- Eating a diet highly processed foods can elevate inflammation.
- A diet that emphasises fresh, whole foods, drinks, and herb/spice combinations can tamp down the inflammatory response.
- Dr Andrew Weil recommends The Mediterranean diet, as an anti-inflammatory eating plan.
In recent years, increasing evidence has shown that chronic inflammation underlies many ailments that experts call the “diseases of civilisation”—a.k.a. lifestyle diseases, such as heart disease and cancer. It’s also now apparent that a specific and significant factor likely either ramps up or alleviates that inflammation: diet.
The Role of Inflammation
Inflammation is vital, even lifesaving, when it happens in response to injury or infection. It shows up as pain, redness, swelling, and heat, which signify that the body is mobilising defences to restore equilibrium.
However, eating a diet of highly processed foods—especially those based on sugar, refined carbohydrates, and cheap, unstable seed oils such as soybean oil—is a big reason many people in the developed world now live in a chronic state of elevated whole-body inflammation. Sugar, for example, boosts inflammatory agents in fatty tissue called adipokines.
Choosing the Right Foods
Avoiding processed foods is only part of the solution. To further lower your disease risk, a diet that emphasises fresh, whole foods, drinks, and herb/spice combinations that tamp down the inflammatory response.
Some things—such as turmeric, a spice used in Indian curry—appear to lower inflammation directly, while others, such as omega-3 fatty acids in wild-caught salmon, supply protective nutrients the body requires to modulate its own inflammatory process. These foods also keep blood sugar low and stable, which recent research indicates is an important aspect of an anti-inflammatory lifestyle.
Dr Andrew Weil recommends The Mediterranean diet, which can be used as a template for an anti-inflammatory eating plan. Based on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fish, it’s associated with long, healthy life and heart health. Dr Weil also recommends including standout anti-inflammatory foods like green tea, which contains potent polyphenols.
Here are a few other anti-inflammatory foods:
- Leafy greens: Rich in vitamin K and offering powerful anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects, greens such as kale, collards, bok choy, and broccoli should be mainstays of your diet.
- Berries: All varieties are healthful, but one study found that black raspberries reduced the incidence of certain cancers in animals by 50%.
- Salmon: Salmon is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids which are beneficial for reducing inflammation.
- Ginger: Along with having potent anti-inflammatory action, this root helps reduce intestinal gas and nausea.
Most important, food must taste good. No one, and that includes me, will stick to an eating plan based on tasteless, monotonous cuisine. Fortunately, these anti-inflammatory foods are delicious and can be combined to make some of the world’s tastiest dishes.
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This article originally appeared in the May 2020 issue of Prevention.
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