Top 9 Root Causes of Inflammation (That Doctors Won’t Address)

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1:16Payment processing fees and boosting fees still apply. See website for details. On June 5th, 2007, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood in front of an environmental health summit and said, chronic inflammation is the defining health crisis of our time, and the sources are hiding in plain sight. He wasn't exaggerating. Today, nearly three in five adults have at least one inflammatory condition, and most don't even know the real causes. The World Health Organization calls chronic inflammation the greatest threat to human health and the most significant cause of death in the entire world. Inflammation isn't just something you feel in swollen joints or a bloated gut.

2:00It's an underlying cause of heart disease, diabetes, dementia, depression, autoimmune disease, cancer, and fast aging. The prevalence of diseases associated with chronic inflammation is expected to increase significantly over the next 30 years in the United States. Now, here's the surprising truth. The biggest drivers of inflammation often aren't necessarily what you'd think they would be. By the end of this episode, you're going to understand the real root causes of inflammation, the science behind each one, and exactly what you need to do in order to shut off inflammation for good. Welcome to the Dr.

2:42Josh Axe Show.

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3:57Start your day with Quaker Protein Instant Oatmeal. The instant oatmeal, ready to help you tackle whatever your day brings. Like wrinkling your toddler into their car seat. That was fun. Coaching your sixth grader's soccer team. Go girls! and carrying all the groceries in one trip. Try Quaker Protein Instant Oatmeal, Granola, and Bars. Great taste and a good source of protein. Quaker, bring out the good. So here's what most people get wrong about inflammation. Most people know that inflammation is bad. But let me just say this. Actually, inflammation isn't bad. Too much inflammation is bad. You need inflammation in order to heal and regenerate.

4:42regenerate and repair. So you actually have to have inflammation. So it's not that it's bad, it's that it's too much. Most people think inflammation is just swelling or bloating, but 90 % of inflammation happens silently inside of the body, inside of ourselves, without any outward symptoms. Inflammation is simply your immune system's emergency response team. When something goes wrong, like an infection, a toxin, an injury, or ongoing stress, your body sends out immune first responders to contain the damage and start repairs. In a healthy body, inflammation works like a smoke alarm. It's loud, it's quick, it's temporary.

5:25It alerts the system, the firefighters rush in, the damage is handled, and everything goes quiet again. But with chronic inflammation, which is the real problem, the alarm never shuts off.

5:36Josh Axe:You know, I remember this was last year, our family, we went on a ski trip to Park City. And our rental house, and by the way, we had a one-year-old baby at the time. Chelsea and I are our baby. And then we had our four-year-old. And this alarm went off. And we were there for seven days. And we had a four-day period when the alarm went off 30 times. And one time it was on for two hours. And this happened at 10 p.m. at night. And it was just, so let me say this. Nobody slept well. baby crying. I mean, imagine that, I mean, it going off that much. We were given a full refund afterwards because my sister-in-law sent a very nice email talking about how the experience was.

6:18All that being said, this is what's happening in your body.

6:21Josh Axe:The alarm is going off constantly. And so your body is in this fighter fight, this mode where now you have like these firefighters and they're racing around blasting houses that aren't even burning and they're breaking windows and soaking walls and causing more damage than the fire itself. That's like what's happening in your body with chronic inflammation. And chronic inflammation is your immune system attacking itself in certain cases when nothing needs fixing, creating more harm than the original threat. And this, of course, happens very often with autoimmune disease, which is chronic inflammation in a way over and over and over again where your body will attack its own tissues like your thyroid, causing Hashimoto's thyroiditis or your joints, rheumatoid arthritis.

7:04arthritis. Inflammation is more common than most people realize. Most people are inflamed and don't know it because chronic inflammation shows up in unexpected ways like fatigue or brain fog or mood-related issues, stubborn belly fat, poor sleep. Of course, digestive issues is a major one, a slow recovery from illnesses or injuries. Have you ever noticed you get injured? It takes so much longer for you to heal now, increased food sensitivities. One study published in the medical journal Frontiers in Medicine found that more than 50 % of people have elevated inflammatory markers or have been diagnosed with an inflammatory disease, and many people don't even know it.

