14 Signs of Inflammation and How to Stop It

The signs of inflammation are many and varied — it’s been linked to everything from bloating to joint pain to sinus congestion and skin rashes. Although a clinical assessment is the only way to determine for sure if you suffer from inflammation, the more of the following symptoms you experience, the more likely you have low-grade inflammation, says Mark Hyman, MD, author of The UltraSimple Diet (Pocket Books, 2007). 

•  Bloating, belching, passing gas
•  Diarrhea or constipation
•  Fatigue, sluggishness
•  Itchy ears or eyes
•  Dark circles or bags under eyes
•  Joint pain or stiffness
•  Throat tickle, irritation or coughing
•  Stuffy noise, sinus trouble, excessive mucus
•  Acne, cysts, hives or rashes
•  Ruddy, inflamed-looking skin
•  Flushing
•  Water retention, skin puffiness
•  Craving certain foods
•  Compulsive or binge eating

The good news: Inflammation is fixable: “Our best tool to reverse inflammation isn’t a drug, but our diets,” says Barry Sears, PhD, a former research scientist at Boston University School of Medicine and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of the forthcoming Toxic Fat Syndrome. One of the best ways to snuff out inflammation is by heeding food sensitivities and intolerances. These are inflammatory responses that occur when the gut fails to break down certain foods.

The most notorious offenders are dairy, wheat, corn, sugar, soy, eggs and peanuts. Keep a food diary to identify negative reactions (which may be delayed by hours or days after you’ve eaten), then root out food sensitivities by following an elimination diet for at least a week.

By eliminating the foods that irritate your body and eating more of those that help your body combat inflammation, you’ll get rid of a lot of bloating and water retention, produce fewer “weight-gain” hormones, and have more energy for activity, says Elson Haas, MD, medical director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin in San Rafael, Calif., and author of The False Fat Diet (Ballantine, 2001). That sounds like a slim-down strategy we can all live with.