Plain-English definitions for the terms you'll see across THE FAD — from biology to app mechanics.
The immune system's response to injury or irritation. Acute inflammation heals you; chronic, low-grade inflammation runs in the background and is linked to fatigue, poor recovery and long-term disease risk. Learn more →
A persistent, low-level immune response — often driven by diet, poor sleep, alcohol, inactivity and stress — that doesn't produce obvious symptoms but affects long-term health. Learn more →
High-sensitivity C-reactive protein — a blood marker doctors use to measure systemic inflammation directly. THE FAD Score is an estimate that aims to track directionally with markers like this. Learn more →
THE FAD's daily 0–10 estimate of inflammatory load, built from food, sleep, alcohol, exercise and stress. Lower is better. Learn more →
Your FAD Score averaged over the last 7 days, used instead of any single day so short-term noise doesn't distort the picture. Learn more →
Industrially manufactured food products, typically high in refined sugar, refined starch and additives, associated with higher inflammatory load. Learn more →
The balance between two families of essential fats. A diet skewed heavily toward omega-6 (common in many processed foods) relative to omega-3 is associated with more inflammatory signalling. Learn more →
The trillions of bacteria living in your digestive tract, which interact closely with your immune system and influence inflammation. Learn more →
Your internal ~24-hour clock, which regulates sleep, hormones and — relevant here — immune and inflammatory cycles. Learn more →
A state where training load exceeds your body's ability to recover, which can push exercise from anti-inflammatory to a stressor in its own right. Learn more →
Signalling proteins your immune system uses to communicate. Some are pro-inflammatory, some help resolve inflammation — the balance between them matters more than any single number.
An imbalance between damaging free radicals and the antioxidants that neutralise them, closely linked with — but distinct from — inflammation.
The cumulative shortfall from repeated nights of insufficient sleep, which compounds over time even when any single night feels manageable. Learn more →
A moderate heart-rate training zone — roughly conversational pace — associated with building aerobic capacity without significant recovery debt. Learn more →
The variation in time between consecutive heartbeats — generally, higher variability reflects better recovery and nervous-system flexibility. Learn more →
A hormone with a healthy daily rhythm that also rises during stress; the concern is sustained elevation from chronic, unresolved stress, not its normal daily cycle. Learn more →
A standardised measure of pure alcohol (roughly 14g in the US) used to compare drinks of different sizes and strengths consistently. Learn more →