Here are some of the easiest ways in which you can protect your body against inflammation!
If the health world has drilled something in our minds, it is the fact that we should steer away from inflammation. but managing to protect your body against inflammation is easier said than done. Not to mention, in order to be able to achieve something like that, we need to first understand what inflammation is and where it comes from.
Generally speaking, inflammation is linked to possibly every disease, ailment, and condition on this planet, and as a result, there are a myriad of diets that try to teach us how to deal with them. However, the problem is not inflammation as a whole, but rather when it gets severe all the way to the point where it becomes chronic inflammation or where it can end up causing you to develop other health issues.
Today we are going to be looking at how we can use diet and caution in order to be able to prevent chronic inflammation and how we can make sure that our immune system is not constantly fighting a battle with an invisible illness. These life changes are easy to follow and integrate into our day-to-day lives, so much so that you will find them easier than you could have ever imagined.
From being more cautious of certain parts of our diets to items we should add or remove from our diet lifestyle, make sure you check out these lifestyle changes that will help protect your body against inflammation!
Have you heard of these changes before? Let us know about your history with inflammation and how you beat it in the comments below!
1. Make sure you do not abuse sugar.
No one is saying that in order to protect your body from inflammation, you have to give up on sugar. After all, our bodies do need sugar in order to function properly, so you still need to be eating sugar. However, this does not mean you should end up eating all the high-glycemic foods out there or that you should be making a habit out of eating them.
You can easily stick to the occasional sweet treat and scoop of ice cream, but if you are not careful, the high amount of sugar and refined carbs that can be present in a lot of these foods will cause both the fast rise of your blood sugar level and the consequent quick drop in it. This can in turn cause oxidative stress, and in turn, it will cause your body to inflame and stay inflamed until the perceived threat has been resolved.
A good way to make sure that you protect your body from inflammation in this particular way is to be mindful of what you eat and to be moderate with sugar. Not only will a balanced diet make sure that you get some of your sugar from your meals, but you will also lessen your cravings for these sweet treats.
What’s more, you can prevent sugar spikes if you balance your plates and aim to include as many food groups as possible, making your meals nutritional and full of all the nutrients you may need! That way, you will not have to worry about the sugary treat you may eat afterward as dessert!
2. Aim to include as many anti-inflammatory foods as you can in your diet.
It is nothing new to hear that you should be eating “the rainbow” of food categories. Your plate should be balanced, and you should try to include all types of vegetables in all colors, even if you end up eating them over the whole day. This comes from the fact that all these types of mostly plant-based foods are different in texture, taste, and thus nutritional benefits.
Likewise, there are certain foods that are going to fare better in this quest, so when it comes to choosing what to eat in order to protect your body from inflammation there is a best answer.
These types of foods are rich in phytochemicals, which basically have an antioxidant quality that will help prevent proteins in your body from having an inflammatory response to certain foods. You can use certain foods in your diet to prevent inflammation from causing issues in your day-to-day life.
These foods that are going to help you in the process are varied, and you will be able to include some of them in your diet that are going to surprise you!
There are a few of the ones that you may already have included in your diet, as they are known as aromatic and deeply pigmented foods; the likes of berries, red cabbage, garlic, ginger, citrus fruits, broccoli, parsley, dark chocolate, tea, turmeric, and dark leafy greens are just some of the ones that you can include in your diet!
These foods include the likes of carotenoids and flavonoids, which are going to help protect your body against inflammation, and a lot of the foods we have previously mentioned contain anthocyanins, which are known to aid with the body’s and liver’s natural detoxification mechanisms, which is also a good anti-inflammatory process!
The bottom line is easy to see: the more color you are going to add to your food, the more it is going to help you in your quest to reduce the inflammation in your body, and that way you can make your diet even healthier!
If you think that making these lifestyle changes to your diet is going to be more challenging than you would expect, we have the solution. A great way to make sure that your meals are going to be balanced and that they will protect your body from inflammation is to stick to the recipes made for this purpose. This 42-day meal plan, full of delicious recipes, is going to make your transition to anti-inflammatory foods easy and delicious!
3. Take care of your gut health.
Gut health counts way more towards the reasons why you are suffering from inflammation than you may think. As we all know, there are good and bad types of bacteria in the world, and this time around, we are going to talk about the bad ones. The problem can arise when there is a disproportionate distribution between the two of them, with more bad bacteria (and even the likes of harmful pathogens like E. coli), as it can lead to developing dysbiosis.
This gut condition facilitates the production of harmful toxins by the gut bacteria, which in turn can leak from the intestines to the bloodstream, spreading chronic inflammation throughout the whole body. Once installed, it can be hard to get rid of. The best way to fight for good gut health and to protect your body against inflammation is to consume probiotic foods.
Too many saturated fats can aid the production of gut toxins, but the good news is that you can easily balance this situation if you concentrate on adding plants to your diet. You can get plenty of good bacteria if you feed it the right diet, which includes a lot of fiber, which you can get from legumes, nuts, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits.
What’s more, fermented foods are known to be akin to superfoods when it comes to good gut health, so do not neglect the likes of kombucha and kefir, and even fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi!
Studies have shown that the more probiotic-rich foods you add to your diet, the better the gut microbial diversity is, and the levels of inflammatory compounds are lowered!
If you are looking for some recipes that will help you when you are having an inflammation flare or just to help you adjust to this new lifestyle, we have you covered! These delicious recipes are backed by dieticians, and they will make cooking a pleasure as they can easily be made with just a sheet pan!