Inflammation Free Diet

What if You Could Change Your Life?

There is a certain amount of luck or misfortune that just comes our way, but at the same time, there are many things that are not entirely out of our control. You may have been born beautiful, incredibly intelligent, or given every advantage imaginable through wealth and stature; these are things we have no control over. However, there are some very controllable and impactful factors that can, and do, have profound implications for your health, happiness, lifespan, and quality of life (healthspan). Moreover, in the end, don’t we finally figure out that these are the things that matter most.

This is the first in a three-part series, including Intermittent Fasting, Inflammation Free Diet, and Detoxification.

Now, admittedly, that is a pretty bold statement, but let’s go a little further to understand the basis for the assertion. First, we will talk about removing something that has very negative impacts; inflammation. Secondly, in a second article, we will cover intermittent fasting and the astounding benefits experienced through this practice.

Summary: You can not control everything in your life, but the two dietary practices we are discussing here, Inflammation Free (‘IF”) diet and Intermittent Fasting (also ‘IF’), can greatly reduce the primary factors that cause poor health and illness. Furthermore, they then add benefits that will greatly improve the quality and length of your life. The combination of these two, as a win-win combination, is what I affectionately refer to as ‘Double IF’.

Inflammation refers to your body’s process of fighting against things that it senses will harm it, such as infections, injuries, and toxins, in an attempt to protect and heal itself. When something damages your cells, your body releases chemicals that trigger a response from your immune system.

This response from your immune system includes the release of antibodies and proteins, as well as increased blood flow to the damaged area. The whole process usually lasts for a few hours or days in the case of acute inflammation.

Chronic inflammation happens when this response lingers over a prolonged period, leaving your body in a constant state of alert. Over time, chronic inflammation may have a negative impact on your tissues and organs. Research suggests that chronic inflammation could also play a role in a range of conditions, from cancer to asthma.

What are the symptoms of chronic inflammation?

Acute inflammation often causes noticeable symptoms, such as pain, redness, or swelling. But chronic inflammation symptoms are usually more subtle. This makes these symptoms easy to overlook.

Common symptoms of chronic inflammation include:

• Fatigue
• Fever
• Mouth sores
• Rashes
• Abdominal pain
• Chest pain

These symptoms can range from mild to severe, and last for several months or years.

What causes chronic inflammation?

Several things can cause chronic inflammation, including:

• Untreated causes of acute inflammation, such as an infection or injury
• An autoimmune disorder, which involves your immune system mistakenly attacking healthy tissue
• Long-term exposure to irritants, such as industrial chemicals or polluted air.

Keep in mind that these factors don’t cause chronic inflammation (perhaps at all or to the same degree) in everyone. In addition, some cases of chronic inflammation don’t even have a clear underlying cause.

Experts also believe that a range of factors may also contribute to chronic inflammation, such as:

• Smoking
• Obesity
• Alcohol
• Chronic Stress
• Inflammatory foods and drinks you put into your body (we will get into this shortly)

How does chronic inflammation impact the body?

When you have chronic inflammation, your body’s inflammatory response can eventually start damaging healthy cells, tissues, and organs. Over time, this can lead to DNA damage, tissue death, and internal scarring.

All of these reactions are linked to the development of several diseases, including:

• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Type2 diabetes
• Obesity
• Asthma 
• Neurodegenerative disease, such as Alzheimer’s disease

Summary: Most of what ails us, shortening our lives and making us feel poorly along the way, can be traced to the harmful effects of a long-term inflammatory response in our body. And most of what is triggering this response is within our control.

What can be done?

If you can accept what has been presented so far, that chronic inflammation has very negative health consequences and that most of what is triggering that inflammation is in our control, the obvious next question is what can be done.

The following factors are controllable, even though we may not want to admit it, but are also beyond the scope of this article:

• Smoking (It may be addictive, but it is not impossible to quit)
• Obesity (We can address this to a degree in this article and then further in Part 2: Intermittent Fasting)
• Alcohol (We can address this from a dietary perspective here, but not in terms of alcohol abuse)
• Chronic Stress
• Toxic environmental conditions at work and home

Notwithstanding the list of factors listed above, the remainder and perhaps most significant underlying factor of chronic inflammation is what you decide to put into your body, including smoke and alcohol, but also all the other foods and drinks you consume.

So now you must be thinking, an inflammation free diet (IF) must be complex, esoteric, and otherwise unobtainable; otherwise, why wouldn’t everyone be doing this for themselves.  

Well, all it takes is desire, discipline, and knowledge. You are going to have to provide the desire and discipline, but we will get started on the knowledge right now, and in fact, the basics are really easy to understand. Part of the challenge is that it is going to fly in the face of a lifestyle that you were likely brought up with, or have become comfortable with as an adult.

Here is a fairly easy set of lists highlighting foods you should stay away from, consume sparingly, and those that are truly beneficial from an inflammation perspective.

