Turn down the inflammation alarm

A 48-hour plan for bloat, brain fog, and “wired-tired” without a complicated diet.

One warm thing on every plate (or mug).

Earlier this week, I wrote (in Notes):

Inflammation isn’t always the enemy.
It’s your body’s alarm system—designed to protect and repair.
The problem starts when the alarm doesn’t turn off…
What keeps the alarm blaring?
Stress, lack of sleep, processed food, and anything that makes digestion feel like work instead of flow…

One reader replied (paraphrasing):

This is a good added perspective. It’s not easy to implement, but the logic helps.

Totally fair. Today, let’s connect logic to ease.

First, what is ease?

• Ease ≠ effortless.

• Ease = aligned effort–less friction because you’re working with your biology, not against it.

How to align effort?

• Create a pace—a rhythm you can count on. Your body loves to form habits. Leverage this, and before you know it, your mind and body drop into that effort–at the same time and place–with ease.

• Find ways to connect with purpose or calling to signal your nervous system that you’re safe to put in effort. I listen to recordings or read topics from inspiration in my field that get me there in 10 minutes or less (don’t fall into the 1-2 hour podcast trap when it’s time to work).

• Create slack that lowers your decision load, e.g. 10-hour eating window (like 9 am to 7 pm), then close the kitchen; chew 30 times or take 5 deep breaths before swallowing.

• Have fewer moving parts. With food: one-pot meal over 12-ingredient salads, and predictable timing over snack grazing. With other things: focus on one thing first; go deep before adding another thing to your plate.

What causes inflammation?

There’s acute inflammation: you cut your finger, it swells, heals, and it’s done. It’s a short, targeted cleanup.

Then there’s low-grade inflammation: no big injury, just steady micro-irritants that your body can’t finish processing. Your body’s on constant watch duty, staying half-on all day with small, repeated nudges that keep the immune system idling. I’m getting tired just thinking about it.

What drives this low-grade? Often, stress. What does it look like?

Life is filled with stress.

• You step outside and feel the first frost of winter, and it’s cold. That’s stress. Put on more layers and you just de-stressed.

• You’re scheduled to speak in public, and that’s stressful. The more you prepare for it, and the more you do it, the less stressful it becomes.

• You need to have a difficult conversation with someone you care about, and that’s stressful. You face that moment, and it’s not as bad as you anticipated; you learn something, and you know what’s next. Less stress.

Stressors prompt us to take care of what needs taking care of so we live happier, healthier, richer lives. When we don’t, stress turns low-grade.

Other factors that create low-grade inflammation:

• Circadian drift: when sleep and meal times keep sliding around, your body gets confused.

• Autonomic tilt: based on how you breathe and pace, your nervous system leans fight-or-flight (go-go or shut down) or rest-and-digest (calm).

• Ultra-processed foods: additives, seed-oil overload, and sugar spikes mean more cleanup than your gut can calmly handle.

• Sleep debt: the night crew can’t take out the trash if you cut their shift.

• Sedentary time: when muscles don’t contract for long periods, they stop sending ‘I’m okay’ signals to your immune system. Blood sugar lingers longer, lymph moves slower, breath gets shallow, and your body translates that to more cleanup to do. It doesn’t mean “work out"; it means move. Short movement “snacks” lower post-meal glucose and quiet the alarm.

• Cold, dense, or day-old food: your system has to warm and break it down, meaning more work for your gut.

How to fix these?

Re-read “How to align” above.
Apply it to when you eat, sleep, work, and other important activities.
When you eat: choose fresh, real foods, make them warm, and be generous with your prep and eating time. You’ll save frustration and time at the other end.

The mindset bridge

While a positive mindset doesn’t erase inflammation, it picks behaviors that let your body turn the alarm down.

Perception: urgent, “this is hard”
→ Sympathetic up, vagal down
→ Faster bites, tighter breath, later nights
→ Poorer digestion, noisier gut signals
→ Immune ‘watch’ stays on (low-grade)
→ You feel puffy/foggy/wired → repeat

Perception: manageable, curious
→ Longer exhales (sympathetic down), vagal up
→ Warm, paced, predictable meals (trusts time)
→ Better breakdown, quieter gut
→ Alarm turns down → clearer & calmer

Let’s flip our perception from urgent to manageable.

And just so you know, I’m not free of inflammation. I’ve become fluent in it. I’ve learned to read it as a message to pay attention instead of as a verdict that I’m “just getting old.”

