Combating Inflammation with the Anti-Inflammatory Diet

You know the old proverb ‘you are what you eat?’ Well, for many people eating certain inflammatory foods leads to inflammation in their bodies. But what is inflammation? Generally speaking, inflammation is the body’s immune system response to injury or infection and there are different main types, acute and chronic. Acute refers to the redness, warmth, swelling, and pain around tissues and joints that occurs in response to an injury. Chronic inflammation is the invisible version, caused by a sustained fight by your immune system against a perceived threat. This threat can be anything your body sees as the enemy, and for some people, this can be certain types of food.

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Chronic Inflammation can lead to the following ailments, but it will require examination by your primary care physician before making any diagnosis. 

• Cardiovascular disease (CVD)

• Arthritis and other joint diseases

• Allergies

• Psoriasis

• Rheumatoid arthritis

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The main food culprits which can cause inflammation include: 

• Processed Sugar

The big daddy of problematic foods. It’s not even food but it can be found in virtually every processed food. Reading labels can be tricky as sugar is called many different things but if you see a word ending in ‘ose’, it’s probably sugar. 

• Fast Foods/Fried Foods

Who doesn’t love pizza, french fries, hamburgers? All delicious. And all swimming in fats and oils which lead to heart disease and diabetes. 

• Refined Carbohydrates 

Also known as simple carbs, these are truly simple. They do nothing for you but get processed quickly by your body and cause your blood sugar to spike. Simple carbs don’t fill you up so you will be reaching for another bowl of cereal or donut faster than I can say ‘was it worth it’? The main culprits are pasta, white bread, flour, and rice but can be found in most desserts, breakfast cereals, and even pizza dough :(

My list to avoid, or at least eat in limited moderation:

• Processed meats - Hot dogs, lunch meat, and bacon 

• Processed foods - Bagged snacks like chips, cereals, pretzels 

• Soda - Lots of sugar in here folks. And the ‘diet’ version is filled with questionable chemicals. As a whole just stay away. 

• Fried foods - Again, as a treat it is fine. But it is best to stay away from this
  cardiovascular nightmare food 

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Now, say you think your body is inflamed and you want to try to tackle an anti-inflammatory diet? While I don’t like promoting diets, the best nutritional reset I have found is the DeFlame Diet. It will help you reset your body so you can get back on track with your health and give your body the rest it needs. 

Here are the main principles: 

Avoid eating

• Bread

• Whole wheat 

• Pasta 

• Cereal 

• Pretzels

• Flour 

• Fried foods

• Soda

• Soy 

• Sugar

• Dairy with staples

• Grain-fed eggs and meat

Eat this

• Fruits with low sugar 

• Vegetables 

• Raw nuts, flaxseed, chia seeds

• Organic yogurt 

• Dark chocolate shavings

• Leafy greens

• Meat, chicken, eggs with omega-3, fish 

• Spices: ginger, garlic, turmeric, dill, oregano, coriander, fennel, red chili, basil,
  rosemary, sea salt

• Oils & fats: grass-fed butter, extra virgin olive oil, and coconut oil

• Salad dressing: extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice mustard and spices

• Pesto sauce and full fat of Swiss cheese as a snack

• Water, organic green tea

• Red wine and stout beer if alcohol

• Quest bars, Atkins bars, Epic bars

Here is a great book to check out if you want to learn more about the DeFlame Diet. Prevention is key to a healthy life and a good way to help keep you out of my office!