There is a lot of information on
the internet about inflammation,  inflammatory foods, and how to eat
that sometimes contradict each other. So, I thought I would put together some
basic information on what it even means to be an inflammatory food, what
foods are considered more inflammatory, and how you can protect yourself,
and-or heal, from their adverse affects.

First, let me explain what an inflammatory food actually is – it’s
when you consume a food and your body begins to attack that food and make
antibodies. The antibodies then create inflammation to help centralize the
area being affected by the foreign invaders and to help heal the area.
Inflammation is a natural outcome of an immune response in the body. However,
inflammation gone unchecked, such as in food sensitivities, can cause long
term symptoms and health problems like asthma, heart disease,
chronic headaches, digestive problems, pain and much
more.

Food allergies and
sensitivities are becoming more and more common for a few
reasons:

Genetically Modified Foods

Genetically Modified Foods are becoming so standard in our food
supply that about 80% of what we eat is GMO. The GMO foods are so changed
that they do not resemble their original form and the body is recognizing
them as foreign bodies. When this happens, the body attacks the molecules and
creates inflammation.

Processed Foods

Processed foods contain hundreds of chemicals that are GRAS, but
may lead to internal reactions and create inflammation. GRAS
stands for “generally recognized as safe” and that means that the
food has not  harmed enough consumers for the FDA to put that food or
ingredient under more scrutiny. So it’s more or less a catch all for any kind
of food, without a specific legal definition of their safety, efficacy, or
organic status.

Cultivation

How we grow our food has changed dramatically in the past 100
years. Pesticides are so commonplace now that our foods are not only covered
with them, but they are pulled up through the roots into the produce and then
consumed by us. They compete for nutrients at the root level. Conventionally
farmed foods that are exposed to these methods have less nutrition than their
organic counterparts.

Because our food supply has changed so much over just a few
generations, some of the foods that we are used to eating in abundance are
now intolerated by many people.

Uncovering The Top
Four Inflammatory Foods

Gluten: One of the biggest offenders
is gluten. Flour is being deaminated, which is a processing technique that
breaks down the flour to such an extent that it creates a new protein that
our body has never been exposed to before. These new proteins are not
recognized as food and the body begins to attack them creating an
inflammatory response. In fact, researchers have taken wheat flour found
in tombs and compared it with the flour we have today and they are not the
same plant. In fact, it’s not something that the body recognizes as the same.
And since it’s not being recognized as the same, it is being attacked as a
foreign body.

Symptoms of this might be headaches, foggy brain, depression,
feeling tired, digestive issues, weight gain, inability to lose weight, skin
issues, and allergies. Some of the symptoms could be subtle and mistaken for
common chronic issues like allergies and headaches. Then the problem is
compounded by treating the symptoms with medication, without realizing that
there is likely a root cause like gluten sensitivity creating inflammation,
which leads to the symptoms.

More and more research is being done on the effect of gluten on
the body and there are links to autoimmune disease, depression and
alzheimer’s/ dementia.

Luckily, if you are gluten sensitive, you can cut out gluten and
begin to decrease your symptoms and reverse the inflammation in about 6-8
months.

Refined Soy: Another common
Inflammatory food is refined soy. Soy was actually never meant to be consumed
as food. It was traditionally used as a bumper crop between seasons to help
replenish the soil and it wasn’t used for food until famine set in and it was
the only thing left to eat. Since then it has been incorporated into our
diets and even more so in American Society as it is in almost
everything!

Soy is also one of the most modified foods, aside from corn, that
we have available today. So again, the body begins to recognize it as a
foreign invader and it leads to inflammation.

Refined soy is also very difficult for the body to digest, partly
because it is not sprouted and so it contains phytic acid that is metabolized
and can lead to gas and bloating. Have you experienced the need to run to the
bathroom quickly after going out and having sushi? That’s usually from the
soy!

You may have probably heard that soy has phyto-estrogens, or plant
based estrogen hormones. And while these phyto-estrogens can be very useful
in women going through menopause, it is not helpful for growing children,
most women under 50 and men because it can cause shifts in hormones, which
lead to a myriad of health issues like acne, headaches, painful periods, and
weight gain. According to many experts, estrogen
dominance is a key factor that is having a negative impact on many
Americans who consume the standard American diet.