When my kids were young, and they cried or tantrummed, I didn’t blame them for inconveniencing me. I paused and met the need. By helping them get their needs met (instead of distracting them with glitter), I also taught them how to do it too. This “slow-cook” approach saves time and aggravation, forges deeper connection, and lets the rest of the day to flow.

A tantrum is inflammation. Treat your inflammation the same way.

Inflammation is a protective alarm, like a fire alarm. Ignore or suppress it, and the alarm keeps blaring. Your body re-routes energy from digestion and repair to watch duty.

You’ll feel it as heavy after meals, puffy by evening, wired at night, and foggy in the morning. I’ve gotten fluent in reading these signals. Instead of saying, Ugh, food coma, I say, Aah, let me slow down.

What keeps the alarm stuck on

Here’s the logic chain:

1. Rushed eating → shallow breathing → poor stomach signaling.
   When you chew fast, your breath stays tight. Tight breath = “I’m not safe.” Digestion downshifts.

2. Cold, dense, or day-old food → more mechanical work for your gut.
   Your system has to warm and break it down. (I’m team one-pot, eaten within 24 hours for this reason: higher prana, less work.)

3. Erratic meal timing → stress hormones nudge insulin + bloat.
   Your body loves rhythm. If it can’t predict fuel, it hoards and inflames.

4. Ultra-processed foods → small immune triggers.
   Additives, seed oil overload, and sugar spikes = more cleanup than your gut can calmly handle.

5. Sleep debt → higher inflammatory tone.
   The night crew can’t take out the trash if you cut their shift.

None of this requires perfection. It simply asks for less friction on your gut.

“When food stops working”: 6 clues to watch this week

• You look three months pregnant by afternoon (even if breakfast felt “clean”).

• You need a nap or coffee within 90 minutes of eating.

• You get hangry before the next meal.

• Evening rings feel tight; face looks puffy.

• You sleep but don’t wake up restored.

• Your mood slides to irritability or anxious for no obvious reason.
  

The 48-hour calm-the-alarm plan (zero perfection required)

1. Warm it.
   Every meal gets a warm element: soup/broth, sautéed veg, kitchari, stewed apples, gingery chicken & rice, or brothy beans.
   Leftovers? Re-warm fully and finish within 24 hours.

2. Pace it.
   At each meal: 5 slow breaths while you chew, then swallow. Repeat.
   Chew + Breathe tells your nervous system it’s safe to digest.

3. Time it.
   Eat within a 10-hour daytime window you can actually keep (e.g., 8am–6pm or 10am–8pm). No grazing after your last meal.

4. Simplify the plate.
   One-pot or one-bowl meals win: protein + cooked veg + easy starch, with warm spices or ginger. Fewer competing textures = less digestive labor.

5. De-ultra-process.
   Diets high in ultra-processed foods are consistently linked with higher inflammation and worse metabolic health. Swap packaged snacks for warm, real food: nuts you toast, fruit you stew, broth you sip.

6. Guard your sleep.
   Sleep is your nightly anti-inflammatory system and brain cleanup crew. Phones out of the bedroom. Bed by 10:00–10:30 pm at the latest. Ritualize a 10-minute wind-down (peppermint or ginger tea, light stretch, hot bath or shower).
   

Why this works

• Warmth supports stomach acid and enzyme function → proteins/starches break down better → less gas, less immune activation.

• Pace + breath shifts you from fight-or-flight to rest-and-digest → better motility and less cramping.

• Predictable timing normalizes insulin rhythms → less water retention and fewer “panic cravings.”

• Simpler meals reduce “traffic” at the gut lining → fewer misfires to the immune system.

• Quality sleep turns on the anti-inflammatory system (vagal tone + glymphatic cleanup) → you wake clearer.
  

Paid members get step-by-step breakdowns to make Warm + Pace + Time plug-and-play, even on busy weeks.

Tiny action for today

Choose one meal and do warm + paced + simple.
Check in 60–90 minutes later: bloat? energy? mood? Take note. Do it again tomorrow.

Troubleshooting

• After your biggest meal, take a 10-minute easy walk. It smooths blood sugar and helps your belly stay calm.

• Eating with family or at a restaurant? Order the warm bowl (soup, stew, curry) and use the 5-breath pace. No one notices.

• Hungry at night? You likely under-ate protein or warm carbs at dinner. Add ½–1 cup of warm starch (rice, potatoes, beans) next time.

• Travel day? Broth, oatmeal, or a hot deli soup beats a cold bar for gut calm.

With you, stove-side.
— Savitree
Your guide to Food as Medicine—warm meals, calmer gut, clearer days.

Free gets the reset. Paid builds the rhythm so it sticks