Put Brakes on Inflammation Through Diet and Lifestyle Strategies

Sharon Palmer, R.D.

Environmental Nutrition

Recent nutrition research paints a picture of how inflammation can fuel the major chronic disease killers of our age. Acute inflammation -- your body's natural reaction to an assault -- is a good thing, when it's not a chronic condition. It's your body's way of kicking in to neutralize insults like a splinter in your finger or a bacterial infection. During this process, blood leukocytes report to duty to guide a series of biochemical and cellular events in the body.

But when inflammation becomes chronic, this body reaction fails to shut off or activates when there is no real trigger. Inflammation can last for days, months or years -- becoming the root of many diseases, including heart disease, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and neurological degeneration.

"There is evidence that the diseases of aging like cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurodegenerative disease appear to have a common root of inappropriate levels of inflammation," reported Andrew Weil, M.D., Director of Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona last year. "The body regulates inflammation in a complex coordinated pattern with opposing forces. You can either upregulate or downregulate inflammation." Genetic responses, diet, stress and exposure to environmental toxins are factors that can influence inflammation.

Fighting inflammation with diet

A body of evidence indicates that what you put on your plate can have an impact on inflammation. Both epidemiological studies and intervention trials support a link between diet and the reduction in risk of many chronic diseases; it appears that creating a pro-inflammatory milieu might be one way that unhealthy diets are linked with metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. In a state-of-the-art study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2006, researchers found that diets high in refined starches, sugar, saturated fats and trans fats, and low in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and omega-3 fatty acids appear to turn on the inflammation response. However, a diet rich in whole foods, including healthful carbohydrates, fat and protein sources, along with regular exercise and not smoking, cools down inflammation.

"In the 1940s, people ate mostly whole foods cooked from scratch," Weil notes. "Food has changed over the past 50 years. People eat chips, cookies and soft drinks now." Indeed, researchers are finding that a focus on whole-plant foods that possess an abundance of anti-inflammatory compounds may cut down on inflammation. Studies have indicated that high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), one of the acute-phase proteins in inflammation and considered to be a marker of inflammation, are linked with obesity, smoking, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain cancers; lower levels of CRP are associated with moderate alcohol consumption, high physical activity and high consumption of fruit, vegetables, whole grains and fish. Lower inflammatory markers have also been linked with the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes whole-plant foods, healthy fats like olive oil, fish, moderate alcohol consumption and lower intakes of red meat.

Picking the right foods

According to Weil, your best-odds diet for limiting inflammation is to make healthy food choices within the major nutrient groups.

Healthy fats

Evidence suggests that a diet high in saturated and trans fats promotes inflammation, but it doesn't stop there. An overabundance of omega-6 fatty acid-rich oils, such as corn, soy, safflower and sunflower oil, a common fat in processed and fried foods, can throw the ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids out of balance, a condition that can be pro-inflammatory, according to researchers from the Center for Genetics in Washington, D.C. Weil recommends that you choose mostly monounsaturated fats found in olive oil, avocados and nuts, and sources of omega-3 fatty acids found in flax, walnuts, fish, omega-3-rich eggs and grass-fed beef to keep inflammation levels at bay.

Best carbs

"In the traditional diet, people ate carbohydrates in the form of tubers, nuts and seeds that are low-glycemic carbohydrates. Now people have big gulps and candy bars, and we have ballooned in our obesity, hypertension and diabetes rates. The principal culprit is carbohydrate foods and how we eat them," says Weil.

The majority of your carbs should be in the form of unprocessed, low-glycemic foods, which do not produce a rapid, quick rise in blood sugar levels. Highly refined carbohydrate foods (such as those made from refined flours and sugars) that produce a spike in your blood sugar may aggravate inflammation, according to a May 2008 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. For example, biting into an apple is better than drinking apple juice, and dishing up bulgur is a healthier choice than bread made with refined flours.

Protein picks

Dietary patterns low in red meat, such as found in the Mediterranean diet, are linked with lower levels of inflammation. In a May 2008 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, scientists found that a dietary pattern focusing on high intakes of vegetables, fruit, soy products and fish was linked with suppressing inflammation, compared with patterns like high-fat and traditional Western diets. Weil suggests that instead of planning your meals around meat, you should plan them around plant foods, while still leaving room for omega-3-rich fish in your diet.

Available at Amazon.com:

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder

No More Digestive Problems

NEWS & CURRENT EVENTS ...

Health - Put Brakes on Inflammation Through Diet and Lifestyle Strategies