7:48Josh Axe:That's because their symptoms, most people have come to believe, are part of normal living, You know, being tired all the time, being puffy, being moody, being bloated, being stressed. People think that's normal. It's not. Those symptoms are warning signs. They're alarms going off saying, hey, there's a fire here. There's inflammation. We need to fix it. You know, you might think inflammation comes from old injuries and old age, and it does. But that's only on the surface. What actually drives chronic inflammation are invisible misfires in your hormones, poor mitochondrial health, immune system issues, leaky gut.

8:28And what I want to do now is go through the top surprising things that cause inflammation and how to start to fix it. Number one is this, and this is a big one, insulin resistance, blood sugar issues. Insulin resistance isn't only caused by eating too much sugar and carbs. It's about cellular overwhelm. Your cells are so flooded with sugar that these receptor sites on your cells actually get damaged and burnt out.

8:54Josh Axe:They go deaf. They can't hear anymore. So then sugar stays in your bloodstream and it can't get inside the cell. Here's the thing. Sugar is meant to be inside your cell. Once it gets in your cell, your mitochondria and your cells will take that and turn it into ATP energy. So your body takes sugar, glucose, turns it into energy. But if it doesn't ever get in your cell, your body is like, whoa, there shouldn't be this much sugar here. Your body starts this immune reaction to deal with it. And that causes inflammation in your bloodstream. Well, your bloodstream runs throughout your body, runs to all your organs.

9:27So now your entire body is inflamed. You know, according to researchers at UNC Chapel Hill, only about 12 % of American adults are metabolically healthy. That means 88 % are experiencing some type of metabolic dysfunction, and inflammation is a huge part of that picture. Another study published in the Journal of Diabetes found that people with insulin resistance have a two to three times higher level of inflammatory cytokine markers, meaning they just have much more inflammation. So think about this. Most people with diabetes have double to triple the levels of inflammation in their body.

10:04Josh Axe:You know, as I talked about earlier, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has talked about inflammation being the biggest issue today when it comes to chronic illness. And he actually points this out as well, that today we have all these ultra processed foods. And this is what's driving insulin resistance is, you know, the public, it's a public health crisis because it's driving trillions of dollars of chronic disease of all of these processed foods we're eating. And according to the CDC, 7 in 10 Americans now die from chronic diseases. Many, or really all of these are inflammation-related. Heart disease, diabetes, liver disease, and cancer.

10:42Josh Axe:And this eats up about 90 % of our healthcare dollars. Okay? And it's all inflammation. About 60 % of U.S. adults live with at least one chronic condition, and 40 % have two or more. Yet our government keeps subsidizing the very foods driving the problem. So the key is this. We have to balance our blood sugar. The way to fix this really quickly is stop eating sugar, stop eating processed carbs, and focus on balancing your blood sugar with diet. The way you do that is more protein, more fiber, moderate healthy fat, but really focus on more protein and fiber. More protein and fiber, less sugar and carbs will help fix your blood sugar issues.

11:22And then adding in things like cinnamon, walking more, This is going to solve the problem in a big way,

11:29Josh Axe:but stay away from the ultra processed foods and the excess carbs that's causing insulin resistance. The number two thing that really surprises people when it comes to chronic inflammation is high cortisol, so emotional stress is a major driver of inflammation. What most people don't realize is that stress doesn't just make you tense or irritable. It also changes your immune system. Chronic stress raises C-reactive protein by up to 60%, according to one study in the Journal of American Medical Association. It also causes cortisol dysregulation, which suppresses immune accuracy. And here's another thing.

12:07When cortisol goes up, it also causes, the first one we talked about, insulin to go up. You know, cortisol is supposed to act like a thermostat in your body, keeping your system balanced. but chronic stress breaks the dial. Instead of warning you when things are heating up,

12:25Josh Axe:it essentially burns the house down, leaving your immune system confused, overreactive, and just your immune system just gets exhausted. And today I see we have all of these influencers online pushing this sort of culture of hustle and grind. You know, it's like, and I see this a lot in women, especially. It's like women, you know, it's like you have your, from the moment you wake up, the second you go to bed, your schedule's booked out. It's like many of you are playing mom and career woman and volunteer worker and full-time chauffeur, all of that. And it's you're going nonstop that causes cortisol to go up.

