Inflammation describes a clinical condition that may arise anywhere in the body. Foods can either reduce inflammation or cause inflammation. Unfortunately, poor dietary choices lead to chronic inflammation for the vast majority of people in the world who suffer inflammatory conditions. If you are experiencing unresolved chronic pain and other symptoms of inflammation, there are specific foods that you can eat to reduce inflammation in your body and arrest subclinical disease processes before they become full-blown major diseases.
What is Inflammation?
Doctors define Inflammation as a localized response to cellular damage that is characterized by capillary dilatation, leukocytic infiltration, redness, heat, pain, swelling, and often loss of function. This series of action serves as a mechanism to eliminate the toxic agents, pathogens or repair the injured tissue that triggered the inflammation in the first place.
It is important to understand that inflammation is the way that the immune system normally responds to attack. So, inflammation is not always considered problematic and is usually indicative of the fact that the body is trying to defend itself from an infection or trying to recover from damage or injury. However, inflammation is only considered insidious when it becomes chronic, meaning it cannot be stopped or resolved.
What Are The Symptoms of Inflammation
Swelling of the joints
Stiffness and pain in the joints
Partial or total loss joint function
Redness, tingling or heat in the affected area
Other disease processes, like gingivitis, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, etc., can lead to a cascade of subclinical inflammatory processes that magnify the degree of damage to organs and tissues over time. If you are experiencing the aforementioned symptoms, it is highly recommended that you seek advice and testing from a healthcare practitioner.
How Does Food And Diet Affect Inflammation?
A key driver and marker of inflammation in the body is the presence excess body fat. If you are overweight, consider switching your diet to include anti-inflammatory foods that have been shown to reduce inflammation in the body. If you are not at your healthy weight or if you do not feel your very best every single day, consider implementing some of the strategies highlighted in this article to reduce inflammation in your body.
What Types of Foods Cause Inflammation In The Body?
Sugar — Sugar is now considered to be harmful to your body in large doses. And it does not matter what form that sugar comes in, If you take in too much sugar, you will inevitably develop inflammation in your body. And sugar is now in just about every packaged food that we eat.
Vegetable Oils — The problem with vegetable oils is that they are a made up of a type of fatty acids called PUFAs (Polyunsaturated fatty acids). These types of fatty acids are the most easily oxidized by heat, light and time. They are so sensitive that even your body temperature may cause them to go rancid. 90% of prepared and packaged foods that we consume today are made with vegetable oils. When these oils go bad, they encourage inflammation in the gut, the digestive system and in the cells, as they are taken up as fuel by the cells.
Fried Foods — Need I say more? Fried Foods are Death dealers. Fried foods damage cells and tissues in the body.
Highly Processed Foods — Highly processed foods are devoid of nutrients and contain high levels of sugar and rancid fats.
Dairy Products —Conventional dairy products that are ultra-pasteurized contain oxidized fats an no beneficial microbes to aid the body in digesting the food, so consumers of dairy experience overt of sub-clinical inflammation from regular consumption of these types of foods.
Artificial Sweeteners — It’s hard to find anything positive to say about the ingredients in “diet” drinks and low or no-calorie products.
Artificial Ingredients - Artificial ingredients are synthetic compounds that our bodies are not equipped to process. The body does with them what it does with Toxins, store them in fat tissue.
Processed Meats - Meats are a controversial topic. Numerous studies indicate that the way meat is prepared may increase inflammation in the body. Processed meats have been linked to increased rates of cancer and all-cause mortality. If you eat meat, pay attention to how your meat was raised, processed and prepared.
What Types Of Foods Reduce Inflammation In The Body?
The following foods have been shown to reduce inflammation in the body
Nuts: Almonds, Macadamia, Walnuts, Pecans, Pistachios
Seeds: Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Sesame Seeds, Chia Seeds
Herbs: Adaptogens, anti-inflammatory herbs, Tonic Herbs
Vegetables: Red peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts
Fruits: Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, amla berries, and other high anti-oxidant berries
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