Eating to Reduce Inflammation

The term inflammation is thrown around a lot on social media and in the news but what really is inflammation? In simple terms, inflammation is the immune systems way of responding to an irritant. Inflammation may present itself as being physically inflamed (swelling, redness, blotchy skin, swollen lymph nodes) or could present through symptomatic signs (constant fatigue, digestive issues, low grade fever).

Short term inflammation in the body is a positive thing because it shows that your immune system is working properly to defend your body from intruders. Long term inflammation is the inflammation that we want to address because that means that the intruders are overstaying their welcome.

Some of the causes of chronic inflammation include a diet high in inflammatory foods, alcohol abuse, being overweight or obese, and chronic stress as well as irregular sleeping patterns.

Tackling your chronic inflammation is very possible with nutrition management and lifestyle changes.

Here is a list of foods to reduce/ avoid:

• Foods high in saturated fat ( butter, coconut oil, palm oil, canola oil, sunflower seed oil, soybean oil, fatty cuts of meat, bacon, sausage, cured meats)

• Processed foods

• Foods high in refined sugar

• Alcohol

Here is a list of foods to increase:

• Vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, fish oil

• Garlic

• Turmeric

• Fruits; apples, berries and acerola cherries are very anti-inflammatory

• Vegetables; especially green leafy vegetables

• Lean cuts of meat

• Unsaturated fats (olive oil, avocado, fatty fish)

• Lots of water

• Nuts (almonds and walnuts) and seeds

All in all, with proper nutrition management, lifestyle changes, and stress management chronic inflammation can be managed and even reversed. If you are interested in working on improving your inflammation with nutrition counseling send me an email to nutrikaywellness@gmail.com !