Top 10 'Inflammation-Cooling' Healthy Habits to adopt at home for Reducing Daily Aches and Brain Fog - Goh Ling Yong
Do you ever wake up feeling stiff and creaky, as if your joints need a good oiling? Or perhaps you struggle through the afternoon with a foggy brain that just won't focus, no matter how much coffee you drink. We often chalk these feelings up to "getting older" or a poor night's sleep, but there's often a deeper, more persistent culprit at play: chronic inflammation.
Now, when you hear "inflammation," you might think of the redness and swelling around a cut or a sprained ankle. That's acute inflammation, and it's a good thing! It's your body's natural, short-term response to injury. The problem is when that emergency response system gets stuck in the "on" position, creating a low-grade, simmering fire throughout your body. This chronic inflammation is a key driver behind everything from daily aches and persistent fatigue to brain fog, skin issues, and even more serious long-term health concerns.
The good news is that we have tremendous power to turn down this inflammatory heat. It doesn't require a drastic overhaul or a magic pill. Instead, it's about adopting small, consistent, "inflammation-cooling" habits right in the comfort of your own home. Here on the Goh Ling Yong blog, we believe that sustainable health is built on these daily choices. Let's explore 10 powerful habits you can start today to soothe your system, sharpen your mind, and reclaim your vitality.
1. Eat the Rainbow (And Prioritize Anti-Inflammatory Foods)
You can't out-train a bad diet, and you certainly can't out-supplement an inflammatory one. The food you put on your plate is arguably the most powerful tool you have for controlling daily inflammation. The goal is to shift the balance away from pro-inflammatory foods and towards nutrient-dense, inflammation-cooling options. Think of your plate as a canvas for colour. The more natural colours you can add, the more antioxidants and polyphenols you're consuming, which are your body's frontline soldiers against inflammatory damage.
Focus on incorporating fatty fish like salmon and sardines, which are packed with anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. Load up on leafy greens like spinach and kale, vibrant berries, and deep-coloured vegetables like beets and broccoli. Healthy fats from avocados, olive oil, and nuts are also crucial. At the same time, work on reducing your intake of inflammatory triggers. The biggest culprits are processed foods, refined sugars, trans fats found in many baked goods and fried foods, and excessive omega-6 fatty acids from vegetable oils like soy and corn oil.
Practical Tip: Start with one meal. Instead of overhauling your entire diet, focus on making your lunch an "anti-inflammatory power bowl." Start with a base of quinoa or mixed greens, add a protein like grilled salmon or chickpeas, and load it up with colourful veggies like bell peppers, cucumber, and shredded carrots. Top it with a handful of walnuts and a dressing made from olive oil, lemon juice, and herbs.
2. Nurture Your Gut Microbiome
Your gut is home to trillions of microorganisms that play a monumental role in your overall health, especially in regulating inflammation. An imbalance in your gut bacteria—a state known as dysbiosis—can lead to a "leaky gut," where the gut lining becomes more permeable. This allows undigested food particles and toxins to enter the bloodstream, triggering a system-wide inflammatory response from your immune system. This gut-brain connection is incredibly strong, which is why a troubled gut often leads to brain fog and mood swings.
Nurturing your gut is about creating a thriving environment for beneficial bacteria. You can do this by feeding them what they love: prebiotics and probiotics. Probiotics are the "good" live bacteria found in fermented foods like plain yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, and kombucha. Prebiotics are a type of fibre that your body can't digest but your good gut bacteria feast on. Excellent sources include garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, bananas, and whole grains.
Practical Tip: Introduce one fermented food into your diet this week. Try adding a spoonful of sauerkraut to your salad, having a small glass of kefir with your breakfast, or snacking on kimchi. To get more prebiotics, simply slice some raw onion and garlic into your salad dressing.
3. Make Sleep Your Non-Negotiable Priority
Sleep is not a luxury; it is a fundamental biological necessity. During deep sleep, your body undergoes critical repair processes. Your brain flushes out metabolic by-products that accumulate during the day (a major cause of brain fog), and your immune system rebalances itself. When you consistently skimp on sleep, you rob your body of this crucial restoration time. This deprivation is a major physiological stressor that dramatically increases inflammatory markers in the blood.
