Lesson 4: Food & Inflammation

We have all heard something about inflammation, but why mention it when talking about foods?

Inflammation

We are all familiar with inflammation which is our bodies first response of the immune system: swelling, redness and pain. Inflammation is part of the bodies natural defense against irritation, toxins, and other foreign molecules. A specific cascade of events happens where the body’s white blood cells and cytokines mobilize to protect you from foreign invaders. But what happens if this fine line of inflammation and healing gets overloaded? An immune system out of control is created shifting the body into a constant state of defense resulting in constant inflammation. Today many people have immune systems out of control from caused not only by environmental issues, but also, by the food they eat.

Research now shows that one of the root causes of inflammation can be attributed to the foods we eat. Inflammation has been shown to be a major factor in many diseases from cancer to diabetes and digestive disorders. How can inflammation be this be bad for you? Look at it like this; inflammation causes swelling outward and inward. So if for example your arteries are swelling on the outside and inside, then the passageway for the blood has just gotten smaller and the body works harder to do the same work. Overtime inflammation continues and adds up. Now think about this happening with throughout your entire body, the nervous system, organs, and tissues, etc… You can see why inflammation could end up being an issue that needs to be avoided as much as possible. Keep in mind this is a very basic outline of how inflammation can affect the body.

Foods That Cause Inflammation

Knowing what foods cause inflammation is important. Diets high in refined or hydrogenated vegetable oils such as those found in margarine, potato chips and baked goods can increase inflammation in the body. Take a look at those golden french fries from you favorite fast food provider and remember they probably use a cheap oil that helps to contribute to inflammation. Food additives and chemicals (preservatives) are seen by the body as foreign entities, which cause the body to kick in the immune system response to subdue the entities and the result is inflammation. Now you will begin to understand why commercially processed food (fast food and food prepared from a box) can be so bad for you.

One of the largest causes of inflammation is Sugar. Yes that five letter word again. To be blunt sugar is a killer. Today we eat sugar like there is no tomorrow, sadly that maybe true. Sugar is metabolized by the body into the blood as glucose very rapidly causing a high glucose level triggering the inflammation response. So the faster the foods show up as glucose in our blood, the faster inflammatory responses occur. High blood sugar damages the nervous system, the blood vessels and every part of our body through its eroding process. Understand I am not talking just about heavy sugar foods like candy and soda only. I am also talking about what I term as “hidden sugar foods” which, turn into sugar (glucose) in the digestive track.  Some of these foods are grain based like: breads, cakes, cereals, pasta, crackers, etc… Even the granola bar which has been labeled a health food has a high sugar content. Now lets add the starch based foods into the mix, (white potatoes, chips, etc..). Since these foods are so highly processed the body breaks them down into sugar very rapidly, sometimes in just seconds.

White flour digests and turns to sugar more quickly than whole wheat, but keep in mind all grains will end up digesting into sugar, some more, some less.  How foods are prepared can help to reduce their inherent inflammation causing affect. But wait in lesson 3, you mentioned soaking and how this helped to make grains better for you. Yes, soaking does help the grains to be digested more efficiently rewarding you with more vitamins and minerals from the food. Remember the biggest benefit of soaking is the reduction of phytic acid which has anti-nutrient effects. Overall it is a good practice to limit the intake of grains.

But food can also be part of the solution to the problem of inflammation. Anti-inflammatory foods, if eaten regularly, can reduce inflammation in the body and bring the problem under control. If you can add anti-inflammatory foods into each meal and reduce the number of inflammatory foods eaten daily an improvement can be made. People who are able to do this on a regular basis often report a noticeable improvement in previous discomforts.

Anti-Inflammatory Foods List

Lesson Assignment: Try to find some foods from the lists above that you can work into your diet in every meal. I suggest starting with the easy ones like Fats & Oils, Drinks and Snacks. For example, try to replace one meal’s drink with one from the list each day. So here is the application – If you drink sweet tea or soda with a meal, instead drink water with some lemon and if you want it sweet use some stevia, (see lesson 1). Each week increase the number of meals that have a healthy food. Drinking Red Wine with every meal could help reduce the inflammation and make things more entertaining, but may cause other issues. 😉 Be wise in your choices. Remember make changes slowly and don’t move to the next change till you know it is a keeper.

Do share your changes and success in a comment below so we all can cheer you on.

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