I Ain't Got No Inflammation

We've all heard of it, we've all had it when we stubbed a toe or had a fever. But we got over it so no big deal, right? Well you'd better grab yourself a cucumber because what you eat can also inflame you, on the INSIDE! (ok, 'grab yourself a cucumber' is not a real expression, but cucumber happens to be a cooling food, so if you ate something crappy for lunch then 1. most likely your gut is somewhat inflamed though you probably don't feel swollen in the belly and 2. a cucumber is a 'cooling' food and would help reduce some that inner heat).

So then, how is inflammation caused and why is it something that this ahem.. highly regarded nutritional blogster considers so important? Inflammation is basically an immunological defense mechanism that occurs when the body thinks it is being attacked by a foreign invader and floods the area with an army of white blood cells and other protective substances. All the extra blood in the area make it swell and feel warm, and when the battle is over you feel good as new. That part, you already knew, i'm sure.

Now here's where things get interesting, a great deal of emerging research shows that frequent or prolonged inflammation in the body is not only linked to common medical problems like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, kidney failure, arthritis, alzheimer's disease and other organ, muscle or joint disorders but inflammation is ultimately the cause of ageing! Yep, the more frequently inflamed you are, the quicker your beautiful smooth sexy body will transform into a weak wrinkly pain-ridden sack of grandma (no offense to grandmas!) because this phenomenal and involuntary immune response takes a tremendous toll on the body in the long run, poisoning organs and damaging tissue. 

Of course, I'm not saying that ageing is preventable just by not stubbing your toe. The point is that ageing is not simply the result of the passage of time but rather something that our bodies are constantly creating (and destroying, in terms of healthy cells) and is sort of the side effect of the same inflammatory response system that protects us from infectious diseases. Ugh, so unfair! Well, it makes perfect sense if you think of it in evolutionary and biological terms. Historically, infectious disease has been the number one killer of human beings so our biology has been developed with a protective framework to ultimately keep us alive long enough to reproduce and beyond that evolution isn't really concerned. (What's the number one threat to human health today? Environmental pollution. That's right people, it's not overrated, it causes cancer and leads to all sorts of diseases and birth abnormalitites - but that's a topic for another day)

Ok, so, what does all this have to do with food? I'm glad you ask, because the food you eat can have an inflammatory effect on your gut and if you regularly consume processed food that is lacking in enzymes and vital nutrients then your body has to exert all kinds of extra effort to break that food down (effort that would otherwise be used for other super important metabolic processes such as keeping you disease free, cell renewal and creation, detoxing, yadda yadda yadda). Now, since 70% of your immune system lives in your digestive tract you can start to add up how crucial it really is to keep that digestive system running smooth, clean, and inflammation free.

You're really going to hate me now but here is a list of the anti-inflammatory or neutral foods that should make up at least 60% of your daily food intake (it should really be more than that but i don't want to overwhelm you, just try as much as you can to introduce more of these natural whole foods into your diet). And you can assume if your favorite food is not on this list then it has an inflammatory effect on your insides so try to limit your intake or remember to compensate for that stack of chocolate chip cookies with some 100% juice or fresh fruit. 

Anti-Inflammatory and neutral foods:

• Almost all vegetables - but especially kelp (and other sea vegetables), broccoli and the whole cruciferous family, shitake mushrooms, sweet potato, cucumber, kale
• Almost all fruits - but especially blueberries, papaya, cherries, blackberries
• Green tea
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil - but not cooked, because when olive oil is heated to high temperatures it breaks down into free radicals, so i recommend using it on your salads in place of salad dressing (Avocado oil is a good substitute for cooking oil because it remains stable with higher temperatures)
• Fish Oil or Cold Water fish- there are so many benefits to regularly taking fish oil that it is one of the few supplements i recommend on a daily basis
• Herbs & Spices - all the natural ones are pretty much great but especially anti-inflammatory are Turmeric, Garlic, Ginger, Basil, Parsley
• Nuts & Seeds - walnuts, fraxseeds, almonds, and sesame seeds
• Grains - quinoa, millet, barley, amaranth, buckwheat, oatmeal, bismati or brown rice
• Legumes - adzuki beans, chick peas, kidney beans, black beans, lentils, split peas, tofu (miso soup is a great legu-licious anti-inflammatory food).
• Yogurt - the only anti-inflammatory dairy product, preferably use probiotic

Inflammatory foods to limit:

• Processed foods, duh
• Fried foods
• Artificial sweeteners, which includes 'juice drinks'
• Milk and cheese
• Corn products (which includes a whole lot of stuff you may not know is made out of corn!)
• Breads and white flour
• Non-organic eggs
• Meat, with the exception of organic lean meat on occasion
• Alcohol, with the exception of wine
  
• Caffeine (though coffee has a much more significant inflammatory effect than  black tea)
• Peanuts and peanut butter
• Wheat products (this includes pasta which is made with gluten, even if you do not have a gluten intolerance it still has an inflammatory effect on your digestive system)
  
• Potatoes (white and red)
• Citrus fruit  (i have contention with this one because these are very healthy for you in other ways, but they do inflame so there you have it)

If i haven't convinced you yet how important it is to keep your inflammation down, let me put it this way, you can't always rely on medication and expensive products to cure you when you're sick, and many modern medical treatments have unintended consequences on overall health, but if i was a gambling woman i'd put all my chips on prevention.



p.s. I loooooooove cheese, and it's totally fine to have your guilty pleasures, just don't get lazy and always keep balance in mind.