Inflammation fighting foods

Today we welcome guest blogger Gabrielle Bodine, a dietetic intern from the University of Delaware. Thank you, Gabby, for your work on this blog and coordinated social media posts!

Many people are interested in reducing inflammation in the body, but they are not sure where to start. With so many medicinal and natural options out there, it can be overwhelming. Let’s look at what inflammation actually is and how it plays a role in disease.

What is inflammation?

Inflammation can be triggered  inside of our bodies when we  are fighting off something that should not be there, such as an infection when we have a cold. This type of inflammation helps us heal and recover from a short illness.  Inflammation becomes a problem when our bodies have inflammation without a trigger present. This is called chronic inflammation and is seen in many of the common diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. 

The good news is that one way to begin fighting  inflammation is closer than you think; start by simply looking in the kitchen! Diet is strongly correlated with a person's overall health and certain foods have anti-inflammatory properties. A diet high in these types of foods may lessen the chance of chronic diseases. Many of the items on the list below are commonly found in the Mediterranean diet, which is a healthy eating pattern associated with many benefits.

Anti-inflammatory foods include:

• Oily fish – salmon, tuna

• Leafy green veggies – kale, spinach, and others

• Olive oil 

• Nuts and seeds

• Garlic 

• Berries – strawberries, blueberries

• Rosehips, turmeric – as teas, spices, supplements etc. 

• Honey

If you are interested in incorporating these into your diet, try one of our recipes featuring anti-inflammatory foods.

• Slow Cooker Sweet Potato, Apple, & Turmeric Soup - Real Food Whole Life

• Features: turmeric and garlic

• Salmon Recipe - Honey Garlic Salmon - Rasa Malaysia

• Features: salmon, garlic, and honey 

• Anti-Inflammatory Creamy Coconut Rice (gatherednutrition.com)

• Features: spinach, garlic, and turmeric 

As a reminder, always exercise caution when considering taking a dietary supplements as they are not regulated by the FDA. Your dietitian can help you to understand which supplements may be helpful for your health concerns.

Resources:

• Foods that fight inflammation - Harvard Health

• 6 Superfoods That Reduce Inflammation from Arthritis (aarp.org)

• Review of Anti-Inflammatory Herbal Medicines - PMC (nih.gov)

• Ghasemian M, Owlia S, Owlia MB. Review of Anti-Inflammatory Herbal Medicines. Adv Pharmacol Sci. 2016;2016:9130979. doi: 10.1155/2016/9130979. Epub 2016 May 10. PMID: 27247570; PMCID: PMC4877453.

• Mediterranean diet linked to lower inflammation, healthy aging - Harvard Health