How Exercise Helps Fight “Inflammaging”

Inflammation is a major buzzword these days—and not just in the context of sprained ankles or itchy insect bites. Much of the discussion instead surrounds the chronic low-grade inflammation that tends to increase throughout your body as you age. This phenomenon is thought to contribute to a wide range of ills, like heart disease, cancer, and chronic pain. It even has a catchy name: “inflammaging.” Whether exercise helps or hinders this process has long been a topic of debate.

It’s clear that exercise causes a short-term surge of inflammation. One of the earliest studies in sports science, in 1901, tested blood samples from four competitors in the Boston Marathon. The results showed a spectacular surge of inflammatory markers after the race, which was, at the time, interpreted as worrisome evidence that “the exercise had gone far beyond physiological limits.”

In the years since then, we’ve come to a more nuanced view of the links between exercise and inflammation. Yes, exercise triggers acute inflammation. But the body responds by deploying its own anti-inflammatory molecules. One theory is…