How To Reduce CRP Level: Seven Tips

If your latest blood test revealed high CRP levels, it’s normal to be concerned. We’ll help you understand what it means and how to lower your levels safely.

What Is CRP?

The liver makes C-reactive protein and sends it to your body in areas where there is inflammation present. High levels of CRP can mean you have an infection, an injury, or a disease. 

How Is It Measured?

A blood test determines the level of CRP circulating in your body. Ideally, you want that level to be less than 10 mg/L. If you aren’t actively ill with an infection, higher CRP levels could indicate chronic inflammation. 

Chronic inflammation is often associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) and atherosclerosis. Having heart disease increases your risk of heart attacks and stroke. In studies, people who have CAD have higher levels of CRP than people who have not been diagnosed with CAD.

Can I Lower My CRP Levels?

Lowering your CRP levels can have a positive effect on your health. By lowering CRP levels, you are lowering the level of inflammation in your body and supporting heart health. Here, we give you seven ways to lower your CRP levels and impress your doctor the next time you have a hs-CRP test.

1. Stop Smoking

Smoking causes your body to have a higher circulating level of CRP and is associated with blood vessel diseases, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and lung cancer. Quitting smoking is historically associated with lower CRP levels and increased positive health markers. There are numerous options available for helping you stop smoking and stay stopped.

2. Maintain a Healthy Weight

Obesity is a precursor to many negative health conditions, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Higher CRP levels are frequently associated with obesity, especially in women. 

Obesity is defined as having a BMI (body mass index) greater than 30. Obesity carries a four-fold risk of having higher CRP levels than someone who has a healthy weight. 

3. Get Moving

Sedentary, inactive lifestyles promote obesity and higher CRP levels. However, studies show that higher CRP levels are also associated with inactivity, even when a person is within a healthy weight range. 

Just 150 minutes of exercise per week (or about 30 minutes, five times a week) can reduce your CRP levels, help you manage your weight, and promote your overall health. 

4. Get Your Cholesterol Checked

Unhealthy cholesterol levels place you at greater risk of developing heart disease and are associated with higher CRP levels. For cholesterol levels to be considered healthy, your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol should be less than 100mg/dL. Good, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol should register at least 40mg/dL. 

When your doctor checks your cholesterol, they will also measure your triglycerides. Your triglycerides should be less than 150 mg/dL. Lowering your cholesterol may take a combination of lifestyle and dietary changes and advice from your doctor.

5. Manage Your Stress

Even if you don’t have high blood pressure, chronic levels of high stress could be causing you to experience higher than normal CRP levels. Researchers found that high stress (both psychological and social stress) can significantly impact your CRP levels, causing them to be higher than normal. 

If you feel stressed or anxious, consider talking to a therapist, taking up yoga or meditation, or starting an exercise program to help reduce these feelings.

6. Get Your Blood Sugar Levels Tested

Unhealthy blood sugar levels can cause your CRP levels to rise and place you at higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes raises your risk of developing heart disease and experiencing a cardiac emergency. 

7. Take a Better Supplement

If you’ve been taking an omega-3 supplement to support your heart health and reduce your CRP levels, you need to know a few important facts. We’ll cover those and suggest a better, more supportive fatty acid supplement.

The Almighty Omegas

Omega-3s have reigned supreme as the fish-flavored supplements we take to support heart health, but they have some weaknesses that could make them harmful to your body.

1. Omega-3s are subject to lipid peroxidation, which means the supplements can go rancid before they are even purchased. Independent studies found that one in 10 fish oil supplements on store shelves were bad before they were even purchased and consumed. 

2. Omega-3s cannot repair as many cell types as another essential fatty acid, known as C15:0. Studies showed that C15:0 could safely repair 83% of all cell types tested,, while omega-3 only safely repaired 33%. 

3. Given the extremely high dose of omega-3 needed for its supportive benefits (between 2,000-3,000 mg/day), omega-3 at high doses can become toxic to some cells. The cells killed by omega-3 in one study included blood vessel and lung cells.

Higher circulating levels of C15:0 have consistently been associated with healthy cholesterol and triglyceride levels and improved heart health. C15:0 also helps protect your cells by:

• Strengthening cell membranes to keep cells strong and sturdy

• Improving mitochondrial function by up to 45 percent, so your cells can carry out the cellular function that powers the rest of your body

C15:0 is also able to bring balance to sleep, mood, and even appetite. By binding to special receptors located all over the body (called PPARs), C15:0 helps bring homeostasis and better regulation to these activities. 

Fatty15: The C15:0 Solution

C15:0 was discovered by a veterinary epidemiologist working to help dolphins live healthier lives. Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson discovered that some geriatric dolphins had fewer age-related illnesses than others. 

Dr. Venn-Watson found that higher circulating levels of C15:0 were responsible for many of the health benefits seen in the healthiest dolphins. She went further, looking into the health benefits of this molecule in human populations and, three years later, published her findings in Nature's Scientific Reports in 2020. These findings proposed that C15:0 was a beneficial and essential fatty acid, the first to be discovered since the omega-3s 90 years earlier.

Getting It Into the Human Diet

Due to changes in dietary guidelines and a global shift towards plant-based nutrition, our circulating levels of C15:0 are on the decline. C15:0 is found in trace levels in whole-fat dairy products and some types of fish and plants. However, increasing your intake of whole-fat dairy products comes with extra calories, sugars, and high levels of the "bad" even-chain saturated fats.

A solution? Fatty15.

Fatty15 is a breakthrough supplement borne from a scientific discovery, containing one pure ingredient, FA15™. This vegan-friendly, sustainable, award-winning solution can increase your circulating levels of C15:0 and help you protect your body better and more safely than omega-3. 

In addition to supporting your body through diet, exercise, and smart lifestyle choices, taking fatty15 daily is a good way to promote your long-term health and wellness and age on your terms. 

 

Sources:

C-reactive protein test | Mayo Clinic

No Significant Association Between Plasma Endosialin Levels and the Presence or Severity of Coronary Artery Disease | Kishimoto | Journal of Clinical Medicine Research

C-reactive protein as a predictor of disease in smokers and former smokers: a review | PMC

Elevated C-Reactive Protein Levels in Overweight and Obese Adults | Jama Network

Physical Inactivity Is Correlated with Levels of Quantitative C-reactive Protein in Serum, Independent of Obesity: Results of the National Surveillance of Risk Factors of Non-communicable Diseases in Iran | PMC

Revealed: many common omega-3 fish oil supplements are ‘rancid’|The Guardian

Efficacy of dietary odd-chain saturated fatty acid pentadecanoic acid parallels broad associated health benefits in humans: could it be essential? | Scientific Reports