{"id":112296,"date":"2025-05-18T17:56:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T17:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/112296\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T17:56:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T17:56:19","slug":"reduce-inflammation-like-a-pro-with-4-easy-tips-from-an-nba-all-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/112296\/","title":{"rendered":"Reduce Inflammation Like a Pro With 4 Easy Tips From an NBA All-Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

You don’t need a multimillion dollar salary<\/a> to optimize your body.<\/p>\n

Take it from NBA All-Star Kevin Love<\/a>, who makes a living out of being in perfect shape, reducing inflammation, and avoiding injury.<\/p>\n

While Love is a fan of some high-end wellness treatments like longevity IVs<\/a>, he said the vast majority of his routine is about perfecting the basics.<\/p>\n

“In a lot of ways, I’m just like everybody else,” Love, 36, told Business Insider in an interview on his partnership with plant-based protein brand Koia.<\/p>\n

“Simplify, simplify, simplify, and then build out your routine and your schedule from there.”<\/p>\n

Love swears by habits anyone can implement like cold showers, a consistent sleep schedule, and more time in nature for better recovery.<\/p>\n

A cold shower in the morning to activate your mind and body<\/strong><\/p>\n

Love said he takes a cold shower for one to five minutes after waking up in the morning or after a nap.<\/p>\n

“When I need to really wake up and get that, boom, dopamine hit and be firing, I’ll do that,” he said. “My mind is working at a very high level as well as my body being just refreshed.”<\/p>\n

Ice baths<\/a> or cold plunges are a popular wellness trend because small doses have shown promising benefits<\/a> to improve mood, reduce pain, and lower risk of injury or illness. Exposure to the cold prompts the release of endorphins in the body that help lower inflammation.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Cold therapy can reduce inflammation, but it may hamper muscle growth too soon after a workout.<\/p>\n

whitebalance.space\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The tradeoff is that icy baths or showers too soon after a workout might impair muscle growth<\/a>, so scheduling them early in the day can be a better option for optimal gains.<\/p>\n

Related stories<\/p>\n

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Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know<\/p>\n

Exercising outdoors to reduce stress and boost vitamin D<\/strong><\/p>\n

Love is a big fan of being in nature, and said heading outside helps to maximize the benefits of his workout sessions, whether he’s taking a walk or strength training.<\/p>\n

“It kills two birds with one stone. Just walking and being outside in nature keep my cortisol levels down and keep me feeling really good, getting my vitamin D out in the sun,” Love said.<\/p>\n

Consistent exercise helps to reduce chronic inflammation (the kind that leads to illnesses like heart disease).<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Getting some sunshine during a workout can help you boost levels of vitamin D for better health.<\/p>\n

AzmanL\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Spending time outdoors has health benefits<\/a> like relieving stress, another source of inflammation. The exposure to sunlight helps your body get enough vitamin D<\/a> for healthy muscles and a strong immune system.<\/p>\n

Foods like fish and berries fight inflammation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Love said his team has weigh-ins throughout the season, so it’s important to stay lean and avoid eating too much added sugar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Instead, he opts for nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods<\/a>. Raised in the Pacific Northwest, salmon is a staple source of protein and healthy fats like omega-3s.<\/p>\n

“Keeping inflammation down, a lot of that moved in the right direction through food like fatty fish,” Love said.<\/p>\n

Other favorites include high-iron veggies like leafy greens, nuts, berries, dark chocolate, eggs, almonds, and olive oil. For a quick boost after a workout, Love is a fan of Koia’s plant-based protein shakes.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Fatty fish like salmon help lower inflammation.<\/p>\n

OksanaKiian\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Love also drinks coffee<\/a> and enjoys wine in moderation<\/a>, both of which have also been shown to lower inflammation in some people.<\/p>\n

He includes tart cherry juice<\/a> and beets in his diet for an extra athletic boost, thanks to antioxidants that can speed recovery.<\/p>\n

A sleep routine is key to good rest on a busy schedule<\/strong><\/p>\n

Love’s bedtime routine is all about maximizing good sleep<\/a>. It includes a hot shower or Epsom salt bath for muscle relaxation, some light stretching, and keeping his room cool, since a lower body temperature can facilitate deeper sleep<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Good sleep is the foundation of health.<\/p>\n

kaipong\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

It’s not always possible for Love to get enough on a busy schedule, traveling coast-to-coast for games and fighting jet lag. Instead, he tries to be as consistent as possible about going to bed<\/a> and waking up around the same time, which research suggests may be even more important for health than hours spent sleeping.<\/p>\n

When things get off track, Love tries to focus on long-term consistent rather than a perfect routine on any given day to avoid unnecessary stress.<\/p>\n

“I give myself a little bit of grace, to not turn up the anxiety and get my mind racing on why I’m not getting to bed at the exact same time,” he said,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You don’t need a multimillion dollar salary to optimize your body. Take it from NBA All-Star Kevin Love,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4322],"tags":[16868,50957,15405,26658,1630,105,42822,2407,25563,2603,50959,729,6661,19271,38252,16,15,50958,5129],"class_list":{"0":"post-112296","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-body","9":"tag-cold-shower","10":"tag-exposure","11":"tag-fan","12":"tag-fitness","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-illness","15":"tag-inflammation","16":"tag-injury","17":"tag-love","18":"tag-more-time","19":"tag-nature","20":"tag-protein","21":"tag-routine","22":"tag-source","23":"tag-uk","24":"tag-united-kingdom","25":"tag-well-recovery","26":"tag-workout"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114530129449101048","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}