Aim for 7-9 hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep per night. Creating a relaxing bedtime routine is key to signalling to your body that it's time to wind down. This means switching off screens—the blue light from phones, tablets, and TVs can suppress the production of your sleep hormone, melatonin—at least an hour before bed. Create a sleep sanctuary: a bedroom that is cool, dark, and quiet.
Practical Tip: Create a "power-down hour" before bed. For the last 60 minutes of your day, engage in calming activities. This could be reading a physical book, taking a warm bath with Epsom salts (which are rich in magnesium), light stretching, journaling, or listening to calming music or a meditation app. Consistency is more important than perfection.
4. Hydrate Strategically Throughout the Day
Water is essential for nearly every bodily function, including managing inflammation. Dehydration, even mild, is a form of stress on the body that can concentrate inflammatory markers and hinder your body's ability to flush out toxins through the kidneys and liver. Proper hydration ensures your blood volume is optimal, allowing nutrients and oxygen to be delivered efficiently to your cells while waste products are carried away. This process is vital for keeping joints lubricated and muscles functioning properly, reducing aches and stiffness.
While the old "eight glasses a day" rule is a decent starting point, your needs may vary based on your activity level, climate, and body size. The key is to sip consistently throughout the day rather than chugging large amounts at once. Don't wait until you're thirsty; thirst is actually an early sign of dehydration.
Practical Tip: Start your day with a large glass of room-temperature water, perhaps with a squeeze of lemon, before you even think about coffee. This helps to rehydrate you after a long night's sleep and kickstart your metabolism. Carry a reusable water bottle with you everywhere as a visual reminder to drink up. If you find plain water boring, infuse it with mint, cucumber, or berries.
5. Embrace Mindful Movement, Not Just Intense Exercise
Movement is medicine for an inflamed body. It improves circulation, which helps deliver fresh, oxygenated blood to your tissues and clear out inflammatory by-products. It also stimulates the lymphatic system, your body's "sewage system," which doesn't have its own pump and relies on muscle movement to function. However, it's important to find the right balance. While high-intensity exercise has its benefits, over-exercising or pushing yourself too hard when your body is already stressed can actually increase inflammation and cortisol levels.
The key is mindful, consistent movement. This means tuning into your body's signals and choosing activities that feel nourishing, not punishing. Low-impact activities like walking, swimming, cycling, yoga, and Tai Chi are fantastic for reducing stiffness and calming the nervous system. The goal is to move your body in a loving way every single day.
Practical Tip: Try "exercise snacking." Instead of feeling pressured to block out an hour for the gym, sprinkle short bursts of movement throughout your day. Do 10 minutes of stretching when you wake up, take a brisk 15-minute walk during your lunch break, and do a few sets of squats or lunges while waiting for dinner to cook. It all adds up.
6. Actively Manage Your Daily Stress
In our fast-paced modern world, chronic stress has become the norm, but its impact on our physiology is devastating. When you're constantly stressed, your body pumps out the hormone cortisol. While a short-term burst of cortisol is helpful, chronically elevated levels disrupt nearly all your body's processes. It dysregulates your immune system, leading to—you guessed it—runaway inflammation. This is a primary reason why periods of high stress often come with brain fog, fatigue, and flare-ups of aches and pains.
Managing stress isn't about eliminating it entirely, but about building resilience and having tools to bring your nervous system back to a state of calm. This requires a proactive, not a reactive, approach. Integrating small moments of mindfulness and relaxation into your day can prevent stress from building up to an overwhelming level. It's a practice I, Goh Ling Yong, consistently emphasize with clients because it creates the foundation upon which all other healthy habits can be built.
Practical Tip: Practice "box breathing" for two minutes. Inhale for a count of four, hold your breath for a count of four, exhale for a count of four, and hold at the bottom for a count of four. Repeat this cycle for 2-3 minutes whenever you feel overwhelmed. This simple technique is incredibly effective at activating your parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) nervous system.
7. Balance Your Omega-3 to Omega-6 Ratio
This habit sounds technical, but the concept is simple and incredibly important. Both omega-3 and omega-6 are essential fatty acids, meaning our bodies can't produce them and we must get them from our diet. However, they have opposing effects: omega-3s are powerfully anti-inflammatory, while an excess of omega-6s can be pro-inflammatory. The ideal diet has a ratio of about 1:1 to 1:4 (omega-3 to omega-6). Unfortunately, the modern Western diet can have a ratio as high as 1:20, creating a highly inflammatory internal environment.