13:01Josh Axe:One of the biggest things that I counsel my patients in that are women and moms, I say, listen, we have to start having a little bit of margin in your day. And here's the first thing. The first thing I do is get pushback. Okay? It's not possible. You know, I had a mom growing up who was diagnosed with breast cancer. hypothyroidism. She had cancer twice. I mean, my mom was sick and tired all the time. My mom had terrible health. And my mom was this mom. She had three kids. She worked as a school teacher. And she was just going every second of the day and very stressed. And I go back in time. Here's the thing.

13:35Josh Axe:I would have rather lived in a smaller house and had less things than my mom get cancer twice and almost die. So I think it all really comes down to priorities. If you want to be healthy. You've got to set aside time and do everything you can. Listen, I'm not talking about taking three days off a week. I'm talking about you have two days a week where you get two hours, where maybe you go to the gym, maybe you just go for a walk, but you just have some margin in your day here and there where you get to rest and recover or do things you love to do. You've got to prioritize. Here's another metaphor to think about.

14:15Josh Axe:And this is the way Chinese medicine actually sees it, and they believe this is also a big cause of breast cancer. If you're constantly nourishing others and pouring yourself out, but you're not being poured into or nourished yourself, eventually you have nothing to give. And this is a major cause of breast cancer, is that you're giving and giving and giving until you have nothing left, and then you're so depleted that then you get a condition like hypothyroidism or cancer or exhaustion or depression and one of those issues. And so it's critically important that you have some downtime, you have a level of self-care, or this high cortisol is going to drive serious inflammation and burn your body out.

14:56Josh Axe:You know, Selena Gomez has spoken openly about lupus and how emotional stress worsen her symptoms. The actor Chris Evans has discussed anxiety that manifests physically. Ryan Reynolds has described living with constant fight or flight, and Simone Biles has detailed how chronic stress impacted her immune stress, her digestion, and recovery as an athlete. We see this with celebrities, but I see it even more so in stay-at-home moms, working moms, dads that are also working and trying to bring their kids to practice and do everything under the sun. Busyness is a silent killer because it raises cortisol.

15:33Josh Axe:So the action here is do everything you can to create some margin. Here's an exercise. Write down your biggest priorities in life and then what's absolutely essential for those things. Then I want you to say no to everything else. Get better at saying no. Write down what do you love to do? What brings you joy? What reduces stress? For me, it's reading novels. It's being part of a men's group and going out and spending time with other guys. It's Chelsea and I going on date nights or family vacations. For me, it's just walking in nature. But what is it for you? Write down those things and try and get more of those in your schedule and just more downtime.

16:20That's going to be big for cortisol. And another great thing for cortisol is doing some adaptogenic herbs. Could be ashwagandha, could be rhodiola, but those are also helpful. The biggest myth about inflammation and chronic symptoms is that they're all separate issues. In reality, your symptoms behave more like a chain of falling dominoes. When one goes down, it triggers several more and before you know it, everything feels off. This new test flips the script and my team knows exactly what to look for. I'm currently offering a simple at-home blood test that actually tests for the right things.

17:00Targeted biomarkers that revealed the very first dominoes impacting your hormones, your inflammation, your thyroid, and your metabolism. Plus a full hour with one of my senior health advisors to review your results and show you exactly how the Health Institute can help you stop the chain reaction so you can finally heal. If you want to check it out and grab one before they're gone, just go to mybloodwork.com now. I can't wait to help you heal. Number three major cause of inflammation is fatty acid imbalance. Too many omega-6s, not enough omega-3s. It's not that fat itself causes inflammation. It's the imbalance in the types of fats we're consuming.

