How Your Diet Can Cause Inflammation

Depending on the situation, inflammation can be a good thing or a bad thing. It is good in that it is your body’s way of protecting itself when you’re injured or sick. It can also help your body defend itself from illness and promote healing. However, chronic inflammation is linked to an increased risk of diseases like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.

Natural Anti-Inflammatories

Natural anti-inflammatories are foods that lower your odds of having inflammation. If you suffer from a condition that causes inflammation, changing your eating habits can help. While medication and other treatment methods are essential, many medical experts agree that an anti-inflammatory diet is a vital step to finding relief. If you suffer from a condition like rheumatoid arthritis, changing what you eat won’t be a magic cure, but an anti-inflammatory diet can lessen the number of flare-ups you have, and it can help bring your pain down a couple of notches. An anti-inflammatory diet is also simply healthy for you. Even if it doesn’t help your condition, it can help lower your chances of experiencing other issues. Here we will go over foods that cause inflammation and what foods are good anti-inflammatories.

Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Any nutritionist or health expert would highly encourage you to eat anti-inflammatory foods. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, plant-based protein, fatty fish, fresh herbs, and spices are fantastic anti-inflammatories. When it comes to fruits and vegetables, shoot for variety and lots of colors. Vitamin K-rich leaf greens like spinach or kale are proven to help reduce inflammation. Fruits like raspberries, blackberries, and cherries are also good anti-inflammatories. Some other great anti-inflammatory foods are beans, nuts, whole grains, and fatty fish like tuna, salmon, and sardines.

Inflammatory Foods

Any highly processed, very sweet, or super greasy foods aren’t a good choice if you suffer from inflammation. Sweets like cakes, cookies, and soda aren’t dense in nutrients and are easy to overeat. This can lead to high blood sugar and high cholesterol, both related to inflammation. It is also essential to watch your consumption of high amounts of fat and processed red meats. They contain a lot of saturated fat, which can cause increased inflammation if you eat more than a small amount each day. Butter, whole milk, and cheese are also high in saturated fat, so it is vital to watch your intake. All fried foods, including fried chicken and french fries, can also increase inflammation. This is because the oils you fry food in are high in omega-6 fatty acids. While you need some omega-6s, too much will throw off your balance between omega-6s and omega-3’s which leads to more inflammation. It would help if you also avoided transfats like margarine or butter, which also increase inflammation.

Conclusion

Inflammation naturally occurs in your body. It is the body’s way to help protect against toxins, infection, and injury, but when inflammation occurs too often, it can lead to chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and depression. Eating a diet that is low in inflammatory foods and high in anti-inflammatories is a great way to lower your risk of chronic inflammation.