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submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works to c/askscience@lemmy.world

If somebody was having issues with a weakened immune system, and also dealing with a chronically higher baseline level of inflammation, are there any known ways to strengthen the immune system while reducing or at least not increasing baseline inflammation? Is that even possible or is some level of inflammation unavoidable?

Would it depend on the specific inflammatory factors that are already causing the higher baseline response?

I know there's some research about running reducing inflammation, but it also triggers some inflammation? Is the acute inflammation triggered by running tied to longer term reductions in inflammation?

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[-] blarghly@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

If you aren't sleeping well: sleep better

[-] Nomad@infosec.pub 1 points 1 month ago

In theory eating healthy foods that reduce inflammation should do that a little. Like fresh blueberries and some spices like cardamon (I think). Exercise should reduce inflammation and improve your available energy which should improve immune response. Same for sleep.

[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

To add on to that, there is a low histamine diet that reduces inflammation. It's a tough diet though because everyone has different triggers.

https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-a-low-histamine-diet-4694529

[-] Krudler@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I found out that all my life I've been intolerant to gluten, while completely unaware.

It manifested itself in severe gastroesophageal reflux disease, body wide inflammation, and it provokes my psoriasis (autoimmune).

I had no way of knowing because none of the symptoms presented in the way dietitians, doctors, gastroenterologists, immunologists could make a connection.

It's just a personal anecdote, but something to reinforce with others are saying, where you could examine your diet a bit to start.

Edit: I stumbled ass backwards into figuring this out for myself, but it was because I started to cook fresh to lose weight. My rule was I could have anything I wanted to eat on the condition that I made it myself and I found after a while, it was just easier to boil potatoes or rice than to fuck around with dough.

As I carried on in my fitness and weight loss and cooking journey, so many of my conditions magically went away and I assigned it to the fresh eating and weight loss but it wasn't that!

The day I decided to treat myself with beef and barley soup was the day I discovered. My body erupted and every condition came back in force! The pressure filled gurgling acid was immediately there, burning my throat like lava, which I had not suffered for months

It turns out I had inadvertently cut wheat and barley and gluten out of my life by accident, and gave my body a long enough time to recover, that by the time I reintroduced it to my diet I couldn't ignore that it was the problem the whole time!

I'm not saying your problem is gluten, I'm saying it could be somewhere you never thought to look, and all the specialists told you you were crazy for thinking about.

[-] Otherbarry@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

A healthy non-inflammatory / anti-inflammatory diet should already do that I thought.. At least that's been my thinking. I've been practicing sticking to non-inflammatory foods most of the year and still eat all the normal immune system boosting veggies/fruits e.g. garlic/ginger/apples/oranges/blueberries/etc.

For me at least there aren't specific inflammatory triggers so that's more about a general diet. Unfortunately there are people that do get inflammation from specific sorts of foods & whatnot so some people end up on more restricted diets, but even then the usual veggies/fruits are usually okay.

[-] Contramuffin@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Immunologist here: what you're describing seems vague. Inflammation is honestly just an umbrella term that generally refers to any time when the immune system is doing something (hence the seemingly conflicting advice). As a result, it's not entirely clear to me what specifically you're referring to.

Remember that no pathogen will just sit there and let themselves be destroyed. Many will actively exploit the immune system to cause disease, and in those cases, having a stronger immune response is actually bad for you. As well, I'm not sure what you mean by having higher "baseline inflammation," because again, inflammation isn't a singular thing

this post was submitted on 14 Nov 2025
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