17:45Historically, humans ate close to a one-to-one ratio or at the very minimum one-to-four ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats. That balance kept inflammation pathways normalized. Today, the average American consumes an omega-6 to 3 ratio that's closer to 17 to 1 or some studies showing a 25 to 1 ratio. This increase of 25 times more omega-6s is largely due to eating more processed foods and seed oils. High omega-6 intake shifts the body towards increased inflammation. Think of your inflammatory pathways like a car with two pedals. Omega-3s are the brake, keeping inflammation controlled. Omega-6s are the gas pedal, activating inflammation when needed.

18:33You need both. You actually really need both. A healthy body taps the gas briefly, then hits the brakes. But with a 25 to 1 ratio, it's like you're driving 100 miles per hour with your brakes cut. The system can't slow down, so the inflammation runs hot all the time. You know, these industrialized seed oils weren't even part of the human diet until the early 1900s. Before that, people cooked with butter, tallow, lard, and they used my absolute favorite, extra virgin olive oil. and in certain areas like the islands, they would use coconut oil. But that's all people used. In 1911, Procter & Gamble introduced Crisco, the first industrialized fat made from hydrogenated cottonseed oil.

19:17Fast forward today, Americans now get about 20 % of all their calories from seed oils. Linoleic acid intake has increased more than 1 ,000 % since 1909.

19:29Josh Axe:According to Stanford Medicine, cotton seed, soybean, and corn oil are now in over 600 ,000 packaged foods and ultra processed foods, which make up 60 % of American daily calories. Now, listen, here's what you want to focus on. You want to focus on getting more omega-6s. You're going to do this by eating more wild-caught salmon, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, just more wild-caught fish. And then also getting things like walnuts, flax seeds, and chia seeds in your diet. That's really what you want to focus on. And then now this isn't an omega-3 or a 6, but to not push you too high in omega-6s, use extra virgin olive oil.

20:10If you're like, what oil should I use? When in doubt, extra virgin olive oil. The number four major driver of inflammation that most people are unaware of is being sedentary. Movement is a natural anti-inflammatory, yet most people are not moving enough.

20:27Josh Axe:You know, I remember reading this medical journal quite a few years ago, and it said in the journal, sitting is the new smoking. And it's absolutely true. One study found that just one hour less of sitting per day lowered inflammation by nearly 24 % in women with type 2 diabetes. Think about that. Just sitting one less hour a day, that's walking around the house. It's walking outside. It's just moving more. 24 % less inflammation. Some studies suggest that a single brief high-intensity session can lead to immediate changes in blood composition that fight inflammation. For example, in one study, breast cancer survivors were found to have increased cancer-fighting proteins in their blood after, and a lot of times it says, get on a treadmill or a spin bike, do an interval session for 10 minutes, and that will make a radical difference in your body.

21:18Josh Axe:Another study found that resistance exercise at moderate levels three times a week significantly lowered CRP levels and inflammation in just six weeks. Major, major changes. So movement is key. And listen, I do think the ideal is a combination of doing some weight training and cardio, but just even walking, walking makes a big difference. And the best time to walk for inflammation, by the way, is around your meals. So you wake up in the morning and you eat breakfast, go for a walk. You're at lunch, even at work. Go for a 15 to 20-minute walk. That's all it takes. A 15 to 20-minute walk will make a major difference in your inflammation.

21:54Josh Axe:The number five surprising cause of inflammation is leaky gut and hidden infections. You know, infections don't always make you feel sick, but they keep your immune system stuck in war mode. An example of this, if you have chronic parasites or long COVID or Epstein-Barr, a lot of these viruses sort of stay active, keeping your immune system at war. Another thing that I want to mention here is leaky gut. This is also called intestinal permeability. It's not rare. It's very common. I think probably 60 plus percent of people have it. And in people with, for instance, autoimmune disease or chronic joint pain, pretty much everyone has it.

22:36According to one study published in the Gastroenterology Review, leaky gut shows up in dozens of conditions, including including IBD, IBS, fatty liver, alcoholism, pancreatitis, diabetes, chronic heart failure, kidney disease, and depression. And of course, other digestive issues and food sensitivities. That's a big one. If you have chronic food sensitivities, histamine reactions, autoimmune, those are also connected to leaky gut. Among people with IBS, one study found that around 30 % or more of people tested positive for antiflagellant antibodies, a sign of barrier dysfunction, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.