That kind of inflammation is part of your immune system, and it recedes as the body heals. Heart Foundation NZ’s National Nutrition Advisor Lily Henderson describes acute inflammation as the ‘good’ type.
“It’s the normal response to microbes, tissue damage or metabolic stress. It happens when something harmful or irritating affects our body, she says.
But some inflammation rises up and doesn’t go away – that’s called chronic inflammation. When this happens, not only is it not healing anything, it can trigger a lot of serious conditions, including heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, cancer, and even Alzheimer’s.
The good news is, you often don’t have to take a lot of medications – with all their side effects – to deal to your inflammation. You can take a good hard look at your diet, and make some changes. A healthy, anti-inflammatory diet (along with other changes) can reduce inflammation – and keep it that way.
What is an anti-inflammatory diet?
More and more studies are finding that eating the right foods reduces inflammation. There’s no single, perfect diet plan, but plenty of information around what foods cause inflammation including anything processed, salty, sugary or deep-fried. It’s a no brainer, really – avoid those inflammatory foods and add in the good stuff: fresh fruits and vegetables, wholegrains, nuts and seeds.
Lots of diets follow this wisdom – the Mediterranean diet, which Lily recommends is a good example. It’s rich in whole foods, with a focus on pulses, fish and fresh produce, which is good for you in other ways, too.
If your diet asks that you eat processed foods – like shakes or bars – or cuts out fats and carbs altogether, you aren’t doing your inflammation or your weight any favours. For one thing, processed foods are nearly always part of the issue, and for another, a diet that bans whole food groups is unsustainable. In other words, if you deprive yourself, you’ll fall off the wagon eventually and be worse off than before.
So, what should you eat?
Begin with the widest variety of fresh fruits and vegetables you can get. Half your dinner plate should be a blazing rainbow of colourful, plant-based food. The darker the colour, the more goodness your body gets. Anything in season, bought fresh and eaten either raw or lightly cooked will go a long way to reducing your inflammation. For example:
- Dark leafy greens: spinach, silverbeet or kale
- All the dark berries: blueberries, blackberries, black currants and cherries
- The onion family: garlic, onions, leeks, shallots
- The brassicas: broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts (kale goes here too)
- Legumes: fresh green beans and peas
Add other whole foods to that riot of colour:
- Wholegrains: oats, barley, quinoa and brown rice
- Pulses for protein: dried peas, chickpeas, beans and lentils
- Healthy fats and oils: from fresh avocado, whole coconuts, seeds, nuts and olives, and extra virgin olive and coconut oils in small amounts
- Root vegetables: unpeeled carrots, beetroot, orange kumara and potato
- Raw nuts and seeds: peanuts, walnuts, almonds, cashews, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and many more
- Cacao and dark chocolate (just be careful of the sugar content!)
- Spices: especially fresh ginger, turmeric (eaten with black pepper), cloves, cumin, and cinnamon
- Herbs: fresh basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, sage, fennel and more
- Green or black tea
- Cold water fish and shellfish, including green-lipped mussels, wild salmon and sardines
Foods to avoid
Lily says that eating a lot of certain foods, “’switch on’ inflammatory processes within the body”.
She says some of these foods have already been associated with an increased risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, too.
“This isn’t surprising given that inflammation underlies the development of these diseases,” she says.
Here’s what to stay away from:
- Processed meats: ham, salami, corned beef
- Sugary foods: flavoured yoghurts, cookies, lollies, ice cream and cake. No fizzy drink either!
- Fried food: hot chips, deep fried anything, and donuts (it’s not just the high fat content, but also the kind of fat used)
- Refined grains: white rice, white bread and pasta
- Seed and vegetable oils: soybean, canola, sunflower, rice bran and palm
- Processed foods: frozen dinners, instant noodles, potato chips
- Alcohol (sorry!)
- Meat and dairy are off the menu too – study after study has linked these animal products, along with chicken and eggs, to inflammation. More and more, it’s been found that to really tackle the problem, a vegan, vegetarian or pescatarian diet is the way to go.
Make those changes now
The trouble with inflammation is you don’t know it’s happening until you go down with a serious illness or disabling condition. It’s a huge thing to get your head around – dropping meat and chicken out of your diet, swapping bacon and eggs for porridge at breakfast – but when you know what those things are doing to your arteries, joints and health in general, you might think again.
Take a look at the older members of your extended family. Do a lot of them suffer from arthritis? Have too many died of cancer or heart disease? Do obesity and diabetes take their toll? Instead of waiting to be diagnosed with a serious condition, take warning from your family history and change your diet. That way, you’ll give yourself the best chance of a long and healthy life.