Foods to eat

• Fresh Fruits
  • Pineapple, Watermelon, grapefruit, grapes, blueberries, bananas, apples, mangos, peaches, tomatoes, and pomegranates, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and oranges, raspberries, blackberries, apricots, bananas, citrus, cranberries, figs, kiwi, mangos, melons, stone fruit
• Dried Fruit
  •  Plums 
• Cruciferous Vegetables, raw or moderately cooked
  • Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, arugula, cabbage collard greens, kale, kohirabi, mizuna, mustard green, radish greens, romanesco broccoli, and bok choy 
• Allums
  • Chives, garlic, leeks, onions, scallions, and shallots
• Dark green leafy
  • Romaine lettuce, spinach, swiss chard
• Root vegetables
  • Beets, carrots, celery root, celeriac, radishes, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, turnips, winter squash
• Other Vegetables
  • Asparagus, bell peppers, corn, fermented probiotic vegetables, green beans, mushrooms
• Plant-based proteins
  •  Chickpeas, seitan, and lentils 
• Fatty fish
  • Salmon (particularly), sardines, tuna fish, herring, lake trout, and mackerel 
• Whole and ancient grains
  • Quinoa, amaranth, oats, dark colored rice, buckwheat, millet, oatmeal, popcorn, teff, and whole wheat/grain/seeds bread
• Seeds
  • Chia, flaxseed, hemp, mustard, poppy, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower
• Nightshades
  • Tomatoes, potatoes, (primarily yellow and purple), bell peppers (especially red)
• Beans/Legumes
  • Lentils
• Proteins
  • Beans, tofu, tempeh
• Omega-3
  • Fatty fish like salmon and sardines, walnuts and flaxseed
• Oils and fats
  • Olive, walnut, and pumpkin
• Nuts
  • Pecans, walnuts, and almonds 
• Herbs and spices
  • Basil, bay leaf, cilantro, cinnamon, clove, dill ginger, mint, nutmeg, oregano, paprika, parsley, pepper, rosemary, saffron, sage, tarragon, thyme, turmeric, ginger
• Foods loaded up with omega-3 unsaturated fats
  • Avocado and olive oil 
• Drinks
  • Kombucha
  • Coffee, Green tea 
  • Red wine (with some restraint)
• Treats
  • Dark chocolate (with some restraint) 
• Probiotics and prebiotics
  • High fiber vegetables, whole grains, and beans (black beans, chickpeas, and lentils)
  • Yogurt, pickles (watch the sodium intake), sauerkraut, tempeh, kimchi
• Natural Sugars
  • Honey, maple syrup, molasses

Foods to consume sparingly

• Meats
  • Skin-on poultry (especially dark meat)
  • Processed meats Like hot dogs, sausages, bacon, salam, etc.)
• Fats and Oils
  • Corn, sunflower, sesame, safflower, soy, coconut
• Whole and Ancient Grains
  • Barley, emmer, farro, rye, spelt, wheat berries, whole-grain breads, bulgur, couscous, pastas
• Nuts and Seeds
  • Peanuts
  • Tree Nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, cashews, macadamias, pistachios)
• Dairy
  • Fermented probiotic dairy, low/nonfat dairy
• Proteins
  • Eggs, fish, pork, poultry, shellfish, soy
• Other
  • Dark chocolate, wine

Foods to not eat

• Fats and Oils
  • Butter, lard, margarine
• Dairy
  • Full-fat dairy (butter, cheese, cream…)
• Refined carbohydrates, 
  • White bread, pastries, grain-based snacks
• Sugars
  • Refined or processed sugars (white, brown, confectioners, high fructose corn syrup
• Fried Foods
  • French fries, tempura, and other fried foods
• Drinks
  • Soda and other sugar-sweetened (and high sodium) beverages
• Processed Foods
  • In general, processed foods have more unnatural and unhealthy ingredients like sugar/sweeteners, unhealthy oils, preservatives, and the further you get from fresh and raw, the less good and more harm a food is likely to do.
  • High sodium foods
• Processed Meats 
  • Hotdogs, sausages, bacon
• Red meat 
  • Burgers, steaks and processed meat (hot dogs, sausage)
• Glutens
  • Wheat, Barley, and Rye

Conclusion

After reviewing these lists, you can see it is not as easy as changing your brand of coffee creamer. But think about it, hasn’t a certain malaise slowly crept into your life over the years? And if you are like most of us, you have just resigned yourself to the idea that this must just be part of getting older. But if you want to feel substantially better, live longer, and greatly reduce your chance for some major illnesses, giving you a higher quality of life well into your senior years, then this is something to take very seriously.

If you are willing to take the next step, you can do some more research on the Web or possibly get some books from your favorite bookseller (e.g., Amazon). Just search on terms like ‘inflammation free diet’ and ‘anti-inflammatory diet. If you currently are not much of a cook, don’t let that put you off; you will get the added benefit of being proud of what you put on the table and saving money making your meals for scratch.

Next week we will cover Intermittent Fasting. Where an Inflammation Free Diet removes harmful foods from your diet, intermittent fasting boosts your health in ways, and to the degree, you really can not imagine.