patient I have ever workedwith in functional medicine begins with some
sort of detoxification because it is rampantthat we have a buildup in our system of
(29:00):
external toxic compounds that if we can'teliminate those, we're not gonna even touch the
inflammation.
Functional medicine recommends sweating.
So we always use we used to have in our clinic.
We no longer do.
However, we recommend getting sweating throughexercise or sauna, consuming liver supporting
(29:23):
foods, certain herbs, and drinking plenty ofwater, minimizing exposure to harmful
chemicals.
And this is where using the apps to takeinventory of your living environment.
Are we sleeping on plastic sheets?
Are we putting heavy chemical processed, creamsand moisturizers onto our face and on our skin?
(29:45):
Toxins such as BPA and phthalates have beenshown to trigger inflammatory pathways even at
low levels.
These are very common in the cookware that weuse.
The lining of many of the pans that arenonstick contain these chemicals.
Now it's getting into the food, plasticTupperware, all these sorts of things.
And so not to overwhelm anyone, but makeincremental changes over time.
(30:11):
Do one thing that works.
Shift from plastic to glass Tupperware.
Easy fix.
And so why is this important?
Why should we care?
Well, functional medicine doesn't settle forthe temporary fix.
It aims to uncover the deeper causes ofinflammation and address them comprehensively.
Whether we're helping patients identify hiddenfood triggers, repairing the gut, or mitigating
(30:32):
stress, the goal is always, always, always longterm health and resilience.
So to backtrack and summarize, chronicinflammation doesn't happen overnight, and it
doesn't resolve overnight either.
But by implementing the right tools and aholistic approach, we can identify the sources,
(30:53):
reduce the burden, and give patients a pathback to vitality.
This is the cornerstone of functional medicineand what we do with our clinics as well, And
it's how we help people break free from thecycle of symptom based care and truly get them
back to a state of optimal health to live avibrant, long, healthy life.
(31:14):
So some practical strategies I wanna leave youwith, things that you can implement today.
Number 1, eating an anti inflammatory diet.
Prioritizing whole foods, shopping the outsideof the grocery store, and not the aisles.
If it comes in a package, don't eat it.
Using anti inflammatory supplements, such asomega threes, like fish and krill oil.
(31:37):
Prioritizing stress management, incorporating ameditation practice.
Highly recommend you look for the app calledHappy Happio.
Happy is a app that guides meditation andallows you to not have to focus on, am I
meditating correctly?
Am I doing it right?
They guide you through it all, and you just sitback and meditate.
(32:01):
Getting adequate sleep and staying active.
Again, 8,000 steps a day.
And addressing addressing gut health.
If you think you have some sort of gutdysbiosis, if you struggle with bloating,
constipation, diarrhea at least once a week,there's something going on.
These are not normal.
(32:21):
And so these are all things that you canimplement today.
Highly recommend that you look for apractitioner or give us a call if you want to
dig deeper and and find out what chronicinflammation could be doing inside your body.
And so I encourage you to take inventory ofyour life, journal your symptoms, and not
(32:46):
settle for a symptom based approach, but ratherget to the bottom of the problem and figure it
out so that you can get back to full health.
As always, you can reach out and get in touchwith us at Alessi functional health dot com.
You can book a consultation with myself or oneof my team, and you can learn what it looks
(33:08):
like to take the next step.
We can guide you through the process of gettingfunctional medicine blood work.
We can guide you through the process of healthyeating and implementing supplementation.
And our goal is always to guide you, lead you,educate you, and then let you go.
We are not in the business of keeping people onlong term because that would mean that we are
(33:30):
not very good at our job.
If your car was always in the shop, that meansthe mechanics didn't fix it.
Right?
So we wanna get your car fixed and then let yougo and drive.
And that is our goal.
So please, alexifunctionalhealth.com, we wouldbe happy to hear from you and help you out.
As always, share if you found this valuable.
Share this with friends and family, anyone youthink would benefit from the information.
(33:53):
Sign up for our newsletter at our website whereyou can learn more about what's coming next,
special events, promotions, guests, all kindsof things that we're doing within our clinics,
and subscribe.
This is how we grow.
This is how we reach more people.
You subscribing adds to our following andallows us to get this message to more people
that need to hear it.
(34:14):
Stay tuned because next week, we are gonna befilming a awesome episode.
We are gonna be relaunching one that we didwith Zeke samples, a expert in health and
nutrition and the fitness space.
He is now a member of our team as well.
He leads our wellness division, utilizing hisGenesys protocol to help people optimize their
(34:37):
health, lose weight in a natural healthy waythat doesn't rebound and cause them to wait,
gain weight later on.
So stay tuned for that.
That's gonna be an awesome episode.
Thank you so much for joining us.
As always, stay curious, stay empowered, andremember your health is in your hands.
I'm doctor Leci, and I'll see you next week.
(35:00):
Thank you for tuning in to Health Decoded,where we break down the truth about all things
health and empower you to take charge of yourwell-being.
If you found value in today's episode, pleasesubscribe, leave a review, and share it with
someone who needs to hear this.
For more resources and personalized support,visit us at Alessi functional health dot com
(35:20):
and sign up for our newsletter.
To hear your questions answered live on theshow, send them to ask atalesifxhealth.com.
That's ask atalesifxhealth.com.
Until next time.
Stay curious, stay empowered, and remember,your health is in your hands.
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