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I often tell my patients that food is medicine and food is mood. It literally is. The kinds of foods we eat can have significant impacts on our health.
Ongoing, low grade inflammation may be the root cause of many chronic health conditions. These include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancers, stomach issues, joint pain, and even brain health. The top causes of chronic inflammation are unhealthy eating, physical inactivity, and belly fat. Chronic infections, unbalanced gut bacteria and toxin exposure can also promote inflammation. A healthy lifestyle with good eating habits can help lower inflammation in the body.
What is inflammation?
Our body has a natural way of dealing with offending agents like viruses, bacteria, toxins and chemicals that don't belong in our bodies. Your body activates cells that respond to help fight the offending agents. These cells begin an "inflammatory response" to help fight off the bad guys, so to speak. This can cause pain, swelling, bruising, redness.
Inflammation can be acute or chronic. Acute just means that your body responds suddenly and the repair process starts right away, like when you get a cut on your finger; there is pain, swelling, bleeding, etc.
Symptoms of chronic inflammation may be harder to see or notice and the symptoms can happen over a long period of time. Symptoms can include:
Abdominal pain
Chest pain
Fatigue (like in lupus, rheumatoid arthritis)
Joint pain
Rash
Mouth sores
Mental health issues (Depression, anxiety)
How can we use food to fight inflammation?
Whole foods (unprocessed foods) like fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds are rich in nutrients that help fight inflammation. These foods include many vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber, Omega-3 fats and probiotics.
I highly recommend eating the rainbow when it comes to veggies. Vegetables provide fiber and antioxidants including beta carotene which gives food the orange color. Veggies are SUPER sources of anti-inflammatory nutrients. Here are a few examples to try
Dark, green and leafy: Swiss Chard, Spinach, Romaine Lettuce
Cruciferous Vegies: Broccoli, cabbage, Kale, Mustard Greens
Beets, carrots, garlic, onions and tomatoes
Inflammatory food to avoid
Highly processed foods
Fast foods
Products from grain-fed animals
Highly processed fats, deep fried foods
Refined grains and sweeteners
Soda
Foods that you may be sensitive to can cause inflammation
If you are struggling with a clinical condition that may be due to underlying chronic inflammation, our functional nutritionist is highly trained to help optimize your nutrition to reduce inflammation. Our nutritional visits are comprehensive and tailored to you to help discover patterns in your lifestyle, clinical symptoms, potential food sensitivities/intolerance, toxins, bacterial or yeast overgrowth that may be causing your symptoms.
Are you ready to discover a healthier you through optimized nutrition ?