So if you are going to eat soy, try to choose organic, whole
and-or fermented forms of soy; traditional soy products like sprouted tofu,
tempeh, and miso.

Dairy: The third most common
Inflammatory food is dairy products. Since the advent of pasteurization,
dairy intolerance has been more and more prevalent. The reasons why are
because when the milk is heated at high temperatures, it deactivates all of
the enzymes needed for digestion and utilization. This makes it very
difficult to utilize the casein protein and the calcium. So, the body reacts
by either passing it through really quickly as in diarrhea or by halting all
digestion with constipation.

Another piece to this is that the fat is broken up into very small
particles that are not usable by the body, which in turn creates difficulty
in digesting the fat soluble vitamins in the milk.

And, the way modern dairy cows have been genetically modified
leads them to produce more than normal levels of estrogen, which gets passed
onto their milk, and then into the humans who consume conventional diary
products. This points back to yet another factor that is causing estrogen
dominance in many people.

Some other common symptoms of dairy sensitivity are headaches,
bloating, rashes, trouble sleeping, puffy eyes, allergic responses, itchy
body and a variety of other symptoms. Heidi Hoffman, RD and Owner at Vibrant
Living Wellness Center recommends that if you are a dairy lover and are not
dairy sensitive, that you migrate to raw cheese, raw milk, and cultured dairy
like Keifer and full-fat yogurt so that your body can get the full benefit of
this food while mitigating the possible inflammatory effects it might have on
your body.

Refined Sugar: Excessive sugar
intake causes tooth decay and has been linked to increased risks of obesity,
inflammation and chronic diseases such as metabolic
syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Sugar is also considered to be a
negative nutrient. This
basically means that sugar causes nutritional deficiencies because it
interferes with nutrient absorption.

Sugar-sweetened beverages like soft drinks, fruit drinks and
punches are some of the major sources of dietary sugars that many be
overlooked. Do you know that drinking a can of Coke is the same as sucking
ten sugar cubes? Other obvious sugar-loaded foods to avoid or at least limit
include pastries, desserts, candies and snacks. And when you are looking out
for sugar in the ingredients list, note that sugar has many names: corn
syrup, dextrose, fructose, golden syrup, maltose, sorghum syrup and sucrose
are some of the creative names used.

So What Can You
Do?

When it comes to holistic wellness and living, the best protocol
is prevention. Try your best to avoid foods that you suspect are causing
inflammation in your body. Maybe you’re concerned that you need specific
nutrients from those foods, and that you will be missing out on key nutrients
if you avoid the food altogether. For example, doesn’t wheat provide
essential fiber? Doesn’t dairy provide essential calcium?

Well, to put a fine point on it, no, they don’t provide those
nutrients in the best, most bioavailable, and beneficial way possible. In
fact, you can receive plenty of calcium from anti-inflammatory foods like
dark leafy greens for example, and those greens also come with thousands of
phyto-chemicals and nutrients that you won’t find in dairy products. And, by
eating spinach, you are eating an anti-inflammatory food, so you are giving
your body a 180° switch from an inflammatory to an
anti-inflammatory food, which gives your body a green
light to begin healing, rather than fighting off unfamiliar food
invaders.

If you aren’t ready to give up some of your favorite inflammatory
foods, you might consider going with the 80-20 rule, where you reduce these
foods down to 20% of your total dietary intake. And, at the same time,
increase your anti-inflammatory foods by adding turmeric to your meals,
eating plenty of green vegetables, and drinking plenty of good old
water.

You may be wondering if you are currently suffering from the ill
effects of anti-inflammatory foods. There are ways to figure this out that
you can do on your own, or with the help of a qualified wellness
professional.

An elimination diet is one way to do this, where you avoid inflammatory
foods for about a month, and see how you feel at the end of the month. If you
see an improvement then those foods were probably getting in the way of your
achieving optimal wellness. You can reintroduce each food, one at a time,
slowly, to help determine which foods are actually disagreeing with your
body.

If you’d like assistance zeroing in on inflammatory foods in your
diet, and what you can do about it, why not come in or jump on a zoom session
with me for a consultation? Your can schedule a Complimentary
Coaching Call with me so we can get better acquainted and determine
how I can best help you. I look forward to helping you any way I
can!