Top 10 Anti-Inflammatory Foods

top-10-anti-inflammatory-foods

Inflammation. You sneaky little devil you. We can’t always see you, but you are actually one of the leading causes of disease. So today we are going to talk about inflammation, and what to do about it. 

Please note- I am not a nutritionist. Everything I am telling you our amazing intern, Lindsay (who is going to Columbia for her master’s in nutrition- hello) researched for us. 🙂

Ok, here we go. 

What is Inflammation?

Inflammation is our immune system’s natural process of keeping our bodies healthy and safe from foreign particles. However, when inflammation just hangs around at low levels it actually harms our body instead of helping.

Long term, persistent inflammation has been linked to:

Heart disease

Depression

Arthritis

Cancer

Alzheimer’s

Why We Need an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

What (and how) we eat can either promote or reduce inflammation. Donuts = inflammation. Kale = reducing inflammation. Not a shocker. Additionally, the foods we eat can affect inflammation by altering our microbiome. This population of bacteria in our gut produces different byproducts, some of which will either cause or work against inflammation, based on the types of food we consume. 

So avoiding pro-inflammatory foods and consuming a wide variety of anti-inflammatory foods may help to promote our health in the long-run by reducing our levels of chronic inflammation. Let’s all try and make it to 100 shall we. 

Pro-Inflammatory Foods: Limit These!

Foods high in refined carbohydrates 

Soda and other highly sweetened beverages

Red meat and processed meats

Hydrogenated vegetable oils and fried foods 

Top 10 Anti-Inflammatory Foods: Eat these on the reg!

Green Tea

Walnuts

Leafy Greens (Spinach, Kale, Swiss Chard, etc…)

Salmon

Turmeric

Soy: Tofu & Edamame

Ginger 

Berries 

Garlic & Onions

Wine (1 glass per day) 

Make These S4B Recipes to Reduce Inflammation!

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