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Is chronic inflammation killing your motivation and happiness?
Do you ever go through periods where you feel kind of “blah”?
Everything’s a chore. You keep up with work, family and social commitments… but just barely. You have zero motivation.
Some might call this mild depression. But the truth is, we all go through times when we’re feeling less zesty about life. It’s during those times that unhealthy temptations win out over your desire for self-improvement.
Maybe you want to start a new business, learn to play the guitar or get good at tennis. But instead of working toward your goal, you give in to a craving for a frozen pizza and a mind-numbing Lifetime movie marathon.
These motivational ruts hold us back in our lives… especially when we take a long time to snap out of them. But there might be a way to reclaim your “joie de vivre” sooner rather than later…
Fight the low-grade chronic inflammation that’s killing your motivation and stealing your happiness.
Inflammation drives down your “feel-good” brain chemical dopamine
By now, you’ve heard that chronic low-grade inflammation plays a role in everything from diabetes to autoimmune diseases to cancer. Well, it turns out, it could be messing with your mood and motivation too.
A new paper published by researchers at Emory University suggests that the relationship between chronic, low-grade inflammation and dopamine could be behind that “blah” unmotivated feeling you’re grappling with.
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In case you don’t know, dopamine is one of a few “feel-good” brain chemicals that affect your mood. More specifically, dopamine is your brain’s reward chemical. When you accomplish something exciting, like finishing first place in a marathon or getting promoted at work, your brain releases dopamine that makes you feel good.
Research shows that dopamine directly influences how happy and motivated you feel. But research also shows that dopamine levels are affected by how inflamed you are.
In fact, using a computational method they developed, Emory University researchers confirmed that inflammation influences energy and motivation levels because of the body’s innate response to inflammation…
You see, typically, inflammation occurs due to illness or injury. Your body sends out immune cells to handle whatever issue it’s dealing with. These immune cells release molecules called inflammatory cytokines that cause inflammation.
Since your body thinks inflammation signals illness or injury, it figures that you don’t want to use up too much energy when you’re inflamed. You need to save your energy for fighting off infection. So, your body tries to help you by lowering your motivation levels. Makes sense, right?
Except nowadays, many of us are inflamed all the time. We have chronic, low-grade inflammation from the food we eat, the toxins in our environment, our stressful schedules and our sedentary lifestyles.
But based on what researchers are saying in this paper, that’s bad news for our motivation and mood.
Tackle mood and motivation from the inflammation angle
So, whether you deal with diagnosable depression or you just fall into a motivational rut from time to time, you may want to start tackling your mood and motivation from a different angle… the inflammation angle.
There are lots of simple ways to combat low-grade chronic inflammation that could keep you motivated, so you’re soaring across the tennis court, guitar soloing like Slash or running an online empire in no time.
The first step is to take an honest assessment of your current inflammation level. Signs of chronic inflammation include:
- Body pain
- Constant fatigue and insomnia
- Depression, anxiety and mood disorders
- Gastrointestinal complications like constipation, diarrhea, and acid reflux
- Weight gain
- Frequent infections
You can also check your inflammation levels through blood work. Inexpensive blood tests like C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and fibrinogen can give you a better idea of how much inflammation is happening in your body. There are plenty of other tests you can take to gauge chronic inflammation too (here are some Dr. Michael Cutler recommends). Unfortunately, many doctors won’t run these tests for you unless they’re looking for another disease.
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But whether you verify that you have chronic inflammation or not, everyone can benefit from following anti-inflammatory lifestyle practices. The most important are:
- You’ll want to eat an anti-inflammatory diet that limits foods like sodas, refined carbohydrates, fructose corn syrup, and trans-fats but includes plenty of inflammation-fighters like fruit, vegetables, fiber, nuts, tea, curcumin, and fish oil.
- Research shows that exercise lowers levels of inflammatory molecules in your body. So, save time for daily movement.
- Maintain a healthy weight. Holding on to extra weight causes higher inflammation levels. If you eat well and exercise regularly, hopefully, your weight will fall into place naturally. If not, take a trip to your doctor to see if there are any underlying conditions or imbalances getting in your way.
- Cut back on antibiotics, antacids, and NSAIDs. These popular medications cause damage to the intestinal wall. If the damage is bad enough, food and toxins can escape the gut and get into the bloodstream, causing body-wide inflammation.
Sources:
- How chronic inflammation may drive down dopamine and motivation — MedicalXpress
- Can’t or Won’t? Immunometabolic Constraints on Dopaminergic Drive — Trends in Cognitive Sciences
- Dopamine — Psychology Today
- Chronic Inflammation — StatPearls
By Jenny Smiechowski
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