Inflammation & joint health: where to start.
Joint aches, morning stiffness, skin flares, allergies, puffiness — the signs of low-grade inflammation, often with the gut and omega-3 status underneath. The path: the plate, the omega-3s, the gut, and hs-CRP to track it.
Three steps, in order.
Why hs-CRP between 1 and 3 is where lifestyle moves it most, and what drives it.
Autoimmune Disease: Symptoms, Causes, Diet, Testing & How to Calm the Immune Attack
Start hereRead these first.
From The Dr. Axe Show.
Watch more episodes →Start here
Autoimmune Disease: Symptoms, Causes, Diet, Testing & How to Calm the Immune Attack
Start hereLab Interpreter
hs-CRP in; where it sits and what usually moves it out.
Open the toolStraight answers.
What's a good hs-CRP?
Under 1.0 mg/L is the target; 1–3 is low-grade inflammation where lifestyle moves it most; above 3 needs a look for a cause. Acute illness raises it for a few weeks.
Does collagen help joints?
Modest but real benefits in trials over 3–6 months at 10–20 g a day — more for tendons and cartilage than for inflammatory arthritis.
Which foods cause inflammation?
Refined sugar, seed oils, processed foods and excess alcohol drive it; for some people gluten or dairy add to it. The anti-inflammatory plate is the reverse.