5HT+ Special Report: Inflammation (& How I Put It Out)

Let’s dig into the difference between the two stages of inflammation because it. is. critical. 

Acute inflammation is mostly beneficial. It’s your body’s speedy cleanup crew 🧹, essentially responsible for healing everything from cuts to colds. Your inflammatory cells get in and then they get out. (They basically represent the epitome of work-life balance.) Chronic inflammation, on the other hand…

Chronic inflammation is like the cleanup crew that never leaves. (Kind of like the highway construction crew who’ve been there for yearsss on the 183 North 😒.) By staying beyond its welcome, chronic inflammation starts to damage healthy tissue and is involved in the disease process of many conditions—from autoimmune disease like arthritis to lung diseases like asthma to gastrointestinal diseases like IBD.

Worse, there’s growing evidence chronic, low-grade inflammation is a silent troublemaker behind many of today’s top health problems. Inflammatory diseases account for more than half of all deaths globally. Yikes 😬. And yes, this is more or less why I’m writing this whole thang!

So why doesn’t inflammation always get the message and what can we do about it? Here’s what I’ve learned (and what I’m doing about it, too).

Cue Alicia Keys because most of us, er, kind of are. Inflammation is basically baked into how we eat, live, and breathe today. 

The modern Western lifestyle is basically inflammation’s dream scenario. From our diets (looking at you, ultra-processed foods) to our homes (might be time to crack open a window), lots of things can trigger the body’s fire alarm. 

While I did notice some differences in my inflammation symptoms while in Europe this summer, I’ll get into that later. For now, let’s break down the usual suspects (and a few sneaky ones you may not expect).

😐 Common culprits:

😮 Surprising triggers: 

Ever felt foggy or low during allergy season or when you’re sick? Research suggests inflammation could be at play in your brain 🧠. In fact, neuroinflammation has been linked to everything from prolonged mood changes to Alzheimer’s—and even to a condition researchers call “inflamed depression.”

In studies exploring the brain-immunity connection, a consistent set of key players emerges. They’re what’s called cytokines. These tiny proteins basically act as text messages to your immune cells, telling them when to activate or calm down.

There are two main types:

When the immune system fires up—say, to fight off an infection—certain cytokines can disrupt dopamine and serotonin activity. That’s why some people feel tired, anxious, or even depressed when they’re sick. Stress alone can have a similar effect, spiking cytokines like IL-6 and TNF-α, which are known to impair brain function and mood. 😓

Two new studies published in April by researchers at Harvard Medical School and MIT helped pinpoint the molecular roots of this link. Though conducted on mice, the findings shed light on how cytokines influence brain activity—and may one day hopefully inform effective therapies for autism and anxiety disorders.

The takeaway: Supporting the body’s natural anti-inflammatory pathways may help reduce both inflammation and inflammation-related anxiety. This aligns with another study published this year showing anti-inflammatory interventions were significantly more effective than placebo in reducing depressive scores for older adults with depression. 

But the brain-immune connection extends beyond mood and brain fog. Scientists have found a strong link between neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases like dementia. Given my own genetic risk, I pay very close attention to this area. And based on the latest science, I’m actively doing my best to reduce inflammation so my genes don’t become my destiny.

I’m also keeping an eye on GLP-1s here. Early research shows they can cross the blood-brain barrier and may help reduce neuroinflammation—potentially even slowing the buildup of amyloid and tau linked to Alzheimer’s.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide 💔—but beyond monitoring cholesterol or blood pressure, much of today’s prevention still waits for plaque to appear before taking action. Yet here’s the twist: That heart attack or stroke may actually start with inflammation simmering in your arteries. Meaning, if you catch inflammation, you can intervene before plaque buildup begins. 

When inflammation’s present, your liver produces more of what’s called C-reactive proteins (CRP). Elevated CRP levels spell an increased risk of cardiovascular disease as well as heart attacks, since inflamed arteries are more prone to plaque rupture and clot formation. (Think of CRP levels as your body’s “check engine light” for arterial inflammation.) 

Eric Topol (my fave) argues inflammation is a major driver of both atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the arteries) and atherothrombosis (arterial blood clot, resulting from said plaque)—and that we should measure and reduce it routinely 🔄. 

There are a few ways to do that. The standard CRP test, first developed in the 1930s, measures levels between 10–1000 mg/L. A newer high-sensitivity C-reactive protein test (hs-CRP), introduced in the 2000s, detects CRP as low as 0.01 mg/L (!), making it the GOAT for spotting early inflammation.

