What Are Natural Anti-Inflammatories?
Natural anti-inflammatories are foods that you can eat to lower your odds of having inflammation. If you have a condition that causes inflammation, it may help to change your eating habits.
While medication and other treatments are important, many experts say an anti-inflammatory diet may help, too. If you have a condition like rheumatoid arthritis, changing what's on your plate won’t be a magic cure. But an anti-inflammatory diet might lessen the number of flare-ups you have, or it might help take your pain down a few notches.
An anti-inflammatory diet is widely regarded as healthy. Even if it doesn't help with your condition, it can help lower your chances of having other problems.
Anti-Inflammatory Foods
Any mainstream nutrition expert would encourage you to eat anti-inflammatory foods. They include lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, plant-based proteins (like beans and nuts), fatty fish, and fresh herbs and spices.
Fruits and veggies:Go for variety and lots of color. Research shows that vitamin K-rich leafy greens like spinach and kale reduce inflammation, as do broccoli and cabbage. So does the substance that gives fruits like cherries, raspberries, and blackberries their color.
Whole grains:Oatmeal, brown rice, whole-wheat bread, and other unrefined grains tend to be high in fiber, and fiber also may help with inflammation.
Beans:They're high in fiber, plus they're loaded with antioxidants and other anti-inflammatory substances.
Nuts:They have a healthy kind of fat that helps stop inflammation. (Olive oil and avocados are also good sources.) Stick to just a handful of nuts a day, or otherwise the fat and calories will add up.
Fish:Put it on your plate at least twice a week. Salmon, tuna, and sardines all have plenty of omega-3 fatty acids, which fight inflammation.
Herbs and spices:They add antioxidants (along with flavor) to your food. Turmeric, found in curry powder, does this with a strong substance called curcumin. And garlic curbs your body's ability to make things that boost inflammation.
Inflammatory Foods
Anything highly processed, overly greasy, or super sweet isn’t a good choice for you if you have inflammation.
Sweets, cakes and cookies, and soda:They aren’t dense in nutrients, and they're easy to overeat, which can lead to weight gain, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol (all related to inflammation). Sugar causes your body to release inflammatory messengers called cytokines. Soda and other sweet drinks are the main culprits. Anti-inflammatory diet experts often say you should cut out all added sugars, including agave and honey.
High-fat and processed red meat (like hot dogs): These have a lot of saturated fat, which can cause inflammation if you get more than a small amount each day.
Butter, whole milk, and cheese:Again, the problem is saturated fat. Instead, eat low-fat dairy products. They aren’t considered inflammatory.
French fries, fried chicken, and other fried foods:Cooking them in vegetable oil doesn't make them healthy. Corn oil, safflower oil, and other vegetable oils all have omega-6 fatty acids. You need some omega-6s, but if you get too much you throw off the balance between omega-6s and omega-3s in your body and end up with more inflammation.
Coffee creamers, margarine, and anything else with trans fats: Trans fats (look on the label for "partially hydrogenated oils") raise LDL cholesterol, which causes inflammation. There's no safe amount to eat, so steer clear.
Wheat, rye, and barley: The focus here is gluten, and it’s controversial. People who have celiac disease need to avoid gluten. But for everyone else, the science is solid that whole grains are a good thing.
Risks of Chronic Inflammation
Inflammation happens naturally in your body. Inflammation protects against toxins, infection, and injury, but when it happens too often it can trigger diseases. Experts link long-term (chronic) inflammation to:
Cancer
Heart disease
Diabetes
Alzheimer’s disease
Depression
You can lower your risk of chronic inflammation with changes to what you eat.