Nutrition and Inflammation
Inflammation begins in the gut
Inflammation fighting medicine is not found in your cabinet, It is found in your pantry or behind your refrigerator door. Inflammation fighting foods are vital in supporting the body’s ability to fight inflammation and improving the immune system.
What exactly is inflammation?
One can often identify inflammation when they feel pain in a particular area of the body. There are two types of inflammation, acute and chronic.
Acute inflammation- a short-term process occurring in response to tissue injury, usually appearing within minutes or hours. It is characterized by five cardinal signs: pain, redness, immobility (loss of function), swelling and heat
Chronic inflammation- this response lingers, leaving your body in a constant state of alert. Over time, chronic inflammation may have a negative impact on your tissues and organs. Chronic inflammation could also play a role in a range of conditions, from cancer to stroke.
Fatigue
Auto immune diseases
Body pain
Depression or anxiety
Gastrointestinal complications (diarrhea or constipation, IDS, IBD, celiac)
Weight gain (sudden)
Persistent infections
Heart disease
Chronic and recurrent infection
Diabetes
Arthritis
Alzheimer’s
I do have some good news though, you can drastically improve both acute and chronic inflammation with the right nutrition. However, if you plan on improving inflammation within your body with nutrition, you must also plan on healing your gut with at least a high strain probiotic, digestive enzymes, and depending on your symptoms you may benefit from a GI mapping at home test kit. GI mapping will help you find underlying issues that you won’t really see unless you have stool testing. This test looks at bad gut bacteria, beneficial bacteria, certain viruses, inflammatory markers, leaky gut, paracites, worms, E. coli, H. pylori and more. To personalize your nutrition to another level seeing what’s going on in the inside is helps your provider come up with the best treatment plan. Also diet cannot fix everything, if you have E.coli or H.pylori, majority of the time you to have to kill those bad bugs in order to feel better and begin your gut healing for optimal health. Healing your gut will allow proper nutrient utilization! Your gut is considered your second brain. Without a good GI tract, your gut will not be able to digest and absorb essential nutrients needed to help improve inflammation. So, why is your gut labeled as your “second brain?”
Our body’s central nervous system (CNS-brain and spinal cord) as well as Enteric nervous system (ENS - nerves of the GI tract, which communicates with our brain), are interconnected. Any disturbances of the immune endocrine, CNS, or ENS communication can have significant bi-directional consequences (this is why it is called the brain-gut axis). The brain-gut axis can become damaged by stress, environmental influences e.g., chemical plants, which produces outdoor pollutants which are proven to cause internal inflammation over time. Additionally, mold, work place toxicants, and chemicals you unknowingly apply to your skin e.g., endocrine disruptors, may increase inflammation. Unfortunately, it is improper nutrition that is the main cause of most brain to gut inflammation.
Foods that cause the most inflammation
The American/Western style of eating is described as foods that uses excessive amounts of linoleic acid e.g., vegetable oils, soybeans, corn, and canola oils. It also consist of a lower intake of valuable arachidonic acids e.g., fish, lean meats, legumes, seeds and nuts, and an overabundance of foods with high glycemic loads i.e., indices which contain high sugar and a deficiency of phytonutrients. Since some arachidonic and linoleic acids and high sugar foods are proinflammatory, we can say with confidence that it is a major contributor to inflammation of the joints and muscles.
Foods you should try to avoid:
Vegetable & Canola oils, margarines (high in omega 6, which is inflammatory)
Processed carbs (sweets, white breads, pastas, enriched rice)
Processed snacks (most crackers and chips)
Dairy
Red meat (limit to once a week)
High fat meats (higher in saturated fats)
Processed meats (hot dogs, sausages)
Fried foods
Food and drinks that are high in sugars
Sugar free foods (artificial sweeteners promote bad gut bacteria growth)
Gluten free (many have sensitivities and can cause inflammation)
Foods you should make a part of your nutrition lifestyle:
Lean meats from free range and/or grass fed beef, wild caught seafood
(chicken, turkey, eggs, fish/seafood, red meat like sirloin, wild game)
Olive oil, avocado oil, dry roasted nuts/seeds, ghee
Green leafy vegetables, and many others (get organic as much as you can)
Fruits (berries, apples, cherries, oranges, pineapple etc. - get organic when you can, and keep in mind of portion size)
Sprouted grains (Dave’s killer bread & Ezekiel bread, other gluten free options as well)
A Diet (I don’t like this word) that encourages anti-inflammatory nutrition:
Auto Immune Disease Protocol (AIP)
DASH diet
Mediterranean
Whole 30
Overall, a healthy anti-inflammatory diet will increase antioxidants and polyphenols, which will significally reduce inflammation in the body. Additionally, maintaining a good vitamin D status by supplementation or sunlight, exercising, and reducing body fat and stress can also improve ones quality of life. Research has shown that polyphenol consumption may play a vital role in health through the regulation of metabolism, weight, chronic disease, and cell proliferation i.e., free radical damage. Over 8,000 polyphenols have thus far been identified, though their short- and long-term health effects have not been fully characterized (1). Animal, human and epidemiologic studies show that various polyphenols have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that could have preventive and/or therapeutic effects for cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, and obesity (2, 3).
