Inflammation is a natural part of life and it helps our bodies to heal from injury or illness. But many experts believe that it can get out of control when its in response to toxic foods, and that chronic inflammation leads to weight gain, obesity, chronic disease, and cancer.
For help with the essentials of the anti-inflammatory diet, we turned to , who gave us the 10 most important facts about chronic inflammation. Dr. Sears has spent the last 30 years of his research career to studying the links between diet, hormones, and health.
In his research, he studies dietary control of hormonal response and develops innovative approaches to help treat and reverse silent inflammation. He is the creator of the and the author of best selling books , , and .
In particular, it is the combination of excess insulin (induced by the high load diet) coupled with the over-consumption of omega-6 fatty acids to produce excess levels of pro-inflammatory hormones (i.e. eicosanoids).
In the fat cells, liver, and muscles leads to insulin resistance that causes the increased storage of incoming as fat and the reduced ability to burn dietary calories for energy.
Increased inflammation in the brain leads to increased hunger.
The best way to decrease inflammation is to reduce the levels of omega-6 fatty acids in the diet. Most Americans eat a diet heavily weighted with omega-6.
Foods High in Omega-6 Fatty Acids:
You might not use these foods while cooking, but they are found in almost all processed foods.
Reduction of the by eating more non-starchy vegetables will also decrease insulin levels thus making it more difficult to make inflammatory eicosanoids. Watch this video for a good explanation of the glycemic index and glycemic load.
Decreasing the levels of saturated fats in the diet will also decrease inflammation.
Consumption of more polyphenols (the chemicals that give fruits and vegetables their color) will decrease inflammation.
Consumption of more omega-3 fatty acids will decrease inflammation.
Omega-3 Rich Foods:
Interval training (sprints or weight training) is the best exercise to reduce insulin resistance.
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Meditation is a good way of reducing diet-induced inflammation by increasing your awareness that every dietary decision can either increase or decrease inflammation in the body. Try this to help with stress and weight loss.
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