How Chronic Inflammation Affects Aging and What to Do About It

Do you feel like you’re aging faster than you should? The culprit might be hiding within you—it’s called chronic inflammation, and it’s a slow-burning fire that can quietly impact your health and vitality every day.

Chronic inflammation often starts silently, without dramatic symptoms. It gradually erodes your well-being, setting the stage for serious health issues like heart disease, diabetes, and autoimmune disorders. Over time, this internal fire can also take a toll on your appearance and brain function.

Are fine lines appearing sooner than expected? Do you find yourself battling unexplained fatigue or brain fog? These common signs may signal that chronic inflammation is at work. The good news? You have the power to combat it! Let’s explore practical strategies to cool the flames and reclaim your health.

What Is Chronic Inflammation?

Inflammation can take on different forms. Acute inflammation is your body’s natural protective response, helping to heal injuries and fight infections. In contrast, chronic inflammation lingers over time, gradually weakening your body and contributing to long-term health issues.

Put another way: acute inflammation heals your body, while chronic inflammation harms you. This persistent immune response can lead to cellular damage that speeds up visible signs of aging like wrinkles and loss of skin elasticity. It can also put stress on your bones and joints and, over time, can compromise your organs and brain function. This may increase your risk for age-related diseases like heart disease, dementia, and certain cancers.^1-4

The Link Between Chronic Inflammation and Aging

Chronic inflammation can accelerate aging at the cellular level by causing hidden damage inside your cells. This persistent inflammation releases harmful substances, including pro-inflammatory molecules and free radicals, which attack critical components of your cells, such as DNA, proteins, and the cell membrane. This cellular damage disrupts normal cell function, speeding up the aging process.^{5, 6}

Over time, the toll of chronic inflammation can contribute to age-related health problems like heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and memory loss. It doesn’t just harm individual cells; it impacts entire organs and systems, leading to a range of health issues. Even your skin, the body’s largest organ, can show early signs of aging—think wrinkles, reduced firmness, and other changes that appear sooner than expected.^{7, 8}

How can you tell if chronic inflammation is affecting you? Look for persistent fatigue that lingers despite adequate rest, recurring joint pain, ongoing digestive issues, and frequent infections. Other subtle but significant indicators may include brain fog that makes it hard to concentrate, mood swings that seem out of character, or unexplained weight changes. Each of these symptoms could signal that chronic inflammation is quietly undermining your vitality.^{9, 10}

Strategies to Combat Chronic Inflammation and Age Powerfully

Adopt an Anti-Inflammatory, Eat-Protein-First Diet

Focusing on anti-inflammatory foods and eating protein first can form a strong foundation for reducing inflammation and its effects on aging. Protein is vital for repairing and building tissues, supporting immune function, and producing enzymes and hormones essential for healthy aging. It also helps maintain muscle mass, which naturally declines with age, keeping you stronger and more resilient.

Incorporate high-fiber foods to help eliminate toxins that contribute to inflammation, along with healthy fats—like omega-3 fatty acids found in wild-caught fish—that actively combat inflammatory processes. This combination, what I call “eating by the plate,” creates a robust defense against inflammation.^11-13

What you avoid is just as important as what you eat. Keep out pro-inflammatory foods like processed sugars, trans fats, and refined carbohydrates. ¹⁴ These troublemakers can fan the flames of inflammation and speed up the aging process. 

Incorporate Resistance Training 

Resistance training is a powerful tool against inflammation. Each workout improves your body’s insulin sensitivity, regulates stress hormones, and reduces chronic inflammation. Those benefits amplify with walking, which improves circulation, boosts cardiovascular health, keeps joints flexible, and supports a healthy weight.^{15, 16} 

Ready to start? My Resistance Training Cheat Sheet has all you need: essential home gym tips, an 8-week workout plan, and a progress tracker to record your reps, sets, and weight to see your progress firsthand. Get yours FREE here.

Manage Stress Effectively

Stress isn’t doing you any favors in the aging department. Chronic inflammation triggers the release of stress hormones like cortisol. When elevated for long periods, cortisol can increase inflammation. High cortisol levels also disrupt immune function, increase free-radical damage that can harm your cells and raise blood sugar—all factors that amplify inflammation.¹⁷ This creates a vicious cycle: more stress leads to more inflammation, which can worsen stress, keeping the cycle spinning and impacting long-term health.

Simple but effective stress-management techniques include meditation, deep-breathing exercises, and spending time in nature. Time spent outdoors, whether walking in the park or gardening, does wonders for stress relief. 

These aren’t just feel-good activities but practical, science-backed strategies to fight inflammation and support healthy aging.

Prioritize Quality Sleep

Quality sleep is essential for regulating and reducing inflammation. When you’re sleep-deprived, your body produces more inflammatory molecules and stress hormones, fueling inflammation rather than calming it. This lack of rest disrupts your immune system and makes it harder to fight chronic inflammation, accelerating aging and increasing susceptibility to age-related conditions.¹⁸ 

Establish a consistent bedtime routine with calming activities like reading or a warm bath to signal it’s time to wind down. Creating a restful environment is also essential: keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet, with comfortable bedding, and consider blackout curtains if outside light is an issue. 

One of the most impactful changes you can make is to limit screen time before bed; blue light from phones, tablets, and computers disrupts your natural sleep-wake cycle. Aim to put away devices at least an hour before bed to support better sleep. 

If you have trouble falling or staying asleep, take a high-quality supplement that combines melatonin with other sleep-supporting nutrients. 