CRP tests aren’t part of a standard blood panel and are considered a specialized test. (Though Function Health does include hs-CRP in theirs.) 

My own hs-CRP levels have been pretty consistent since I started tracking it, phew: 

Another testing innovation gaining traction: AI heart scans 🤖. 

Caristo Diagnostics is shifting prevention from a plaque-first approach to an inflammation-first strategy with their CaRi-Heart technology, which detects inflammation around coronary arteries using CT scans. The tech is already in use across Europe—and a U.S. clinic is now partnering with Caristo to run the first study in asymptomatic patients.

As for reducing inflammation in the arteries, the field is still catching up. The gold standard remains statins 💊, proven to prevent coronary artery disease and reduce inflammation that accelerates plaque buildup. I actually take a 10mg statin and have for a couple years. (Worth noting there’s some increased concern among longevity folks about the impact long-term statin use may have on the rest of your body. Science may validate this over time, but hasn’t yet).

One lesser-known treatment—backed by six clinical trials Topol breaks down in detail—is colchicine 💊, a long-used anti-inflammatory drug originally prescribed for gout. While its generic form is accessible (~$20 on GoodRx), it’s rarely prescribed to prevent cardiac events. (FWIW, it is commonly associated with gastrointestinal side effects, and diarrhea, in particular.) 

Topol argues (and I agree) that we clearly need better anti-inflammatory agents with higher efficacy and fewer side effects. I’d add that we need more interventions that help us manage our inflamed hearts ❤️ than just statins and salads 🥗.

Pain doesn’t start off bad—it’s actually part of how your body heals. That ache you feel after an injury? It’s inflammation clocking in for work. The problem happens when it forgets to clock out 😬. (My back sure doesn’t and then I’m the one paying overtime. Did I over-strain this metaphor?)

When inflammation sticks around too long, it can lead to something called inflammatory arthritis—a condition where your immune system starts damaging the very joints it’s supposed to protect. 😔 It can hit anywhere, but it usually targets the knees, hands, hips, elbows, shoulders, or feet. The most common types are:

Yep, basically, a greatest hits album of “-itis.”

The chronic joint pain doesn’t happen all at once, either. Take rheumatoid arthritis, which advances in four stages: Inflammation sets up camp around the joint, then it damages cartilage, then bone, and by the fourth stage, inflammation finally burns out—but the damage lingers, often leaving behind chronic pain like the worst party guest ever. 

The real bummer is that, when you’re inflamed, your immune system continues to kick you while you’re down 😞. It keeps firing even after the issue’s over, creating more pain—and more inflammation. From there, it doesn’t take much to set things off again. Stress, lack of sleep, or certain foods can exacerbate the situation.

I’ve noticed it myself—whenever I slip into bad habits (aka eating too many Rice Krispy-like treats, my guilty pleasure when anxious), my back pain flares 🤦‍♂️. Seriously. And science actually backs me up here: Studies show stress doesn’t just change what you eat—it changes how your body responds to what you eat, amplifying inflammation through the brain-gut loop 🧠.

Fortunately, actively reducing inflammation (through interventions like eating an anti-inflammatory diet and taking anti-inflammatory medication) can help calm the system down and ease chronic pain. Some new research is even looking at GLP-1s as potential therapies to modulate joint inflammation and pain in arthritis—which may explain why some people (myself included) notice less pain and stiffness on them. 

What helped me beyond microdosing GLP-1s was staying the course with PT. If you read 5HT, you know it took me a loooong time to find one I could trust. But once I did, my back improved so much I could finally bend over in time for the 3-second rule. I highly recommend PT if you’ve got chronic pain (and if you’re on the edge of giving up on it like I was, give it one more shot).

Allergies are basically inflammation with better PR—annnd I could very well be its spokesperson 😂. 

I’m a little allergic to everything and a lot allergic to inconvenient things like dust mites and mold. But I’m not the only one aboard this struggle bus! One in four adults has a seasonal allergy, and allergic rhinitis (aka hay fever) affects 10-30% of people. FWIW, while symptoms can be mild, allergies are nothing to sniffle at 🤧. They can feel like histamine hell for some. 

Basically, what’s happening here is when your immune system’s spidey senses detect an allergen, it releases histamine—calling in the fire department in your body. How your brigade shows up depends on exposure: Touch it → you itch. Breathe it → you sneeze. Eat it → you regret it. (Bop it → twist it.)

Those quick reactions fade, but chronic allergic inflammation is a whole other story. With long-term exposure, airways stay inflamed, congestion ramps up, and breathing gets tougher. Studies even suggest chronic allergic inflammation can affect mood 🧠, which checks out—since nothing makes me crankier than not being able to breathe through my nose. 

