Natural Inflammation Treatment: Finding the Fire Before You Reach for the Hose
- Dr. Teresa True
- 9 hours ago
- 6 min read
Inflammation gets talked about a lot these days. It's at the root of an enormous number of chronic health conditions, from joint pain and fatigue to autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease, and even depression. But here's the thing - knowing you have inflammation and knowing why you have it are two very different things. And that difference matters enormously when it comes to treatment.
You can't sprinkle water on a fire and expect it to stay out if you never find what's fueling it.
What is inflammation, exactly?
Inflammation itself isn't the enemy. Acute inflammation such as the redness, swelling and heat you get around a cut or a sprained ankle, is your immune system doing exactly what it's supposed to do, it's trying to help bring in the needed cells for healing, increased blood supply for healing fuel and let you know there is a problem that might need addressing with some pain and discomfort.
The problem is chronic low-grade inflammation, which can smolder quietly for years without obvious symptoms while driving damage in the background.
By the time it shows up as a diagnosis, it's often been going on for a long time as mild symptoms that may or may not have taken you to the doctor.
Common drivers include diet (especially refined sugars and industrialized seed oils), undiagnosed food intolerances, gut dysbiosis, chronic infections, environmental toxin exposure, chronic stress, poor sleep, and hormonal imbalances. And often it's a combination of several of these pieces to the puzzle.
So how do we know inflammation is there?
General inflammatory markers are a good starting place and are often available through standard labs:
ESR (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) - one of the oldest inflammation tests available, it's been useful for a looong time. It measures how quickly red blood cells settle in a tube. It's a very nonspecific test (meaning it tells you something is inflamed, but not what), and it can be elevated by a lot of things. Useful as a general screen only.
CRP (C-reactive protein) - another general marker of systemic inflammation. If you want more sensitivity, especially for cardiovascular inflammation risk, you want what's called a hs-CRP (high-sensitivity CRP) test, which can detect lower levels of inflammation that standard CRP misses. This is one we order frequently because it gives us more actionable data on how high the cardiovascular system inflammation is.
Complete blood count (CBC) with differential - looking at white blood cell patterns can give us clues about what kind of inflammatory response is happening (immune, allergic, infectious, etc.). Elevated white blood cells can signal inflammation or infection.
Comprehensive metabolic panel - liver and kidney markers can indicate whether inflammation is affecting specific organ systems, such as the liver and kidneys.
More targeted testing
Helps us zoom in when general markers are elevated or when symptoms point to specific systems:
Calprotectin (stool test) - this is really useful for gut inflammation specifically. It's a protein released by white blood cells in the intestinal lining, and elevated levels suggest active inflammation in the GI tract. So it can tell us if there is inflammatory bowel conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), like Crohn's or Ulcerative Colitis vs. functional ones like IBS.
Homocysteine - elevated levels are associated with cardiovascular inflammation and also reflect B vitamin status.
Ferritin - while ferritin is primarily an iron storage protein, it's also an inflammatory marker, meaning it rises with inflammation. This is why when we check iron levels, we order a full iron panel including ferritin to better assess if there's iron excess, or just inflammation present.
Antinuclear antibodies (ANA), complement levels, and specific autoimmune panels - when we're looking at possible autoimmune contributions to inflammation, but not very sensitive, which means it needs to be interpreted carefully and take into account what the patient is experiencing in their symptoms.
Organic acids, comprehensive stool analysis, food sensitivity testing - functional lab panels that help us identify gut-based, metabolic, or dietary drivers of inflammation, these sontimes have specific markers that help assess inflammation levels as well.
The point isn't to run every test on everyone. It's to ask the right questions first, then test strategically.
What about natural anti-inflammatories?
Here's the thing, there are some excellent natural anti-inflammatory options. But they work best, and sometimes only work, when you've addressed the underlying drivers of the inflammation. Otherwise you're managing symptoms while the fire keeps burning.
Here are a few of the most common ones we recommend and what the evidence supports:
Fish oil (omega-3 fatty acids)
We recommend this to almost every patient with or without an inflammatory condition. Nearly everyone is deficient. We simply don't eat enough cold-water fatty fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel) on a regular basis, and the modern Western diet is overabundant in omega-6 fatty acids, which are pro-inflammatory. Omega-3s, specifically EPA and DHA, help shift that ratio back toward balance and less inflammation. Dose matters, and quality matters. Not all fish oil is created equal.
Vitamin D
Most people think of vitamin D as a bone nutrient, but it's actually a hormone called calcitriol. Low vitamin D is strongly associated with increased inflammatory activity and immune dysregulation. In the Pacific Northwest, deficiency is extremely common given our long cloudy winters and lack of time outdoors without long sleeves, long pants or sunscreen, which all block vitamin D absorption. We test this routinely and recommend supplementation to most of our patients, often at higher therapeutic doses than you'd find in a typical multivitamin. We often recommend ones with added vitamin K2 to help support calcium placement in the bones and teeth, and not other tissues such as the kidneys or blood vessels.
Curcumin
This is the active compound in turmeric, and one of the most studied natural anti-inflammatories. However, curcumin has very poor bioavailability on its own. It needs either piperine (found in black pepper) or a specialized delivery form like phytosome or liposomal preparation to be absorbed well enough to do the job.
Boswellia (Boswellia serrata)
This is an herb from Ayurvedic medicine with good research behind it, particularly for joint and gut inflammation. It works through a different mechanism than NSAIDs (like Tylenol and ibuprofen), which makes it a useful option for people who can't tolerate these anti-inflammatory medications. Some studies have shown it to be helpful for conditions like osteoarthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.
Other botanicals worth knowing
Ginger, quercetin, resveratrol, and berberine all have meaningful anti-inflammatory activity and may be appropriate depending on what's driving the inflammation and what else is going on clinically.
The Bottom Line
Chronic inflammation is real, it's common, and it responds well to naturopathic treatment, especially when we find what is causing it and address that first. Supplements and botanicals are tools, not solutions. The solution is understanding why your immune system is sounding the alarm in the first place.
This is what specialize in at Pacific Clinic of Natural Medicine. Through a thorough intake and targeted functional lab testing, we work with you to identify what's fueling your inflammation and build a plan that actually addresses it.
Not sure where to start? We offer free 15-minute consultations, book one here and we can talk through whether we're the right fit for you. We see patients in-office in Portland, via telemedicine for Oregon and Washington residents, and offer virtual wellness consultations for clients across the US and internationally.
References
Sproston NR, Ashworth JJ. Role of C-Reactive Protein at Sites of Inflammation and Infection. Frontiers in Immunology. 2018.
Yousuf O, et al. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein and cardiovascular disease. Clinical Chemistry. 2013.
Roseth AG, et al. Fecal calprotectin: a novel test for the diagnosis of bowel inflammation. Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology. 1992.
Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. New England Journal of Medicine. 2007.
Cannell JJ, et al. Vitamin D and inflammation. Dermato-Endocrinology. 2014.
Calder PC. Omega-3 fatty acids and inflammatory processes. Nutrients. 2010.
Hewlings SJ, Kalman DS. Curcumin: a review of its effects on human health. Foods. 2017.
Siddiqui MZ. Boswellia serrata, a potential antiinflammatory agent. Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 2011.
Rosenbaum CC, et al. Antioxidants and antiinflammatory dietary supplements for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2010.
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