What Is An Anti-Inflammatory Diet?

Have you ever wondered what an anti-inflammatory diet is and why it’s so often recommended for your health? 

 

Chronic inflammation in the body is increasingly being recognized as the root cause of most disease. In fact, in a recent article from Harvard Medical School addressing inflammation, the author writes, “Although there may never be such a single path, mounting evidence suggests a common underlying cause of major degenerative diseases. The four horsemen of the medical apocalypse — coronary artery disease, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s — may be riding the same steed: inflammation.”

 

While localized inflammation occurs naturally in our body to bring attention to an area that needs healing, like with a sports injury, inflammation can quickly become dangerous when it becomes chronic.

 

Inflammation can express itself in our bodies in many different ways, from skin rashes or conditions like psoriasis, to gut issues like GERD, to joint pain and puffiness, and more serious conditions and diseases like Alzheimers.

 

Our body can become inflamed due to many factors, from diet and lifestyle choices (such as smoking), to pollution in our environment. The main culprits for inflammation in our diet are fried/fast food, refined flour and sugar, alcohol, too much meat (especially red meat), too much dairy, too much coffee (due to the acidity), gluten (for some people) and chemicals in our food. And let’s not forget one of the biggest causes of inflammation: chronic stress.

 

An anti-inflammatory diet aims to lower inflammation in your body, thereby improving a number of health conditions, and even preventing larger issues from arising; it’s both immediate and preventative healthcare. 

 

Here are four simple steps to take for an anti-inflammatory diet: 

 

1. Reduce the foods in your diet that are the most inflammatory– those big culprits I listed above- sugar, refined flour, gluten (even in whole grain form if you have a gluten sensitivity), fried food, meat (especially red meat), dairy, alcohol and coffee (coffee is tricky because there are also some benefits, so just drink in moderation). I’ll also include cigarettes in this category. 
2. Choose foods without chemicals. Buy organic, or at least make sure your food doesn’t contain added hormones, antibiotics, pesticides (non-GMO labels will also help with this), chemical sweeteners, food dyes, etc.
3. Find ways to reduce stress and lower cortisol in your body, such as deep breathing, meditation, and exercise. For more tips, check out my previous blog post: https://healthyjaime.com/how-stress-impacts-your-health-and-what-you-can-do-about-it/
4. Luckily, nature provides it’s own medicine cabinet for lowering inflammation! Add in anti-inflammatory foods, drinks, and spices, like fresh fruits and vegetables (especially greens), fish and seeds containing omega 3 fatty acids (such as salmon and chia seeds), whole grains (like oats), legumes, green tea, add a squeeze of lemon juice or a splash of raw apple cider vinegar to your water, and take advantage of spices like ginger and cinnamon. But one plant deserves special attention: the queen of anti-inflammation, turmeric.

 

When recommending an anti-inflammatory diet, Dr. Weil says, “One particularly promising spice is turmeric; one of its components, curcumin is strongly anti-inflammatory. Elderly villagers in India have one of the world’s lowest rates of Alzheimer’s; the reason may be the turmeric that they consume in their daily curries.”

 

If this is not encouragement enough, new studies on the compound curcumin have revealed further benefits to our health, including strong anti-oxidant effects, and most recently it has been found to help our body synthesize DHA (an omega 3 fatty acid) from plant sources, which is great news for vegetarians who would prefer to get their omega 3’s from plants rather than fish.

 

Due to these major benefits, turmeric has been found to reduce the risk of many inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, some cancers, Alzheimers, and possibly other degenerative brain diseases, such as Parkinson’s.

 

Here are a few ways that you can add turmeric to your diet:

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• Use curry powders and turmeric in your cooking; add to soups, brown rice, greens, stews, and roasted vegetables. 
• Add turmeric powder to your smoothies.
• Take turmeric extract as a supplement for the strongest medicinal effect.
• Soak turmeric in hot water to make an anti-inflammatory tea, or make ‘Golden Milk,’ a traditional Ayurvedic hot drink with turmeric, ginger, and black pepper. For a Golden Milk recipe and for more information on turmeric, check out this resource from the Chopra Center. I personally prefer a low glycemic sweetener like coconut nectar, coconut palm sugar, or stevia: https://chopra.com/articles/6-benefits-of-turmeric-the-queen-of-spices

 

Food has the capacity to cool or inflame us. Luckily, we know clearly which foods do which. And when it comes to anti-inflammation, turmeric is the MVP!