So what foods are good for fighting inflammation? Today we are going to concentrate on a few foods that have recently popped up in scientific studies. These studies looked at whether certain polyphenols could reduce inflammation.
Inflammation occurs all the time in the body for a variety of reasons and can be beneficial like when your body’s white blood cells and chemicals protect you from invaders like bacteria and viruses and from wounds like blows, cuts or burns. Without inflammation we could not heal properly.
When inflammation loses its benefits and becomes a danger to us, this is when we want to step in with the proper foods, herbs and possibly supplements to help us fight chronic inflammation.
Chronic Inflammation
Chronic inflammation can play a role in a variety of diseases that are major problems in our society. Diseases like cancer, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and heart disease.
Other chronic inflammation disease can also include, basic allergies, Crohn’s, MS, Colitis and many other auto-immune diseases and inflammation can even contribute to obesity.
The Best Natural Anti-Inflammatory Foods
The basics of what we know is this, natural anti-inflammatory diets that contain a lot of whole fruits and vegetables, which contain polyphenols, protect against age-related inflammation and chronic diseases. The scientist Sian Richardson said:
“Older people are more susceptible to chronic inflammation and as such they may benefit from supplementing their diets with isorhamnetin, resveratrol, curcumin and vanillic acid or with food sources that yield these bioactive molecules.”
You can read about the details of the study here.
So what foods contain isorhamnetin, resveratrol, curcumin and vanillic acid polyphenols?
- Isorhamnetin is a flavonol and phytonutrient found in plants that has been linked with cancer and diabetes prevention. Eat the following anti-inflammatory foods, herbs and spices like almonds, parsley, garden cress, pears, onions, dill weed, chives, fennel leaves, turnip greens, and red wine.
- Resveratrol can be found in the following foods: peanuts (boiled), peanut butter, pistachios, red or dark skinned grapes contain more resveratrol than green grapes, red and white wine, blueberries (raw), mulberries, bilberries, cranberries, cocoa and dark chocolate.
- Curcumin a large body of evidence suggests that curcumin has strong anti-inflammatory and anti-arthritis properties plus it may also inhibit cancer and fight depression. The best source of curcumin comes from the tumeric root. Powdered tumeric is also available as a spice and is most often used in curry blends. The mango ginger also contains curcumin but is not widely available.
- Vanillic Acid can be found in the following foods, herbs and spices like vanilla, wine, whole wheat, citrus fruits and berries, sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary, sweet basil, olives and olive oil.
It is best to eat a variety of sources of these anti-inflammatory foods everyday. You can easily make regular recipes into powerful anti-inflammatory recipes.
Add turmeric powder to casseroles, stews and soups. Liberally use the spices that contain these polyphenols like dill weed, chives, sage, thyme, oregano, rosemary and basil.
Take advantage of almond butter and put onions into almost all your recipes.
