Eating to Counteract Inflammation

Inflammation is our body’s natural response to stress, injury or infection. Acute or short-term inflammation can help us heal from injury, but chronic inflammation can cause a variety of health complications, such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, digestive diseases and sleep disorders.

The main cause of chronic inflammation is how we live our lives: what we eat, how much stress we have, how much sleep we get or don’t get, along with exposure to toxins in the environment (such as pollution or smoking).

Eating an anti-inflammatory meal plan can help to lower inflammation markers in our body. That includes choosing more foods in their natural, unprocessed state, while reducing heavily processed foods, artificial ingredients, added sugars and unhealthy fats. Examples of anti-inflammatory foods are listed below:

Fruits and vegetables

Choose a variety of colors of whole fruits and vegetables (high in antioxidants, flavonoids, Vitamin C to help fight inflammation and protect our cells).

• Best fruits: berries (especially blueberries, strawberries, blackberries), tart cherries, grapes, citrus fruits (oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes), watermelon, avocados, unripe bananas, apples, acai, mango, papaya, pineapple.
• Fruits to limit: processed fruits (canned fruits, fruit snacks, fruit rollups and large amounts of dried fruits) and fruit juices/drinks.

• Best vegetables: leafy greens (kale, spinach, collard greens), cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts), root veggies (carrots, beets, onions) stem veggies (asparagus, Swiss chard), tomatoes, sweet potatoes, edamame, eggplant, mushrooms, sauerkraut, colored peppers.
• Vegetables to limit: fried vegetables or those packed in a sauce or butter.

Dairy foods

• Choose: lower sugar Greek yogurt, buttermilk, kefir, cottage cheese, feta, aged cheese (cheddar, gouda, parmesan, provolone, Swiss).
• Limit: high sugar yogurts, ice cream, processed cheese (American, Velveeta, Cheese Whiz).

Lean proteins

• Choose: fatty fish (salmon, albacore tuna, anchovies, herring, mackerel, sardines) twice a week, lean meats, beans (black, red, kidney, pinto), chickpeas and peanut butter.
• Limit: red meats, breaded fried meats, bacon, sausage, lunch meats, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, sugar or chocolate covered nuts.

Whole grains

• Choose whole grains: barley, oats, quinoa, brown rice, wild rice, sourdough breads, grains made with whole corn, whole rye, whole wheat, millet, buckwheat, air-popped popcorn.
• Limit processed grains: breakfast cereals, granola bars, Pop-Tarts, pancakes, waffles, biscuits, muffins, donuts, french fries, pretzels, chips, crackers, microwave popcorn, white bread products, frozen pizza, pies, cookies, pastries, cake.

Other beneficial foods

• Cocoa, dark chocolate (70% cocoa), olive oil
• Herbs/spices: turmeric (especially with black pepper) and ginger show the best response. Other protective herbs and spices include cayenne pepper, cloves, coriander, curcumin, garlic, pepper, saffron.
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Nuts and seeds (almonds, cashews, pistachios, pine nuts, walnuts, chia seeds, flax seed)

Focus on patterns

Rather than focusing on individual foods, the best option is to focus on dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean diet. Tips are to:

• Fill half of your plate with fruits and vegetables at most meals.
• Choose fish or plant proteins (rather than processes or red meats) several times a week.
• Choose whole grain foods over refined or processed grains.
• Cook with olive oil (rather than butter or vegetable oil).
• Snack on nuts and berries (rather than prepackaged snacks).

In addition to the above dietary changes, getting seven to eight hours of sleep nightly, drinking at least 50 ounces of water daily, limiting alcohol, getting 150 or more minutes of activity a week and not sitting for more than an hour at a time can help reduce inflammation.