Tips for Beginning an Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Chronic inflammation is an underlying cause for many health issues. As a naturopathic doctor, I work with my patients to remove obstacles to cure, factors that are interfering with their state of health, and establishing conditions for health. Before bringing in anti-inflammatory supplements and nutraceuticals, it is important to begin with foundations of health – diet, clean water and air, sleep, exercise, relationships, stress management and play. The food you eat daily entails that you have daily exposures to many substances, good and bad, and depending on your choices, it could be contributing to inflammation that your body is experiencing. Here are some simple tips to beginning an anti-inflammatory diet:
Avoid Chemicals
Food these days comes laden in many non-food substances – synthetic dyes, preservatives, natural flavorings, pesticides and herbicides – all of which can irritate the immune system as well as disrupt elegant systems in our body, including the endocrine system. The first step of beginning an anti-inflammatory diet is to begin by creating a habit to read your food labels – trying to avoid things like MSG (found in many Asian foods, take-out, etc.), TBHQ (tert-Butylhydroquinone), food dyes (tartrazine), nitrites, benzoates, and typically anything you cannot pronounce. Reduce pesticide and herbicide exposure by choosing organic foods whenever possible, at the very least, making sure the Dirty Dozen is organic in your diet. (Refer to the Environmental Working Group for more information.)
Cut Out the Processed and Refined Foods
Processed foods, refined grains and sugars are pro-inflammatory and can perpetuate deeper, underlying health issues, such as dysbiosis, increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, when we are eating processed foods, we loose control of what we are putting into our bodies, as many food companies are adding in ingredients that may hurt or insult our bodies that we never personally intended to eat. The easiest solution to not fall trap to it in the first place and avoid those foods as much as possible – pre-packaged, pre-baked and pre-processed foods.
Eat Your Vegetables and Fruits
Roots, shoots, stalks and fruits – it is that simple. Vegetables and fruits are loaded with phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals and many other healing constituents that help create the conditions for health. The foundation of any diet, but especially an anti-inflammatory diet, lies on vegetables and fruits. The “healthy plate” of any meal should have half the plate filled with plenty of veggies and fruits.
“Happy Animals”
Not all animal protein is created equal. The environment, diet and medical care that animals receive is incredibly important to the nutritional and health value of the animal products we eat – meat, eggs, dairy, butter, etc. We all know how chronic stress and over-medication can be inflammatory and disrupting to our bodies, the same goes for any animal, large or small. When animals are made to eat food they did not evolve to eat, for example cows eating corn and soy, their body composition changes, as does the nutrient profile, making them higher in more inflammatory omega 6 fatty acids. When animals are treated with hormones, those hormones are easily passed onto us when we consume that animal product, creating conditions for hormone imbalance. When choosing meat, eggs or dairy to eat, consider if they were raised as “Happy Animals.”
What were their living conditions like? Do you know where it came from? What did they eat? Was it organic? Did they get treated with growth hormones and antibiotics? It is our responsibility to support humane practices, not only for the protection of our health, but also for the health of our community and environment.
Eating Quality Fats
Everyday, we are learning just how healthful and beneficial fats are for our diet. They are essential nutrients required by almost every body system to function including the nervous system, endocrine system, digestive system and musculoskeletal system. The fats you choose to eat have a huge impact on the inflammatory pathways in our body. Unsaturated fats high in omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory actions. Best sources include cold-water fish, flax seeds, and walnuts. Other great sources of healthy fats include olive oil, coconut oil, butter, as well as naturally occurring fat in avocados, “happy animal” products, nuts and seeds.
Hydrogenated fats such as “vegetable oils" - soybean, corn, safflower, sunflower, canola, shortening and most definitely, margarine - are much more inflammatory and should be reduced to almost completely avoided. These are oils that are used in many pre-baked and pre-packaged foods… is this starting to sound familiar?
Choose Your Beverage Wisely
Hydration is an important foundation of health. Not every beverage is equal though. Minimizing alcohol, soft drinks and juice consumption is important in an anti-inflammatory diet. These beverages all contain high amounts of sugars, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavorings, and other addictive properties. While moderate intake of certain alcohols, like red wine, can have an anti-inflammatory effect, be mindful of this, as excess alcohol intake in any form increases inflammation by adding in additional sugars to the diet, disrupting gut health, as well as running the risk of perpetuating potential inflammatory stress management and / or addiction. Anti-inflammatory beverages alternatives include water, herbal tea, coconut water, sparkling water, and bone broth just to name a few.
Address Any Underlying Food Allergies or Food Sensitivities
You may have the perfect diet, chock-full with clean, organic, whole foods. However, if one of those foods is unknowlyingly activating a response from your immune system, no matter how healthy you eat, an inflammatory response is being activated. Common foods that are associated with activating an immune response include wheat / gluten, diary, soy, corn, eggs, and peanuts, though, are not restricted to just these foods. An elimination-rechallenge diet can help to identify underlying sensitivity to a food(s). Removal of the food and allowing your gut to heal helps to address this underlying inflammation. Working with a naturopathic doctor can help guide in exploring underlying food sensitivities and work on healing your gut.
Practice A Healthy Stress Response
Psychological stress can be as inflammatory and destructive to our health as MSG and Pepsi. As you embark on an anti-inflammatory diet, you are working on eliminating inflammatory foods from your diet, but it should not stop there. It is incredibly important to assess inflammatory responses to stress. Stress is inevitable, and keeps up alive and functioning. What goes haywire is our response to the stress.
How are you responding to stressors in your life? How can you cultivate healthier, more anti-inflammatory responses to the stress in your life? Ideas include tending to your breathing, meditation, exercise, 7-8 hours of sleep, spending time outdoors, yoga, reading, coloring, creating music, journaling, connecting and talking with someone you care about, play, just to name a few...
These tips are foundational ways to assess your current diet, and move towards a more anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle. There is much more in the way of adrdressing underlying inflammation. To explore best way to address underlying inflammation, navigating the complexities of food sensitivities, addressing stress response (including hormone levels connected to stress response, such as cortisol) visit your local naturopathic doctor. Naturopathic doctors are highly skilled not only in nutrition and addressing the root cause of chronic inflammation, but as primary care doctors, including preventative and diagnostic medical evaluation through physical exam, extensive lab testing and truly hearing your story. With this powerful combination, you and your naturopathic doctor can craft the best anti-inflammatory treatment plan for you.
In Health & Balance,
Dr. Sarah Sue