I wanted to write about the anti-inflammatory diet because, even though I’m against “dieting”, this isn’t really a diet; this is about creating a lifestyle of limiting inflammatory foods and regularly incorporating anti-inflammatory foods and lifestyle choices to support better health. It’s something that has helped me immensely, and I can testify that it supports gut health, hormonal health, and maintaining a healthy weight WITHOUT dieting. Following these tips that i’m sharing below will help a lot towards achieving your health goals, I promise!
WHY APPLY THE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET?
Without realizing it, we are accumulating inflammation in or bodies constantly. A little bit of inflammation is normal and can contribute to healing (ex. you hurt yourself and you see swelling – that’s part of the healing process), but when inflammation becomes chronic, it can trigger disease. Chronic inflammation plays a role in almost every common illness, including cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, dementia, IBS, diabetes and even depression. Even on a smaller scale, inflammation can be contributing to us feeling “not so great” and having trouble losing weight.
The food we eat — and don’t eat — can help lower and even prevent this chronic inflammation, to help us feel better, lose weight and reduce our chances of illness.
So HOW do we reduce inflammation? Mainly, THROUGH OUR DIET, together with complimentary lifestyle changes that help lower inflammation in our bodies.
There are amazing anti-inflammatory foods that are key to include in our diet, but its equally important to avoid foods that could be creating inflammation in our body. There are common inflammatory foods which we’ll cover, but often, you may also have unknown food sensitivities. And then of course there are lifestyle habits that help immensely, such as proper sleep, exercise and stress-management techniques.
A quick note on food sensitivities in case you suspect that might be an issue for you:
What’s a food sensitivity? When you have an immune response to a food, your antibodies rise, which can cause inflammation. Your body sees that food as a foreign body and starts working against it. The thing is, everyone is different, and what triggers inflammation for you can differ for others. And even for one given person, these inflammation triggers can change over time. It’s tricky because the signs aren’t always obvious. Some clues that you have chronic inflammation and potentially unknown food sensitivities include: skin issues (rashes, acne,..), fatigue, weight gain, achy joints and muscles, swelling, headaches and gastrointestinal issues including constipation/IBS, etc. To help you identify these sensitivities, you can do blood tests, but I find that an elimination diet works best (which I suggest doing with the help of a health coach). Essentially, it’s important to understand that a little personalization is always key.
That being said, here are 3 steps to get you started towards lowering your inflammation and feeling better in your body:
1) Introduce natural anti-inflammatory foods into your DAILY diet
2) Avoid common inflammatory foods + foods that could be triggers for you
3) Incorporate daily lifestyle habits that support reduction in inflammation
Let’s break it down:
1) Adapt an ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DIET as a daily lifestyle. To incorporate more anti-inflammatory foods, you want to do 2 things:
a. Start by just focusing on eating NUTRIENT DENSE WHOLE FOODS, organic where possible. These include:
FRESH VEGETABLES & FRUITS
FRESH PROTEIN (without added breading/processed sauces) – Eggs, Fish, Chicken/turkey breast.
NUTS & SEEDS
WHOLE GRAINS in small amounts (brown rice, wild rice, quinoa, oats) and LEGUMES (peas, chickpeas, beans, lentils)
And of course, avoiding consumption processed foods (see last point)
b. INCREASE ANTIOXIDANT-RICH FOODS KNOWN TO HELP WITH INFLAMMATION. Green leafy vegetables (like spinach, kale, romaine, arugula), fruits and colorful veggies (like berries, cherries, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, papaya, red cabbage), extra-virgin olive oil, nuts and seeds (like almonds, walnuts, flax, hemp and chia), and wild-caught fish (like salmon, cod, tuna) are some of my favorites. READ MORE HERE.
2) START AVOIDING (AT MINIMUM, REDUCING) PROCESSED, INFLAMMATORY FOODS
Examples include:
Packaged snack foods, like potato chips and microwave popcorn.
Processed meats, including bacon, sausage, hot dogs, bologna, pepperoni and salami.
Processed cheeses, like nacho cheese dip and American cheese slices.
Fried foods, like fried chicken and French fries. And most fast-food in general (as they’re using cheap, highly processed oils).
Sweets, especially commercial baked goods, pre-packaged desserts, ice cream and candy.
Sugary beverages, including sodas and sports drinks. This includes diet drinks, too!
Even so-called healthy snacks like granola bars, trail mix and baked chips can have a lot of processed ingredients, including added (inflammatory) sodium and sugar.
Additionally, as mentioned earlier, it helps immensely to IDENTIFY AND TEMPORARILY ELIMINATE FOODS THAT ARE TRIGGERING FOOD SENSITIVITIES FOR YOU. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND DOING A DETOX WITH AN ELIMINATION DIET TO HELP YOU DETERMINE POTENTIAL FOOD SENSITIVITIES.
3) Incorporate DAILY HABITS that, together with your anti-inflammatory diet, help to lower inflammation and help you feel better. These are my top suggestions:
Sleep 7-9 hours every night. HERE are some tips for improving sleep/ combating insomnia.
Make time for relaxation, meditation and self care …yes this helps! We all need to de-stress a little bit more
Stay active. Some suggestions include:
i. Take stairs when you can
ii. Go for a power walk at least twice a week
iii. Do a fitness class you enjoy (or workout however works for you) 2-5 times a week
Cook more at home! Aim to fill your plate with colorful veggies each time. And if/when you do eat out/order in, request a side of vegetables with your protein. So yes fish is generally better than red meat, but adding some salad and broccoli to your steak helps a lot to make it anti-inflammatory
Try having a green smoothie at least 1-2 a week. Here is my guide to get you started on green smoothies and on my go-to smoothie bowls.
Avoid artificial sweeteners and limit sugar. Try cutting back on sugar or sweetener in your coffee/tea little by little. If you need a sweetener, me preference would be for SMALL amounts of stevia or monk fruit, or for homemade desserts, small amounts of raw honey, pure maple syrup or coconut sugar in some cases. But key is in SMALL amounts. Get used to things being less sweet. Avoid Splenda and other artificial zero-calorie sweeteners!
Try going gluten free and dairy free for a month and see if you feel better, swapping dairy milk for almond or coconut milk, and avoiding bread. Cows milk dairy and gluten tend to be inflammatory for SOOO many people. One great way to test this out is doing a detox with me!
Spend time in nature
Applying these 3 steps discussed above (1) adding anti-inflammatory foods DAILY, 2) significantly reducing processed inflammatory foods, 3) incorporating anti-inflammatory lifestyle habits) will help immensely to reduce your risk of disease, promote weight loss, have more energy, better skin, and help you feel better overall!