Having an anti-inflammatory diet not only helps with feeling better but to live better and longer.
When we get into the market we get to see a variety of color, in fruits, veggies, spices, teas and meat, supricing enough, each of this color that we see on food are the cause of many components and each color has a beneficial properties.
Inflammation is the natural response of the immune system when it recognizes anything that is foreign, like pollen, chemical, an injury or sickness. Inflammation is also natural when aging.
However, sometimes the inflammation persists cause of high cortisol levels due to a sickness, not sleeping right, having bad diet high in sodium, sugar and trans fat, bad habits in general, it can be the cause of diseases like insulin resistance, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, depression, neurological like Alzheimer and more.
Integrating a high quantity of anti-inflammatory foods on you day to day, it may help you reduce the symptoms of an illness, reduce risk and help you agree better.
Before we go more further let’s see the FOODS THAT CAUSE INFLAMMATION, so you can limit these foods as much as possible:
Refined Carbohydrates, like white bread, pastries, sweets, soda, high sugary foods.
Fried foods have a high quantity of AGEs (Advanced Glycation End Products) that cause more inflammation.
Red Meats, in specific high fat and processed meats, like ham, sausages.
High fat and sodium processed foods, like chips, instant soups,
Saturated fats, like coconut oil, margarine.
So in summary a westernized diet, low in fiber, fruits, veggies and legumes, HIGH in processed foods, fat, sugar and meats.
Now let's talk about the best anti-inflammatory foods, there is long list foods that have a great benefits, but let’s talk about the best:
1. Olive and canola oil
These oils have a high quantity of OMEGA 3 and 9, with vitamin E that helps maintain a healthy heart.
2. Salmon, Mackerel, Tuna and Sardines.
With around 100 grams to 150 grams a day of these fishes you can have the necessary amount of omega 3 EPA/DHA on the day. The fish with the highest concentration of omega 3 is Macerek or saba fish with 2.6 grams of omega 3 in 100 grams of fish, coming up is salmon with 1.8 grams, sardines with 1.48 grams and Bluefin Tuna with 1.4 grams.
3. Green leafy vegetables
These have a variety of vitamins like C, A, B, E and K, as well as minerals like iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus and zinc, that are necessary to have in a normal diet.
4. Coffee
Drinking coffee daily can have a beneficial effect but drinking too much may have a negative effect.
The positive is that it has caffeine, chlorogenic acid (CGA), cafestol, trigonelline and kahweol, that have a potent antioxidant effect that benefits your health, even decaf has the same properties although it contains little to no caffeine.
The recommendation is to have a maximum day 4 to 5 cups a day, more of that can cause a negative effect.
5. Dark chocolate and cocoa
Quercetin, Epicatechin, Resveratrol, Catechin, are some of the antioxidant properties of cocoa and dark chocolate.
The recommendation to find the best chocolate is to find a bar that has at least 80% cacao, so bitter chocolate, with low or no sugar added, and no milk. You can go to around ⅓ of a bar a day to see a benefit.
The most common ones are not really chocolate, they are cacao fat, sugar and milk, so all benefits are lost.
6. Berries, like strawberries, blackberry and Red raspberry, black elderberry
As well as it has antioxidant properties, it has high quantities of vitamin C, fiber that help to maintain the microbiome healthy and your immune system.
7. Apple Cider
As well as antioxidant properties, the apple cider vinegar has gotten a lot of attention because of the metabolic benefits of carbohydrates, it helps reduce bloatedness, to have a better glucose absorption and more.
8. Turmeric
Curcumin is responsible for giving the color to the turmeric, it has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antithrombotic and cardiovascular protective effects.
Add at least 210 mg a day with a pinch of pepper to help the absorption of the curcumin and have a more beneficial effect.
9. Legumes
Beans, lentils, garbanzo beans, soy and edamames have bioactive compounds like peptides, polyphenols and saponins that bring antioxidant benefits. Legumes also have a high source of fiber, protein and carbs. Accompanied with whole grains like corn tortillas, brown rice, and whole pasta can complete the amino acid scheme, this means that you are having most of the amino acids that you need.
10. Red Wine
Alcohol has a really bad effect on the organism when having a binge in alcohol drinking. But when having moderate consumption of just having one to two glasses a day can be very beneficial, in especially Red Wine, this is caused by the high concentration of resveratrol in the wine, that has antioxidant effect but also a cardiovascular protector.
The list goes on, there are many foods that have anti-inflammatory properties, but even if they are beneficial, it’s not realistic to have them in such amounts or with so much frequency, due to many factors.
Here what you show is to have a variety, don’t only choose one food, choose many and play with the ingredients, and when having a food that can be proinflammatory have another food that has anti.inflammatory properties to counteract the effect.
Not all is food, and as well as you need to be careful with the foods that you choose you need to change habits that can be causing inflammation, like starting to work out, drinking enough water, reducing cortisol levels and more.
The KEY is to find the foods and healthy habits that work for you, add them on the daily, vary your food sources, workout and find pleasure in what you do.