May 8, 20203 min read

Foods to reduce chronic inflammation

Updated: May 10, 2020

Your immune system becomes activated when your body recognizes anything that is foreign--such as an invading microbe, plant pollen, or chemical. This often triggers a process called inflammation. Intermittent bouts of inflammation directed at truly threatening invaders protect your health. However, sometimes inflammation persists, day in and day out, even when you are not threatened by a foreign invader. That's when inflammation becomes chronic and starts to affect your body and cause diseases. Harvard Health Publishing reports say that research shows that chronic inflammation may be a common factor in many diseases. These include coronary artery disease, diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer's.

Chronic inflammation can have long-term and whole-body effects. Chronic inflammation is also called persistent, low-grade inflammation because it produces a steady, low-level inflammation throughout the body, as judged by a small rise in immune system markers found in blood or tissue. Chronic, low-grade inflammation often does not have symptoms.

The most important finding has been that foods fight inflammation in the body. "Many experimental studies have shown that components of foods or beverages may have anti-inflammatory effects," says Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

There's evidence that inflammation, promoted in part by such factors as obesity, smoking, and a sedentary lifestyle, contributes to a variety of diseases.

It is, therefore, important to become aware of which foods can help reduce inflammation in the body and those that can promote this.

Foods that cause inflammation:

Try to avoid or limit these foods as much as possible:

refined carbohydrates, such as white bread and pastries
french fries, and other fried foods
fizzy drinks, and other sugar-sweetened beverages
red meat (burgers, steaks) and processed meat (hot dogs, sausage)
margarine, shortening, and lard

Anti-inflammatory foods:

An anti-inflammatory diet should include these foods:

tomatoes
olive oil
green leafy vegetables, such as spinach, kale, collard, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and bok choy.
nuts like almonds and walnuts. These are high in anti-inflammatory omega 3 fatty acids.
avocado - also shown to contain omega 3 fatty acids.
fruits such as strawberries, blueberries, cherries, and orange.
papaya and pineapple - these fruits contain the enzyme 'bromelain' which has shown to reduce the inflammatory response.
fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, tuna, and sardines.
turmeric and ginger are also shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body.
coffee contains polyphenols and other anti-inflammatory compounds.
water is essential for hydration and for the body to thrive.