What do chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and mental health conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and depression all have in common? The answer is inflammation. If you have a condition that causes inflammation or is because of inflammation, then an anti-inflammatory diet may be for you.

What is inflammation?

According to the dieticians at Nutritional Solutions, as part of a normal immune response, inflammation is a natural physiological response and a necessary part of stimulating the body’s natural healing processes. The trouble is that through poor dietary and lifestyle choices for long periods of time, inflammation can activate the body’s immune system, which causes unnecessary damage to otherwise healthy cells.

How do you know if you have inflammation?

Many healthcare professionals may recommend that you do blood tests for inflammatory markers like CRP to get a good idea of the state of inflammation in your body. Some common signs of inflammation include body pain, frequent illness and infections, fatigue, and mood disorders like depression and anxiety.

An increasing number of disorders (also influenced by our genes) are also linked to inflammation, such as asthma, arthritis, and psoriasis. Of course, medication and other treatments prescribed by your treating doctor will remain important in managing inflammatory diseases. Think of adopting an anti-inflammatory lifestyle as just another piece of the puzzle. For example, only changing your diet may not be the magic cure, but it may decrease how often you have flare-ups or help you need a lower dose of medication.

What else can you do to manage inflammation?

The good news is that it is possible to lower inflammation levels even further through various lifestyle changes. We know that obesity increases your risk of inflammation because fatty tissue called adipose tissue releases a lot of pro-inflammatory molecules called cytokines (partly due to insulin resistance). It becomes a continuous cycle of inflammation: the more overweight you are, the more inflammation there is, making you even more overweight.  This is why an energy-controlled diet by watching your portion intake and choosing high-quality foods will help. In addition, being active may lower inflammatory markers in the body, which in turn helps with weight loss.

Anti-inflammatory diet

To make your life easier in your quest to follow an anti-inflammatory diet, we’ve put together a convenient list of the key anti-inflammatory eating principles, as guided by scientific evidence, which you can add to your diet plan. The anti-inflammatory diet includes meals that are:

• High in fibre from wholegrain carbs like brown rice and quinoa.
• High in fruits and vegetables, which are rich in anti-inflammatory compounds like phytonutrients and antioxidants that protect against and reduce inflammation in the body.
•  Flavoured with ginger and cumin, which are known to have anti-inflammatory properties.
•  High in healthy monounsaturated fats from olive oil and low in saturated fats such as chicken skin, fatty cuts of meat, cheese, and coconut oil, which are pro-inflammatory.
• Unprocessed whole food, free from added preservatives and flavourings, as studies have shown that replacing processed foods with whole, unprocessed foods improves insulin resistance, improves cholesterol levels, and reduces blood pressure, all of which are related to inflammation.
• Low in added sugar and refined carbohydrates, which trigger a host of metabolic changes in the body that kickstart the inflammatory processes.