It’s no secret that inflammation and poor health go hand-in-hand.

In fact, experts now agree that inflammation could be the missing link that unifies the worst of the diseases we face, with doctors at Harvard going so far as to state that, “The four horsemen of the medical apocalypse — coronary artery disease, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s — may be riding the same steed: inflammation.”

The question then is, if inflammation is the root of disease, how can we put out its flames, stop that steed in its tracks and reclaim our health?

It turns out that what we eat is the place to start…

The new definition of a ‘healthy’ diet

According to ground-breaking research from a team of scientists at Ohio State University, the majority of us are eating a daily diet that levels up inflammation, increasing our risks for health problems, including heart disease and cancer.

Now it’s important to know that other factors like stress and adverse childhood experiences drive inflammation too. But diet appears to be one that we have the power to do something about.

So researchers examined the diets of more than 34,500 adults and assigned inflammation values to foods. They found that only a small number of Americans — 34% of those in the study — regularly eat an anti-inflammatory diet. And only 9% consume neutral dietary inflammatory levels.

This means that a whopping 57% of U.S. adults, or 1 in 6 of us — eat a diet that fuels inflammation. This is an eye-opener for so many reasons…

Traditionally a “healthy diet” has been based on older dietary measures that steer us towards food groups (meat, dairy, vegetables) or specific macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats) — and not the impact these foods have once inside the body.

“But inflammation is an important element to consider and the overall balance of diet is most important,” points out lead researcher, Rachel Meadows. “Even if you’re eating enough fruits or vegetables, if you’re having too much alcohol or red meat, then your overall diet can still be pro-inflammatory.”

She suggests that rather than looking at certain foods as ‘bad’, we should instead consider how we can use anti-inflammatory foods to give our health the boost it needs so we can feel and live our best.

“There’s a potential here to think about positive interventions, such as adding more garlic, ginger, turmeric and green and black tea — which are all anti-inflammatory — to your diet,” she said.

“Moving toward a diet with less inflammation could have a positive impact on a number of chronic conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even depression and other mental health conditions.”

Beat back inflammation with less of the bad, more of the good

Can dousing inflammation really make an impact? The proof’s in the pudding…

Chronic low-grade inflammation is considered a key feature of cardiometabolic disease and the elevated dementia risk these conditions carry. A recent study found these risks were 31 percent lower in people who followed an anti-inflammatory diet.

Conquering inflammation has also been found to translate to potentially 8 to 10 more years of healthy life.

Ditch the ultra-processed foods, eat less meat and eat more of the foods that douse the fires of inflammation, like…

• Green, leafy vegetables (like spinach, kale and collard greens)
• Fruit (including blueberries, cherries and oranges)
• Whole grains
• Fatty fish (like salmon, sardines, tuna and mackerel)
• Grass-fed meat
• Nuts (including walnuts and almonds
• Legumes
• Olive oil
• Tomatoes
• Inflammation-fighting spices

If you need structure, consider following an alkaline diet. The impact of maintaining an alkaline (or pH) balance by avoiding acid-forming foods means less acid is produced in the body, and that equates to less inflammation.

Sources:

Pervasiveness of inflammation-inducing foods in American diet – ScienceDaily

Inflammation: A unifying theory of disease? – Harvard Health Publishing