Inflammation in your body is a process that can be part of a normal immune response. The body needs it in many different situations, for example, without it we could not heal properly. Bad habits, work related stress, environmental pollution, and your diet in particular can create a situation of systemic or chronic inflammation in your body. This is a serious situation that you wish to avoid as most modern common life threatening diseases, such as heart disease, chronic pain, cancer, memory loss, and autoimmune diseases are very closely associated with a pre-existing condition of chronic inflammation.
Fortunately, Mother Nature gave use many options, backed by modern science, that we can use to prevent or manage such situations. Indeed, a lot very powerful anti-inflammatory compounds are present in some special food items.
Here are the 8 most powerful and delicious anti-inflammatory foods that you should include in your diet in order to prevent or fight inflammation.
1. Ginger
Widely used in Asian cuisine for its aroma and flavour, ginger contains very potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds called gingerols, which have been valued for centuries and more recently researched by scientist. Many people with different kinds of arthritis are using it with great results to reduce pain and improve their mobility by significantly reducing their inflammation problems. Learning how to cook with ginger could become your most powerful strategy against inflammation. It is surely worth incorporating into your diet for its taste and overall effect.
2. Turmeric
This bright yellow spice can be used to give color, aroma or a slightly bitter taste to a recipe as it has long been used as a potent anti-inflammatory in Asian medicine and have also been shown in many modern scientific studies to be comparable to the popular drug ibuprofen, also known as Advil. But unlike Advil, turmeric doesn’t produce any toxicity. Turmeric can be added to a lot of recipe without altering the taste too much which gives you another powerful and convenient weapon to add to your anti-inflammatory arsenal.
3. Coconut Oil
Using coconut oil for cooking is a great idea. Not only this oil doesn’t generate toxic byproducts when cooked at high temperature like most oils do, but it also contains a special compound called lauric acid, which has been shown by research to have great anti-inflammatory properties.
Also, one of the most important causes of chronic inflammation in the body is the imbalance of omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. Basically, what this means is that, on the one hand, you do not have enough omega-3 while, on the other hand, you just have too much omega-6. Most vegetable cooking oils, such as corn oil, canola oil, soybean oil and margarine are full of omega-6. Replacing them by coconut oil will enable you to attack the problem from two different angles.
4. Walnuts
They are awesome as a simple snack, for they are packed with vitamins and minerals. They are also a great addition to your diet due to the presence of some very special and unique compounds that are excellent anti-inflammatory nutrients and able to decrease the risk of prostate cancer and breast cancer significantly. Note that those compounds are mainly found in the thin darker skin that covers the nut inside the shell, so don’t forget to eat that part too!
5. Wild Fatty Fish
Those tasteful fatty fish like salmon, mackerel or sardines are all packed with omega-3 fatty acid that is one of your best weapon against chronic inflammations. Scientific studies that compared ibuprofen, also known as Advil, and omega-3 have demonstrated that they have equivalent effect in reducing arthritic pain! This is now a well-known fact, but you should also know 2 important things about those fatty fish.
First, if it is farmed, and most likely fed with a corn-based diet as a result, means that the quantity of omega-3 will be significantly lower. For this particular reason, you need to look for wild ones. Second, omega-3 fatty acids are very delicate and can be destroyed if cooked at high temperature, for example when you go about deep-frying fish, so take your time and cook them slowly at a lower temperature.
6. Berries
Another set of convenient snacks that serve as anti-inflammatories include blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and cranberries. They are full of flavonoids that are considered great antioxidants. Those flavonoids found in berries possess an abundance of anti-inflammatory properties that protect the cells against damage caused by inflammation. Those flavonoids are concentrated in the skin of the berries and usually give this great red to purple color to the fruit.
7. Cruciferous vegetables
They are great to add flavor and color to your favourite meals; broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage and many others have been proven to be full of antioxidants and important vitamins such as Vitamin C and E that reduce oxidative stress, estrogenic activities, thus providing great help against inflammation while they are also great tools to prevent chronic diseases such as cancer or coronary artery disease.
8. Beets
Delicious, affordable, and easy to find beets are the very unique sources of powerful nutrients called betalains. Those nutrients have been shown to provide strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification properties. They act by inhibiting the pro-inflammatory – cyclooxygenase – enzymes and also help to repair the damage caused by inflammation at a cellular level. If prepared roasted, slow-cooked, or boiled, they can be an easy addition to your dinner meals.