When my family and I moved to Austin in 2021, my allergies only got worse. I finallyyy decided to do something about it. (That, and my wife made me 😂.) At an appointment with an ENT, he told me about something called allergy drops. (Heard of these? I hadn’t!) Allergy drops are sublingual immunotherapy (often shortened to the awful acronym SLIT, yeesh). Basically, these drops expose you to bits of the allergen you’re allergic to to help lower your sensitivity and increase immunity. 

I’ve been putting the drops under my tongue before bed since, and I’m into it! They’re a growing alternative to allergy shots (which are time and cost intensive to say the least), and research shows they’re about as effective. I found a few companies trying to make these accessible for the consumer (like Curex and Wyndly), buuut it’s worth saying insurance doesn’t cover them (yet).

Other popular options include antihistamines or nasal corticosteroid sprays. (I’ve tried Claritin and Zyrtec—but lately I’m on daily Ryaltris, a souped-up version of Flonase, in addition to my drops.) 

Ultimately, though, based on my experience and the research out there, our strongest levers to fight against knots and snot is to lower inflammation holistically. 

So let’s talk about hosing it down.

After spending a few weeks in Europe 🥐 this summer, I noticed my inflammatory back pain and stuffy nose dramatically improved 😮. Maybe it was the cleaner air, the extra steps, or olive oil galore. (Or maybe just the stress-free vacation vibes.) But I definitely felt less inflamed while there. Other folks on the internet have also claimed they felt less joint pain and there are loadsss of Reddit threads and videos about how the European lifestyle is healthier.

Of course, we can’t all pack up and go to Europe 😆, so what can we do to bring the cool off? A lot, actually! And it’s probably a lot of what you’re already doing (or tell yourself you’ll start doing soon—don’t worry, we’ve all been guilty of that). 

My personal playbook for an anti-inflammatory lifestyle includes six basic levers 👇: 

Each of these things basically works like water 💧on the fire 🔥.

Though sometimes fire fights fire (is this a saying?), so there’s one more thing I do in my anti-inflammatory protocol that’s worth highlighting: 

From banning tomatoes to making your own vegetable oil, the internet’s full of “inflammation fixes.” There are endless heated debates about what’s healthy for our immunity and what’s not. And where there’s food, there’s someone online blaming inflammation on it. Some claims hold up under scrutiny annnd others crumble faster than a gluten-free cookie. Let’s dive into the controversies.

At the end of the day, here’s how I feel about all of these fads and controversies. If someone feels less inflamed after cutting out kale, does it really matter if it’s physiological or psychological? Let’s let each other be! 

What’s not a hot take, IMO? Olive oil. Firmly backed by science, and the one “anti-inflammatory” food I’ll always vouch for. As an EVOO stan, I take a tablespoon of Blueprint Snake Oil daily (with my supps for better absorption).

Before we talk about what’s next, it’s worth saying: inflammation fatigue is real. The claims have ballooned so much that plenty of people now dismiss them altogether. I get it—after diving into this topic, it really does feel like inflammation is tied to everything. Honestly, that’s part of why this report took so long to get out.

There are a lot of cool innovations happening that will lead us into the future of fighting inflammation. But, if you look back at some of those lifestyle tweaks, really some of the most powerful things we can do to fight back are simple. Eat a balanced diet. Get enough sleep. Move your body. So if this topic feels overwhelming, remember—just by reading this far, you’re already ahead. And, like almost every health thing, the most impactful to do’s are basic.

Now 😅, let’s get into a few things I’m actually excited about.

With these innovations on the horizon, we could soon enter an era where fewer people suffer the slow burn of chronic disease. And I’m personally more optimistic about keeping my own inflammation in check after researching this report. Armed with this knowledge, I can see a future where I can prevent my family history of Alzheimer more easily and keep my heart and joints in prime shape.

And hey, if all else fails, I’ll be in Europe, breathing in the clean air, sauna-ing it up, and living my best (low-inflammation) life.

👋 Who are you again? I’m Derek Flanzraich—founder of two venture-backed startups in Greatist (👍) and Ness (👎). I’ve worked with brands like GoodRx, Parsley, Midi, Ro, NOCD, and Peloton. I now run Healthyish Content, a premium health content & SEO agency (among other things).

Every Thursday, I share 5 health things I feel strongly about so you can live healthyish. And this is a special edition: One health topic, 10 parts, for 5HT+ members only. (As a reminder: I’m more your friend with health benefits. None of this is medical advice.)