Top 50 foods rich in polyphenols listed by the greatest amount of polyphenol content:
Cloves Seasonings
Peppermint, dried Seasonings
Star anise Seasonings
Cocoa powder Cocoa products
Mexican oregano, dried Seasonings
Celery seed Seasonings
Black chokeberry Fruits
Dark chocolate Cocoa products
Flaxseed meal Seeds
Black elderberry Fruits
Chestnut Seeds
Common sage, dried Seasonings
Rosemary, dried Seasonings
Spearmint, dried Seasonings
Common thyme, dried Seasonings
Lowbush blueberry Fruits
Blackcurrant Fruits
Capers Seasonings
Black olive Vegetables
Highbush blueberry Fruits
Hazelnut Seeds
Pecan nut Seeds
Plum Fruits
Green olive Vegetables
Sweet basil, dried Seasonings
Curry, powder Seasonings
Sweet cherry Fruits
Globe artichoke heads Vegetables
Blackberry Fruits
Milk chocolate Cocoa products
Strawberry Fruits
Red chicory Vegetables
Red raspberry Fruits
Coffee, filter Non-alcoholic beverage
Ginger, dried Seasonings
Prune Fruits
Almond Seeds
Black grape Fruits
Red onion Vegetables
Green chicory Vegetables
Common thyme, fresh Seasonings
Refined maize flour Cereals
Whole grain rye flour Cereals
Apple Fruits
Spinach Vegetables
Shallots Vegetables
Red Wine Alcoholic Beverages
Broccoli Vegetables
Green Tea Non-alcoholic beverage
Black Tea Non-alcoholic beverage
The richest polyphenols are spices and herbs, followed by nuts, seeds, black berry, black elderberry, olives, green teas, black teas, as well as many fruits and veggies. Fueling your body with whole foods, and antioxidant filled fruits and vegetables is encouraged to develop an anti-inflammatory style of eating. Keep in mind, the foods listed in this blog are packed with antioxidants, but not everyone is created the same. Your individual nutritional needs are unique. Reaching out to a licensed dietitian who understands and promotes functional/integrated nutrition is highly encouraged. Discussing your health with a professional who is qualified to not only consider your lifestyle, goals, and eating habits, but also your food allergies/sensitives, gut health, and past/current medical history is very important in developing a strategy to improve your gut and anti-inflammatory health through healthier eating and supplementation.
If you are not eating a balance diet and you are fighting chronic inflammation, consider nutritional supplements to lessen the inflammatory burden. (find the on my supplement button on the top of the screen, “fullscript”) Also here is a direct link for east access.
https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/beachhippienutritionist
** Always make sure with your MD if you are taking medication that might contradict with your current regime.
Probiotics (grow healthy gut bacteria, great for repair the gut lining)
Metagenics, ultraflora biomepro
Metagenics, ultraflora restore
Klare Labs, Ther-biotic complete probiotic
Digestive Enzymes (encourage nutrient absorption)
Klare labs, digestive enzymes
Pure Encapsulations, Digestive Enzymes with Betaine
Klare labs, digestive aid
Omega’s (The balance of omega’s 3, 6, & 9 fights inflammation)
Nordick Naturals, Balanced Omega
Nordick Naturals, Pro-omegas
Inflammation Support
Klare Labs, Advanced Inflammation Support
Seeking Health, Liposomal Curcumin
Noridick Natural, Curcumin gummies
Metabolic Maintenance, Magnesium Glycinate
Allvia, Magnesium Gel
Vitamin D (if your levels are low)
Douglas labs, Liquid D and K (1,000mg)
Klare labs, Vitamin D plus K (5,000mg) - take under direction of a MD
Thank you so much for reading my blog on inflammation and nutrition
Rachel Punch, RDN, LDN, CLC
References:
Lecour, S., & Lamont, K. T. (2011). Natural polyphenols and cardio protection. Mini reviews in medicinal chemistry, 11(14), 1191–1199. https://doi.org/10.2174/13895575111091191
Pérez-Jiménez J, Neveu V, Vos F, Scalber A. Identification of the 100 richest dietary sources of polyphenols: an application of the Phenol-Explorer database. Eur J Clin Nutr. (2010) 64:S112–20. 10.1038/ejcn.2010.221
Singh A, Holvoet S, Mercenier A. Dietary polyphenols in the prevention and treatment of allergic diseases. Clin Exp Allergy (2011) 41:1346–59. 10.1111/j.1365-2222.2011.03773.x
