Anti-inflammatory Diet is a hot topic these days. A Google search for the words “anti-inflammatory” and “diet” will return hundreds of results. But what does it mean? First, let’s define inflammation. Have you ever cut your finger or gotten bitten by an insect? The injured area becomes swollen and red. That’s inflammation. It’s your immune system at work, protecting you.
Whenever a foreign chemical, plant pollen, or organism (microbe) enters the body, the immune system is activated. It launches an attack by the white blood cells that can poison, trap, or destroy the invader. Two things will happen during inflammation. These immune system cells use toxic chemicals to neutralize what they perceive as a threat. Immune system activity generates toxic byproducts that need to be cleaned up. To do so, your body needs micronutrients: vitamin B complex, vitamin C, zinc, magnesium, calcium, and tons of antioxidants.
If you have a healthy diet, rich in micronutrients and antioxidants, you will recover from inflammation. If you don’t, and the inflammation persists, it will lead to nutrient depletion, followed by fatigue, swelling, puffiness, and even pain. Inflammation that goes on for months or years can trigger other diseases such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, type 2 diabetes, and even more serious illnesses such as autoimmune disease or cancer.
How Can an Anti-Inflammatory Diet Help?
To protect against inflammation, toxicity, and harmful organisms, the body has evolved a highly complex antioxidant defense system. It relies on two types of antioxidants: endogenous (internal) and exogenous (food) antioxidant sources.
Nutrient-derived antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids (vitamin A and its derivatives), xanthin, zeaxanthin, and many more can be found in fruits and vegetables.
Endogenous antioxidants. The body produces its own antioxidants that work both inside the cell and outside. Glutathione, lipoic acid, and coenzyme Q10 are all synthesized in the body. There are also antioxidant enzymes. These are the ones most people are less familiar with. Yet they play a key role in reducing oxidation. Superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase quench free radicals (free-floating electrons looking for trouble).
To power up these enzymes and strengthen our defense systems, we need a regular supply of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. While you can take supplements for many vitamins and minerals, it’s best to obtain your phytonutrients from food. Nutrients work well when they’re combined. It’s the synergistic relationship of different nutrients that delivers health benefits.
Before discussing the anti-inflammatory diet, perhaps we should start with the inflammatory one: food that causes inflammation and why? Take, for example, French fries, potato pieces fried in boiling oil. They have no antioxidants. But they’re made of carbohydrates and fat. The mitochondria have to metabolize these 2 nutrients to make energy. In that process, it will need a supply of vitamins and minerals to activate its enzymes and it will release a lot of free electrons during this chemical reaction. Those free electrons need antioxidants to be quenched. Proteins undergo the same process.
Now, imagine a meal with a burger, cheese, and fries. A meal without any antioxidants which will generate a lot of oxidation. More importantly, such a meal is also toxic because of the fried fat. That is called oxidative stress, a term coined to illustrate a shift toward oxidation when the balance between pro-oxidants and antioxidants tilts toward pro-oxidants.
Oxidative stress, a source of inflammation, at the cellular level results from many factors, which include exposure to smoking, high intake of alcohol, medication, infections, and a poor diet. An insufficient intake of antioxidants will compound oxidative stress and expose you to harmful fallout.
Pro-Inflammatory Foods in Your Diet
First, start by eliminating pro-inflammatory foods, as indicated in the list below
- Meat, which includes chicken, hamburgers, steak
- Processed meat: sausage, bacon, and most cold cuts
- Most snack foods: sugary or salty, such as baked goods (cookies, pies, white bread, pretzels, chips)
- Deep-fried foods: French fries, chicken wings, and roasted meat
- Refined sugar: candy, ice cream, fruit juice (yes, fruit juice is liquid sugar)
- Sugar-sweetened beverages: soda, bottled or canned tea drinks, sports drinks, vitamin water
- Trans fats (found in margarine, peanut butter, frozen dough, and nondairy coffee creamers)
- Eggs in any form. They are a source of saturated fat and cholesterol, which cause inflammation, weight gain, and often allergies in children
- Dairy. The notorious GI destroyer. All humans are allergic to cow milk. The symptoms are all over the place, making the diagnosis difficult and the patient often learns to live with the problem
- Ultra-processed foods (UPFs): foods that contain additives such as maltodextrin, potassium bromate, benzoic acid, BHA, BHT, sodium benzoate, propyl gallate, sodium metabisulfite, and many more
Composition of an Anti-Inflammatory Diet
An anti-inflammatory diet is free of all the foods mentioned above and is centered on foods rich in micronutrients, just enough macronutrients. It emphasizes vitamins, minerals, polyunsaturated fats, healthy proteins, fiber-rich foods and many inflammation-fighting phytonutrients.
Here are 5 foods that are the pillar of the anti-inflammatory diet:
- Low-sugar fruit, such as berries, citrus, kiwi, apples, pears
- Dark leafy greens, think parsley, cilantro, kale, cabbage, broccoli
- Whole grain that includes quinoa, barley, millet, wheat if gluten is tolerated, oats, amaranth, rice
- Nuts and seeds, such as Brazilian nuts, almonds, walnuts, cashews, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and chia seeds
- Legumes. This is your lean protein. An excellent source of minerals, resistant starches and known to reduce the risk of cancer, stabilize glucose for diabetics, and help maintain a healthy weight. So make sure you include beans, chickpeas, pigeon peas, lentils, peanuts, peas and in your meals
If you combine these ingredients at every meal, you’d have a colorful plate full of antioxidants that covers all of your essential nutrients and will give you enough antioxidants to keep your body free of inflammation, build a stronger immune system, and ward off disease.
Download the Zizania MricroRiche™ Diet Anti-Inflammatory-Guide to learn how to create your own anti-inflammatory diet.
You may also find more information about inflammation and recipes on the Forks-Over-Knives website.
You may also read my previous post Anti-inflammatory Diet to Tame Inflammation or the latest scientific data about anti-inflammatory Diets.
Need some help to put it all together? Give me a ring or send me a note with your questions. I have been creative specific anti-inflammatory diets for 18 years. My clients have put lupus into remission, they broke free of arthritis pain, they got rid of chronic fatigue, puffy face, back pain, and a plethora of unexplained aches and pains. Call us today, or tomorrow, but don’t suffer any longer. At Zizania, Your health is our purpose.