Sleep&Glow offers innovative sleep products designed to enhance both sleep quality and beauty. Their popular Omnia pillow is crafted to help prevent sleep wrinkles and reduce morning puffiness, while their blankets, loungewear, and supplements each support different aspects of restful sleep. With a focus on ergonomic design and materials that promote better sleep, Sleep&Glow is committed to helping you sleep well and feel great. Shop Sleep&Glow and use code jjvirgin to get $20 off pillows and blankets.*

How ‘Healthy’ Foods Can Contribute to Inflammation

You already know that foods like sugar and damaged fats can fuel inflammation, but what if the “healthy” foods you eat are also part of the problem? Some of these so-called nutritious choices may quietly contribute to inflammation and hold you back from feeling your best. They may also be causing symptoms like gas, bloating, fatigue, headaches, skin breakouts, cravings, and stubborn belly fat.

If you feel like you’re eating well but still struggling with these issues, you might be dealing with hidden food sensitivities. I’ve identified the top 7 culprits—what I call Hi-FI (High Food Intolerance) foods—that are most likely to trigger these problems. In The Ditch List: 7 Foods Harming Your Health, I’ll help you pinpoint these offenders and guide you toward smarter, equally satisfying swaps to help you feel better fast.

Get your FREE copy of The Ditch List: 7 Foods Harming Your Health here. 

References:

1. Pahwa R, Goyal A, Jialal I. Chronic Inflammation. [Updated 2023 Aug 7]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493173/
2. Salminen A, Kaarniranta K, Kauppinen A. Photoaging: UV radiation-induced inflammation and immunosuppression accelerate the aging process in the skin. Inflamm Res. 2022 Aug;71(7-8):817-831. doi: 10.1007/s00011-022-01598-8. Epub 2022 Jun 24. PMID: 35748903; PMCID: PMC9307547.
3. Howcroft TK, Campisi J, Louis GB, Smith MT, Wise B, Wyss-Coray T, Augustine AD, McElhaney JE, Kohanski R, Sierra F. The role of inflammation in age-related disease. Aging (Albany NY). 2013 Jan;5(1):84-93. doi: 10.18632/aging.100531. PMID: 23474627; PMCID: PMC3616233.
4. Agrawal R, Hu A, Bollag WB. The Skin and Inflamm-Aging. Biology (Basel). 2023 Nov 2;12(11):1396. doi: 10.3390/biology12111396. PMID: 37997995; PMCID: PMC10669244.
5. Khansari N, Shakiba Y, Mahmoudi M. Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress as a major cause of age-related diseases and cancer. Recent Pat Inflamm Allergy Drug Discov. 2009 Jan;3(1):73-80. doi: 10.2174/187221309787158371. PMID: 19149749.
6. Ferrucci L, Fabbri E. Inflammageing: chronic inflammation in ageing, cardiovascular disease, and frailty. Nat Rev Cardiol. 2018 Sep;15(9):505-522. doi: 10.1038/s41569-018-0064-2. PMID: 30065258; PMCID: PMC6146930.
7. Weyand CM, Goronzy JJ. Aging of the Immune System. Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2016 Dec;13 Suppl 5(Suppl 5):S422-S428. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.201602-095AW. PMID: 28005419; PMCID: PMC5291468.
8. Pająk J, Nowicka D, Szepietowski JC. Inflammaging and Immunosenescence as Part of Skin Aging-A Narrative Review. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Apr 24;24(9):7784. doi: 10.3390/ijms24097784. PMID: 37175491; PMCID: PMC10178737.
9. St. Vincent’s Medical Center: 8 Surprising Signs of Chronic Inflammation
10. WebMD: Signs of Chronic Inflammation You May Not Expect
11. Healthline: 9 Important Functions of Protein in Your Body
12. Shivakoti R, Biggs ML, Djoussé L, Durda PJ, Kizer JR, Psaty B, Reiner AP, Tracy RP, Siscovick D, Mukamal KJ. Intake and Sources of Dietary Fiber, Inflammation, and Cardiovascular Disease in Older US Adults. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Mar 1;5(3):e225012. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.5012. PMID: 35357453; PMCID: PMC8972036.
13. Calder PC. Omega-3 fatty acids and inflammatory processes. Nutrients. 2010 Mar;2(3):355-374. doi: 10.3390/nu2030355. Epub 2010 Mar 18. PMID: 22254027; PMCID: PMC3257651.
14. Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials: 5 Types of Foods That Cause Inflammation
15. Effting PS, Thirupathi A, Müller AP, Pereira BC, Sepa-Kishi DM, Marqueze LFB, Vasconcellos FTF, Nesi RT, Pereira TCB, Kist LW, Bogo MR, Ceddia RB, Pinho RA. Resistance Exercise Training Improves Metabolic and Inflammatory Control in Adipose and Muscle Tissues in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet. Nutrients. 2022 May 24;14(11):2179. doi: 10.3390/nu14112179. PMID: 35683979; PMCID: PMC9182921.
16. Mayo Clinic: Walking: Trim your waistline, improve your health
17. Hannibal KE, Bishop MD. Chronic stress, cortisol dysfunction, and pain: a psychoneuroendocrine rationale for stress management in pain rehabilitation. Phys Ther. 2014 Dec;94(12):1816-25. doi: 10.2522/ptj.20130597. Epub 2014 Jul 17. PMID: 25035267; PMCID: PMC4263906.
18. Mullington JM, Simpson NS, Meier-Ewert HK, Haack M. Sleep loss and inflammation. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Oct;24(5):775-84. doi: 10.1016/j.beem.2010.08.014. PMID: 21112025; PMCID: PMC3548567.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. Products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The views in this blog by JJ Virgin should never be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. Please work with a healthcare practitioner concerning any medical problem or concern. 

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