This imbalance is largely due to the prevalence of processed vegetable oils (like soy, corn, sunflower, and safflower oil) used in most packaged foods and restaurant cooking. The solution is two-fold: increase your intake of omega-3s and decrease your intake of processed omega-6s.
Practical Tip: Make two simple swaps. First, switch your primary cooking oil at home to extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil. Second, aim to eat fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, or sardines two times per week. If you're vegetarian or vegan, focus on ground flaxseed, chia seeds, and walnuts as excellent sources of plant-based omega-3s.
8. Use Spices as Your Kitchen Pharmacy
For thousands of years, cultures around the world have used herbs and spices not just for flavour, but for their potent medicinal properties. Many common kitchen spices contain powerful bioactive compounds that are some of the most effective anti-inflammatory agents found in nature. They work by inhibiting inflammatory pathways in the body, much like some medications, but without the side effects.
Turmeric is the superstar, thanks to its active compound, curcumin. Ginger is another powerhouse, known for soothing the digestive system and reducing pain. Cinnamon can help regulate blood sugar (unstable blood sugar is a source of inflammation), and garlic contains sulfur compounds that can inhibit the production of inflammatory substances. Making these spices a regular part of your cooking is an easy and delicious way to layer in more inflammation-cooling benefits.
Practical Tip: Create a "golden paste" to have on hand. Gently heat 1/2 cup of ground turmeric, 1 cup of water, 1/3 cup of coconut oil, and 1.5 teaspoons of black pepper (which dramatically increases curcumin absorption) in a saucepan until it forms a thick paste. Store it in a jar in the fridge and add a teaspoon to smoothies, stir-fries, or warm milk for a "golden latte."
9. Get Safe, Sensible Sun Exposure
Vitamin D, often called the "sunshine vitamin," is actually a hormone that plays a crucial role in modulating your immune system. Insufficient levels of Vitamin D are strongly linked to increased inflammation and a higher risk of autoimmune conditions. Our primary source of this vital nutrient is through our skin's exposure to sunlight, which triggers its synthesis.
In the modern world, we spend most of our time indoors, and when we are outside, we're often covered up or wearing sunscreen. While protecting yourself from burns is essential, allowing for short, unprotected periods of sun exposure can be incredibly beneficial for your health and inflammation levels. The best time for this is in the morning or late afternoon when the sun's rays are less intense.
Practical Tip: Aim for 15-20 minutes of midday sun exposure on as much bare skin as possible (arms and legs are great) without sunscreen, 3-4 times per week. Your ability to produce Vitamin D depends on your skin tone, location, and the time of year. In winter months or for those with darker skin, supplementation may be necessary, but it's always best to get your levels checked by a doctor first.
10. Lighten Your Toxin Load
We are constantly exposed to a low-level barrage of environmental toxins from the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the products we use in our homes. These toxins—from pesticides and heavy metals to chemicals in plastics (like BPA) and artificial fragrances in cleaning products and cosmetics—add to what's known as our body's "total inflammatory burden." Your liver and detoxification systems have to work overtime to process them, and when they get overwhelmed, it can trigger an inflammatory response.
While you can't live in a bubble, you can significantly reduce your exposure with a few simple, conscious choices at home. This isn't about perfection or paranoia; it's about making smarter swaps where you can to give your body a break and lower its overall workload.
Practical Tip: Pick one area to "detox" this month. You could switch to glass or stainless steel food storage containers instead of plastic ones. You could swap your conventional household cleaner for a simple solution of white vinegar, water, and a few drops of essential oil. Or you could start filtering your drinking water. Each small change reduces the burden on your system.
Your Journey to a Cooler, Calmer Body Starts Now
Tackling chronic inflammation might seem like a daunting task, but as you can see, it's really about the sum of your daily habits. It's not about being perfect, but about consistently making choices that cool the fire rather than fuel it. By weaving these practices into your life, you're not just fighting aches and brain fog; you're building a resilient foundation for long-term health and vitality.
Don't feel like you need to implement all ten of these habits tomorrow. That's a recipe for overwhelm. Instead, choose one or two that resonate with you the most and feel the most achievable right now. Perhaps it's starting your day with a glass of water or adding a 10-minute walk to your lunch break. Master that, feel the benefit, and then layer on the next. This is how lasting change is made.
Which of these "inflammation-cooling" habits are you most excited to try this week? Share your first step in the comments below! We'd love to hear from you and cheer you on.
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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