Inflammation and Food

A natural, integrated approach to fighting inflammation

The best, most natural integrated way to fight inflammation can be found through lifestyle changes in diet and exercise.
Daily exercise like cardio or light to moderate exercise machine work has been proven, to help limit the negative effects of inflammation.
To help keep inflammation levels low, maintain a diet rich in anti inflammatory nutrients like omega 3 fatty acids and fiber. Avoid omega 6 fatty acids, sugar, high carb and meat filled diets.
Inflammation levels can rise as a result of lifestyle factors such as smoking, lack of exercise, sleeping and poor gum health.

The best, most natural integrated way to fight inflammation can be found through lifestyle changes in diet and exercise. In order to understand why this is true, you must first understand that a major- ity of the destructive inflammation that occurs in your body is not a result of an injury or trauma but rather a result of the foods that you eat and of an unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle.
Not surprisingly, one entire very important line of research centers around exercise and its effect on inflammation. Daily exercise, either cardio or light to moderate exercise machine work, has been proven, definitively, to help limit the negative effects of inflammation. Exercise is such an important natural anti-inflammatory practice; top researchers now consider it to be the cornerstone to inflam- mation control.

Why is food so important in the inflammation process? This is really simple as your body makes both inflammation causing and inflammation releasing chemicals, which are called prostaglandins, from the foods that you eat. If you eat too much of any high sugar foods for example, your body will make an abundance of pro-inflammatory individual prostaglandins while eating foods rich in omega 3 fatty acid and the Indian spice Curcumin (turmeric) will result in your body producing more anti-inflammatory prostaglandins.

The bottom line is that keeping your inflammation level low is possible with the help of a good diet rich in anti-inflammatory nutrients such as the omega 3 fatty acids which promote the creation of helpful, anti-inflammatory prostaglandin E-3. Secondary dietary recommendations would be to eat higher fiber and avoid diets rich in Omega 6’s, which create prostaglandins E1 and E2, which are highly inflammatory, and sugar, high carb and meat filled diets, which increase arachidonic acid, which is a precursor to E2.
Inflammation levels can also rise as a result of lifestyle factors such as smoking, a lack of good sleep and poor gum health.

The food we eat and the inflammation it causes!

 In order to improve our health we must do the following three things with our diets:
Eliminate negative reaction from harmful foods ex.by cutting out the bad food and adding more good food
Clean out any substances causing negative reactions ex. with fiber and other detoxifying foods. 
An important variable in digestion is food allergies and sensitivities, as they can greatly im- pact digestion and cause debilitating inflammation leading to irritable bowel, celiac, Crohn’s Disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, eczema, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, lupus, MS and even heart disease.
Digestive health is compromised when the body does not absorb vital nutrients it needs to heal and restore itself from food undigested food leaks across the intestinal wall and enters the systemic circulation causing full blown immune problems
Avoid processed foods, hydrogenated oils, saturated fats, and sugars; these all cause inflamma- tion. Buy whole foods and include items like a fresh vegetable, fruit, nuts and seeds with each meal.

As you may know, digestion is the chemical process of breaking down food into smaller compo- nents to be absorbed into the bloodstream facilitating nutrients and energy reaching the organs and tissues where they are needed.
Now, let’s examine foods that challenge the digestive system and can cause inflammation.
As humans, we take in hundreds of ingredients and substances every day and our digestive system must categorize and process each element. While most of the constituents are very helpful, a few can actually irritate, or even injure, the intestinal tract.

To avoid long-term problems from deleterious substances, we must do three things. First, eliminate the negative reaction. Second, clean out any substances causing negative reactions. Third, heal from the damage done. These steps do not need to be done in any order but all three are import- ant.
Let’s take an example. In the case of arthritis, there is evidence that everything cooked at a tem- perature above 112 to 120 will destroy enzymes making food more inflammatory. To eliminate the negative reaction people can eat more uncooked plant based foods and raw fish containing ome- ga-3 fatty acids. Then they can increase fiber, use more olive oil and eat more strawberries, which can decrease inflammation and help eliminate the negative reaction. Then time will heal things.
Another important variable in digestion is food allergies and sensitivities, as they can greatly im- pact digestion and cause debilitating inflammation. Oddly, most doctor’s ignore the impact a food allergy or sensitivity can have on an individual, even for someone that suffers with irritable bowel, celiac, Crohn’s Disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, eczema, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, lupus, MS and even heart disease. Individuals that have been diagnosed with one of these diseases or simply suffer with bloating, gas, indigestion and reflux need to know that hidden allergies can lead to inflammation and, over time, can weaken the immune system.
Doctor’s opinions aside, basic physiology tells us that when allergens irritate and inflame the intes- tinal lining, digestive health is compromised.

The first compromise is the ability to absorb the nutrients in the foods we eat. If we can’t absorb the nutrients, we might as well not have eaten. And if we don’t eat the nutrients, the body does not get what it needs to heal and restore itself and we become victim to a vicious, never ending cycle.
The next problem is the undigested food can leak across the intestinal wall and enter the systemic circulation. This is the beginning of full blown immune problems. The food particles in circulation will now be identified by the body as “foreign invaders” and antibodies rush to fight this invasion. The “immune fighters” like the lymphocytes, macrophages and other white blood cells become confused as to which are really harmful “bad guys” and which are “good guys” since the food par- ticles should not be there in the first place. If this cycle continues, the immune system will weaken opening the door to more severe autoimmune diseases.

A valid question you might have is what foods should I avoid to minimize this response in my body? The list can be lengthy but we need to start with the basics:

MEATS
HYDROGENATED OIL/ ANYTHING WITH HYDROGENATED OILS IN IT SUCH AS FRIED FOODS LIKE FRENCH FRIES
HOT DOGS
FAST FOOD
PROCESSED FOODS
SMOKED OR BROWNED FOODS THAT HAVE NITRATES IN THEM
SATURATED FAT
SUGAR
SODA

There are even some vegetables like potatoes, tomatoes and eggplant that can heighten inflam- mation. Those vegetables are known as “nightshade family of plants” and contain a chemical alkaloid called solanine, which can trigger pain and increase inflammation.

Avoiding foods on the above list can be a challenge for you if you live a hectic and fast lifestyle. Remember, however, our evolutionary process is, take one small step daily and eventually reach your optimal health. So a first small step might be to start with buying whole foods. Include items like fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds with each meal. Then choose fish like Cod, Halibut, Tuna, Salmon and Whitefish as your primary protein source rather than broiled red meats. You can replace your soda with green tea. Or add herbs and spices like basil, cayenne or chili peppers, cinnamon, cocoa, mint and parsley to your recipes. Finally, read labels and if you don’t know what something means “google it.” You can never go wrong if you keep what you eat simple and fresh.